Partnership put customers at the heart of decision making
Partnership working puts customers at the heart of decision making
Leading repairs and maintenance provider, Kier Stoke, has been short-listed for a prestigious Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) award alongside Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The company has reached the central region finals in the ‘Excellence in Working Together – Reigniting the Customer Experience’ category, for ensuring its responsive repairs service was both time efficient and cost effective while meeting the needs of the local community.
In May 2010, Kier Stoke, in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council, commenced the ‘systems thinking’ review of its service provision through the creation of an ‘intervention’ team, including representatives from the two organisations and residents. The team monitored customer calls, visited the contact centre and followed the responsive repair logging process from the initial call through to completion.
To implement the team’s recommendations, the project team launched a new dedicated call centre initially trialled with a small number of residents in August 2010 and then rolled out across the city in January 2011. The new call centre has reduced call waiting times for residents from five minutes to an average of just one minute, and it now takes an average of just three minutes for the initial call to be logged.
The initial call is simple – customers describe the problem in their own words (which is recorded exactly) and they can also use the opportunity to report any further repairs needed at their home. A repairs appointment is then made for a time convenient for the customer. The repair is diagnosed by the tradesman on site and, wherever possible, is completed in one visit with additional materials being delivered to site if required.
The changes have improved performance dramatically with the average repair now undertaken in 4 days (97 hours) and, on average, customers rate the service as 9.9 when asked for a score out of 10.
Kier regional managing director for maintenance, David Mawson, said: “It is a fantastic result to have been short-listed for the TPAS Awards. We looked at how we can work much more closely to integrate our service and improve response rates for customers and are excited by the enhanced support we can now deliver.
“We were keen to involve customers throughout the process and improve the service they receive in the best possible way. Our latest customer satisfaction survey score was 98% in January this year and it is encouraging to see the processes we have put in place are working.”
Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Assistant Director Housing Services, Val Bourne, said: “We are delighted to have been short-listed for such a prestigious and well deserved award for excellent customer services. We always strive to work very closely with our residents to make sure all customers continue to receive the highest quality service. This award nomination is recognition of just how successful we have been.”
The TPAS awards are open to social housing providers, tenants and contractors to give recognition to excellent work and, vitally, to share best practice among the sector so more people benefit.
Kier Stoke is also sponsoring the ‘Tenant/Resident Involvement Officer of the Year for Landlords’ category at the event, which will take place on Friday 30 March at the St John’s Hotel in Solihull.