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Associations ‘struggle to convert satisfaction data into improved services’
Housing associations are struggling to convert the wealth of research on customer satisfaction into tangible improvements in services, research by a charity has found.
The in-depth study by HACT contacted more than 8,000 housing association tenants between April 2016 and January 2018 to study the nature of the relationship customers had with their housing providers, and whether information collected by associations on their customer service was offering a true insight into tenant concerns.
The report, entitled Rethinking customer insight, which has been backed by: Peabody, Equity Housing Group, Catalyst, One Manchester, Bpha, Settle and Trafford Housing Trust, found that despite a “wealth of data” being compiled, many associations find it difficult to convert this information into practical changes on the ground.
It stated: “Customer perception data on its own will not suffice, it has to be used in conjunction with operational data, so we understand how people use services in practice and how they will in the near future.”
Key areas which were found to determine customer satisfaction were repairs, communication, trust and value for money.
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The level of service relating in particular to repairs was found to influence whether customers were satisfied with the trust and communication from their provider. The findings also found that improvements in communication, including transparency, will build trust.
When questioned on how associations can improve services, 35% of participant responses mentioned repairs, 30% communication and 14% called for housing associations to be more proactive.
The report recommended that providers should look to review, reflect and if necessary redesign their customer satisfaction surveys.
It added: “If the social housing sector wants to rethink customer satisfaction, it needs to move beyond the numbers by adopting a new approach to its relationship with its data, and with its customers.”
Designed to explore alternative approaches to measuring customer satisfaction, the report found that associations should only ask questions if it is relevant to their own business objectives, noting that many current practices often collect data which remain unused.
The report stated: “Only ask a question if it’s relevant to your business objectives. If you’re not going to use the responses to the question to develop actionable insights, don’t ask the question.
“Make it as easy as possible for your residents to engage with the process through their channel of choice, at their time of choosing.”
