Worcester Community Homes
WORCESTER PASSES AUDIT WITH ITS CUSTOMER SERVICE
Worcester Community Homes gained an excellent result in their Audit Commission Inspection following adoption of Deeplake’s Communications Manager to assist in tenant engagement and drive efficiency gains. The system has been implemented in rent management and repairs and plans are afoot for future expansion of the SMS service.
Introduction
Worcester Community Homes (WCH) manages 4500 homes in the Worcester area. WCH was set up in 2004 to take over the ownership and management of Worcester City Council's rented homes.WCH has a strong commitment to its tenants, and has been rated as ‘Two Star with promising prospects’ following an inspection by the Audit Commission. In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated WCH on being one of the first 100 organisations in the country to achieve the government's new Customer Service Excellence (CSE) standard.
Tenant Communication – improved access and efficiency savings
WCH uses Deeplake’s Communications Manager to communicate with tenants via SMS in a range of areas, including Rent Arrears Management and Repairs and Maintenance.Craig Garrington of the WCH ICT team commented, “We use SMS text with tenants in several areas including rent arrears to remind tenants of outstanding payments, but also the self-service function which allows tenants to inquire on their rent balances via SMS text, which is regularly used.”
The system has improved customer access, and has also helped WCH to gain efficiency savings, by reducing costs in rent collection and repairs.
Craig was closely involved in implementing the Communications Manager system. He said, “We have been very pleased with Deeplake’s Communications Manager Software. The product is very reliable, and does exactly what it says on the tin. Requirements for support since implementation have been very limited as the product is so easy to configure. We initially implemented Version 4 and are now looking to migrate to Version 5 to take advantage of the new features.”
Audit Commission Inspection Boost
WCH’s adoption of Deeplake’s Communication Manager has paid dividends in their services and inspection rating. The National Audit Commission Inspection report for WCH stated:“We found the service to be good because...customers can access services in a wide variety of ways and WCH is making good use of modern methods of communication.”
WCH’s proactive approach to gaining tenant feedback to improve customer service was also mentioned in the inspection report: “WCH actively seeks and acts on customer feedback to improve services, and customer satisfaction with services has improved.
“Use of modern methods of communication widens choice and increases convenience for customers, who can access information and services at a time and place that suits them.”
Quick wins and future benefits
Nas Hayat, Deeplake Project Manager, summarised WCH’s use of the system. “WCH have demonstrated some great examples of some of the quick wins available using Deeplake’s SMS technology, and are now seeking to deploy it more widely to gain benefit in even more areas. “The ability to make configuration changes to both the logic of communication processes and messages allows WCH to react very quickly to their tenants’ needs.”
Case Studies
RCT Homes
Properties were filled in days when RCT started to use Deeplake’sCommunication Manager to promote vacant housing to people on waitinglists in nearby regions. The forward thinking housing
Newlon Housing Trust
QUICK RESPONSE WINS PRAISE FROM AUDITORS Deeplake’s Communication Manager has enabled Newlon Housing Trust to ‘make the first move’ and pre-empt issues, preventing their
Worcester Community Homes
WORCESTER PASSES AUDIT WITH ITS CUSTOMER SERVICE Worcester Community Homes gained an excellent result in their Audit Commission Inspection following adoption of Deeplake’s Communications
Flagship Housing - Dave Seaton
COST SAVINGS AND IMPROVED TENANT SATISFACTION Tenant participation in customer surveys increased by around 55% when Flagship Housing Group adopted Deeplake’s Communication Manager
