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We always want to hear where you think we can improve and are committed to making sure every customer’s voice is heard. One key part of our customer influence strategy is “learn” – recognising that influence doesn’t always happen in formal settings.
Take our recent shared owner and leaseholder webinar on service charges. While it was intended as an informative session, we found that by actively listening to the feedback shared in conversations, we gained invaluable insights to shape our next steps.
From this webinar, analysing the first two TSM surveys of 2024/25 (find out more about these surveys here), and through our other Customer Influence projects, we’re happy to hear that most of you feel that our staff are polite, helpful and professional, and that we provide you with a home that’s safe and secure.
However, the length of time you have to wait for repairs, how we communicate, and how we handle complaints and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) remain areas where we need to improve.
We’re working hard to address these issues:
Feedback from shared owner and leaseholder webinar
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| There were some issues around Managed Migration following the expansion of Universal Credit roll out. We were aware that some people claimed early due to the leaflet sent out by the DWP. Some customers told us they were told to claim but had no migration. | We prevented customers from claiming unnecessarily and too early, so they wouldn't lose money. We created a newsletter to clarify that customers shouldn't claim before receiving a letter. |
| There were questions and confusions around the changes to Winter Fuel payment. | To raise awareness around Pension Credit, we put an article about it in our newsletter and on our website. |
| The DWP made us aware that there's a Universal Credit scam. | We notified customers and posted a warning on our website. |
| There were some concerns around Universal Credit phone claims, including that they were struggling to accept claimant commitments, which can lead to claim closures. | We have raised issues to the Partnerships Manager and we recently participated in DWP research where we raised 20 issues and provided recommendations for improvements. We also raised the issues with the Child Poverty Action Group, who are working closely with the DWP and campaigns for changes in the welfare system. |
| We were aware that callbacks were sometimes being sent to the wrong team, increasing the time customers wait for a callback. | We requested additional fields to be added to our internal system to increase the accuracy of callbacks. Work on this is always evolving. |
Feedback from the TSM surveys
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| You said you’re less happy with our complaints handling approach. | We’ve formed a quality assurance team for complaints who meet regularly with core service areas, such as repairs. We’re committed to swiftly addressing complaints and ensuring promises made as part of complaint resolutions are kept. |
| You said you’re less happy with the length of time you wait for repairs. | Our ambitious Repairs Development Plan targets shorter repair wait times and better service quality. Our goal is to complete all non-emergency repairs within 28 days. |
| You said your queries aren’t always resolved first time. | We’re committed to ensuring you’re called back promptly when your query can’t be resolved by the first person you speak to. Some of our teams are performing better than others so we’re making sure those teams share their good practice. |
| You said you need more information on the help & support section of our website. | We created new articles and amended existing articles to cater more specifically to customer requirements. |
| You said you had questions about service charges. |
We organised and ran a webinar with the service charge and leasehold team so you could get answers to your questions. The service charge and leasehold team are currently working on some of your ideas around improvements and we’ll share more details about this work in one of our future newsletters. |
| You’ve given feedback around the layout of information in the online account. |
We’re changing the way that key pieces of information are available to customers. |
Feedback from other Customer Influence projects
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| You said that there’s not enough presence from VIVID in the area and it can be hard to speak to someone about any problems. | We ran a Community Engagement Day in Portsmouth which was attended by a number of our teams. Each door in the area was knocked to give as many customers as possible an opportunity to have their say. |
| You said that there were several minor repairs still outstanding on properties in particular areas. | On our Community Engagement Day, our Repairs Operatives completed a number of repairs as they were reported on the day. |
| You said you needed advice on money and benefits. | We ensured that the Money, Advice and Benefits team were present at our Community Engagement Day to answer questions and meet customers. Our website also includes details around the support we can provide our customers with regards to money advice and benefits. |
| You said that there are recurring issues with anti-social behaviour in particular areas. | We worked with police and local community wardens to provide Ring doorbells to anyone who wanted them in the area. |
| You said that getting rid of unwanted items can be difficult, particularly larger items. | We brought 2 skips and clearance trucks to the recent Community Engagement Day and cleared gardens and communal areas. |
We really value your feedback to help us improve our services. If you receive a phone call from TLF Research, who carry out perception surveys for us, please do take part.
Alongside the recent launch of our Customer Influence strategy, we’re excited to share that we’re currently working towards achieving formal accreditation for the approach we’re developing around working with customers.
The accreditation process, led by the national organisation Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) will assess our work around a number of important themes. These include how our customers are encouraged to scrutinise how we do things, through to how we support our customers to get involved and have a say. Find out more on their website.
We’ll share more about how we are acting on customers voices and share how customers are influencing what we do in future newsletters. In the meantime, if you’d like to find out more and get involved, fill out the form on this page.