How research can deliver change in social housing CX, that’s built to last.

Interview by Emma Miller

The past year has made us reconsider the meaning of home and how much we value connection and community. For all but those who rely on it, social housing is often seen as an afterthought. Approaches to capturing customer views about customer experience within housing can be rigid and often fall short of customer needs. But what if you were to break the mould? Using the benefits of research and insight to really hear how customers feel, think and behave, while also ensuring you are in a strong position to deliver against emerging regulatory requirements, is possible.

Until recently, Naomi held the position of Head of Business Insights & Performance at Alliance Homes Group. During her time at Alliance Homes, we have worked with Naomi to support her research needs, and shared the virtual stage at the CX2020 Housing Conference to explore the topic of customer segmentation.

As 2021 began, Naomi started a new chapter in her career as Director at Customer Voice, a customer insight and experience specialist. She remains as passionate as ever about the value of organisations adopting a ‘customer-first’ approach, and the need for focused, effective insight. We were fortunate enough to interview Naomi, as she reflected on her experiences and shared advice for anyone wanting to better understand their customers.

Q.) How did you get started working in Insight: what sparked your interest in this field? 

A.) I’ve had a long-held fascination with how people think and behave. After completing my Sociology Degree, I wanted to pursue a career that enabled human behaviour and opinion to evidence decision making. My first step was working agency-side, getting out there and doing the research. I then moved client-side where I learned the difference between research and insight – the latter being the need to establish clear, evidenced recommendations that could be implemented. Being the voice of the customer is a critical and privileged position in any business.

Q.) Why did you want to work in the housing sector?

A.) My personal values and life experiences really directed me to housing. As a sector, there is a real opportunity to establish some core needs-based insight to drive service improvements. In a sector where there is little choice or control for end users, it is really motivating to know that evidence-based insight can drive meaningful improvements and experiences for residents. 

Q.) How have your experiences within the housing sector changed your outlook on what success looks like for insight and research initiatives? 

A.) In more commercial settings, successful insight is often measured in terms of sales, profit or brand appeal. But in the housing sector there is scope to see the success of good customer voice activity through the lens of real people and real lives. We know through research that ‘home’ is the most important foundation structure for people and their wellbeing. If it goes wrong (if it doesn’t feel safe; if it is of poor quality; if it doesn’t meet the needs of individuals) then this negatively impacts on other areas of peoples’ lives. There is a powerful opportunity in housing to really see and measure the impact through good quality insight activity. There is commercial value to research, too – helping to improve efficiencies for organisations, which in turn frees up more resource to invest. 

Q.) What question do you get asked most by colleagues when managing insight projects, or presenting findings?

A.) That’s a really interesting question. In the housing sector, more than other sectors, the questions are around reliability and validity. I think this stems from the fact that historical methods of resident engagement don’t necessarily enable true customer voice to come through. And so delivering robust and representative customer voice for the first time can highlight a more negative narrative. I think we are in a sector which has been more comfortable with a good news narrative. When results haven’t reflected this, ‘how representative’ the results are can be called into question.  

Q.) What’s your favoured approach when faced with (and overcoming) internal objections and barriers to support for research activities, and enabling insight to be turned into action?

A.) It has to start with delivering robust research which is statistically valid and can’t be dismissed. It’s really important to counteract some of those ‘representation’ questions. My favoured approach is to establish some core activity and then map an improvement plan over a realistic time period. I believe there is sometimes a desire to run before we can walk. As a result, the journey can sometimes feel overwhelming. Preliminary qualitative assessment is a cost-effective way to begin making the business case for better understanding your customers, providing an opportunity to evaluate where you are now before turning attention to the bigger question: where do (and should) we go next? In any organisation there are tangible areas of success, so it’s also important to highlight these and really build organically through early adopters and insight champions.

Q.)  How is research used within the housing sector to inform the customer experience?

A.) In other sectors ‘need’ would very much be regarded as a ‘hygiene factor’. If you are not meeting needs, your customer will leave and go elsewhere. But without choice, our customers are not able to vote with their feet. We need to understand this and seek to improve our service as if we had the same threats and consequences that are present within sectors operating in a competitive market environment. In housing, we seem to have jumped straight to measuring satisfaction with services that haven’t necessarily been developed through a needs-based position – in this sense, research is sometimes used to rubber stamp a position rather than at the start of a decision making process. In my experience, we often don’t have the information we need to be able to make informed decisions about how we must deliver services. For example, what proportion of customers are unable to read or make phone calls? This isn’t about service preference, but customer capability.

And then, of course, there is the issue of the duty we have under the Equality Act. At its core is the requirement to design services that meet the needs of any customers who have protected characteristics. Unless you really know your customers, this may prove challenging. It’s important to recognise that the onus isn’t on an individual customer ‘presenting’ with a difficulty. But designing an inclusive offer that considers wider needs – something that is built into regulation in other sectors with requirements for vulnerable customer policies and service offers.

Q.)  In terms of working within the boundaries of guidance and regulations, does this lead to a culture that is more reactive and responsive, potentially stifling progressive and innovate initiatives?

A.) It’s true to say that we seem to be in a state of ‘waiting to be directed’ by the latest reports or guidance. We talk a great deal about wanting to achieve great customer experience, but rather than focusing on how to achieve this (which, for me, starts with an outside-in approach) as a sector I would say that we could sometimes be accused of being preoccupied with naval gazing – waiting to see what consumer regulation may be introduced before we act.

Q.)  Some would argue that research delivers ‘soft’ benefits while requiring ‘hard’ investment costs. What do you say to that position?

A.) Put simply, if you can better understand how to meet our customers’ needs, you improve much more than the customer experience. The impact of any identified difficulties or needs will likely also shine a spotlight on how current service design is failing not only customers but the organisation itself. Done right, research can identify and drive savings elsewhere in service design. Any investment in research can quickly look like money well spent when compared against the tangible cost and efficiency savings that can come as a direct result of better aligning its service with customers’ needs. Other sectors don’t have the same requirement to involve their customers in the design of their product or service but they still invest in customer voice. Why? Because it drives the bottom line.

Q.)  Where do you believe research can add its greatest value to housing organisations?

A.) Without doubt, it’s in helping organisations to redesign both their offer and shaping their communications channel strategy to provide a service experience that is truly accessible and inclusive. Be prepared for research to cast a spotlight on concerns. Instead of lowering motivation and leading to the organisation feeling threatened, it should instead be viewed as a powerful position to build success. After all, is the objective to be appearing to be doing well, or do you want to really do a better job for your customers? 

Q.)  If you could share one piece of advice with anyone thinking about conducting customer research, what would it be?

A.) Without over-generalising, I think housing is a sector that is obsessed with data. But many don’t know what to do with it. There are external research specialists out there who have the expertise and capability to support you on the journey. They can help you ensure the direction of travel is broken down to a bite-sized roadmap—with clear recommendations for next steps. External partners also ensure you comply with the standards set out in the research sector for fully protecting confidentiality and anonymity – areas we know customers regard as necessary and are important in achieving a representative voice.

Focus on the areas that will have the most impact. Feeding research and insight into shaping revisions in customer service training is a particularly good example. Secondly, ensure your approach offers multiple methodologies and channels so you can hear from a greater number of customers; a representative cross section (which you can evidence through your segmentation); and deliver an inclusive approach – that meets the different engagement needs. And finally, it’s vital to not see research as a moment in time activity to provide information for the purposes of providing a metric for your reporting requirements. It can (and does) offer so much more than that. It can bring visible benefits to both your customers and organisation. That’s a ‘win-win’ that you cannot afford to ignore. 

Naomi Sweeting, Director of Voice Customer, speaking to Emma Miller, Research & Insight Director at Solutions Research.