Hammersmith & Fulham Council and its contractors Mitie are pioneering a new approach to giving residents in council homes the best repairs and maintenance service in the country, based on real-time feedback from residents.
From June 2016, residents who have contacted Mitie to report a fault or request a repair are being invited to rate the service they have received and share their thoughts via text. Their comments are being used to help understand residents’ needs better, improve processes and drive employee engagement.
Customer engagement company Rant & Rave is running the new system. Their technology collates and analyses every comment instantly and routes the results back to the appropriate contacts within Mitie so they can take action. This real-time method means that residents who are less than satisfied will be able to be contacted quickly and have their issues resolved.
The innovative partnership replaces the previous method of capturing feedback via telephone calls, which would often take place weeks after a job and only reached a small percentage of their residents. By getting feedback from far more residents, Mitie hopes to get a more accurate representation of the biggest drivers of tenant satisfaction and frustration.
Mitie has also invested in Rant & Rave’s Frontline Engagement module so that every single Mitie operative will see the feedback tenants give about them and will be able to identify their own areas of improvement.
Marcus Cox, Director of Operations, Mitie said:“This is a huge step change for us and we’re excited to invest in such pioneering and innovative software. Our new partnership with Rant & Rave will not only give us a competitive advantage now but it will allow us to continually improve by getting closer to our residents than ever before.”
Cllr Ben Coleman, Hammersmith & Fulham’s Cabinet Member for Resident Satisfaction, said:“We want to make H&F council and our contractors the best in the country. Mitie’s commitment to raise its game further by exposing itself to transparent, real-time feedback from residents is very welcome.”
Dennis Fois, CEO, Rant & Rave, said:“It’s great to welcome Mitie to the customer revolution and to see them using innovative technology to lead their sector.”