Learning from complaints

To help us embed a culture of learning from complaints at Salix Homes, we launched an internal ‘Live, Grow, Thrive’ campaign. This internal campaign is about highlighting the significance of lessons learned from our complaints and customer feedback. It’s about recognising opportunities for growth, understanding our customers’ experiences, and improving our services.

As part of this campaign, we launched our new ‘Lesson Spotlights’. Our lesson spotlights are created from the key themes from our customer complaints and feedback. Each lesson is a response to the challenges our customers face, aiming not only to address specific issues but also to encourage a proactive and customer focused culture within our teams.

Why we did this

Sharing lessons learned and lesson spotlights across teams helps us to make sure that our interactions with our customers are continually improving. Complaints are valuable touchpoints that provide us with opportunities to listen, understand, and grow.

What our customers told us

Through looking at themes from our customer complaints, we found that a theme was ‘lack of communication’.

For instance, in quarter three of 2023, we received 14 complaints about ‘lack of communication’, particularly concerning delays in returning calls and not informing customers about changes to repair appointments.

In response, we began closely monitoring our call-back performance to ensure it aligns with our Customer Charter commitments. This data is now shared monthly and discussed in operational manager meetings. We also implemented a proactive communication approach in the repairs team as part of a comprehensive service review. Both initiatives improved performance and customer service while also decreasing the number of related complaints. Our customer callback performance has risen from under 70% in September 2023 to 92% in February 2024.

We have been rigorous in our efforts to embed the importance of learning from customer feedback into our service culture. This includes training for colleagues on how to identify and record learning as well as taking action to improve services as a result.

Additionally, improvements and positive actions resulting from feedback are discussed in our ‘Complaints Oversight Group’, which is one of our customer sub-groups.

Our Live Grow Thrive campaign complements the service improvements made. The first lesson spotlight campaign was an organisation wide campaign that focused on the importance of maintaining an open line of communication with our customers and incorporated a hard-hitting campaign about the importance of effective communication and the impact on customers when we don’t get this right. ‘Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes’ is a thread that will run through all our lesson spotlights.

What this means for our customers

Sharing lessons learned and lesson spotlights, helps to encourage a proactive and customer focused culture within our teams. As a result, we’ve already seen positive outcomes for customers, both in terms of reduced complaints in specific areas and improved overall service performance.

Salix Homes is committed to providing high quality, safe and decent homes and we recognise the significant impact that pest infestations can have on people’s health and wellbeing.

In December 2023, we introduced a new Pest Policy outlining our zero-tolerance approach to pests within our customers’ homes, and to ensure we’re providing an effective response to reports of pests, as well as pro-actively identifying unreported cases.

You can read the Pest Policy under the ‘Your home’ section of our policies pages.

The background

Historically in the social housing sector, responsibility for pest management has been ambiguous and we wanted to establish clear expectations for both ourselves as a landlord, and our customers, regarding our respective responsibilities in addressing and preventing pest-related issues.

Prior to the new policy being introduced, customers were responsible for dealing with pests in their homes, other that in exceptional circumstances.

Customers who reported pests to us would be directed to the pest control service at Salford City Council, where costs start at £40 per treatment, with multiple treatments often required.

With the majority of Salix Homes customers receiving benefits or on low incomes, this was an unaffordable expense that most of our customers just couldn’t afford, particularly when they’re already struggling with the impact of the cost of living crisis.

Customer impact

With the cost of pest treatment, difficulties in eradicating the problem and unclear guidelines regarding responsibilities for pests, we recognised that this was causing increased distress and frustration for our customers.

One customer living with a pest infestation told us: “This is having a significant effect on my mental health and the mental health of my children. I want Salix Homes to listen to me and understand the impact this is having on my family.”

We take the condition of our homes very seriously and we want to make sure all our customers’ homes are safe and healthy, and most importantly, that we listen to our customers if they do have any concerns.

Our new and improved approach to dealing with pest issues aims to deliver a solution that directly addresses customer concerns and improves the experience of using our services, delivering a more efficient, transparent, and customer-focused service.

What have we done?

We carried out a review of our internal processes with a view to changing our policy so we could better support our customers and improve our ways of working.

The new pest policy outlines our commitment in ensuring that all reports of pests are addressed appropriately and promptly, and ultimately that all our customers are safe in their homes. This has been underpinned with additional training for our workforce.

We take reports of pests seriously – this includes but is not limited to – rats, mice, bedbugs, larder beetles, fleas, flies and cockroaches.

We carry out property inspections and any appropriate pest control treatment within five working days of it being reported. In some instances, pest treatment alone isn’t sufficient, so we’ll carry out any necessary repairs or remedial work that is required.

If we do carry out pest treatment or repairs in our customers’ homes, then we’ll follow up with them afterwards to ensure the issue has been resolved.

We know pest problems can affect people differently, so we’ll look at each situation individually to see what impact it’s having. If needed, we’ll offer more immediate interventions, including providing alternative, temporary housing options if necessary.

We’re also proactive about finding any pest problems that haven’t been reported to us yet. We do this as part of our neighbourhood management processes and during regular checks on properties, such as tenancy audits and stock condition surveys.

This new approach to dealing with pest issues also feeds into wider operational changes, including the new operating model for our organisation, which we launched in summer 2023.

As part of our new ways of working, we introduced new housing officers who present greater visibility and a friendly and familiar face across our communities. They are more focused and responsible for looking after dedicated neighbourhoods, which includes pro-actively identifying sources of pest infestations in our communities, such as overgrown gardens or fly-tipping.

What’s next?

We will continue to adopt a robust and proactive approach to dealing with reports of pests in our properties.

We’re reviewing our property standards and we’re exploring how we can enhance our property management using data, which helps us better understand our customers’ needs. By getting to know our customers and homes better, we can make sure our services are fit for purpose and that we keep improving. Our goal is to ensure that everyone has a safe, high quality and healthy home.

At Salix Homes, we are committed to providing customers with a decent, safe, secure, well-managed and affordable home. Over the past 18 months, we noticed an increase in the demand for repairs, repair-related calls and complaints from our customers. This prompted our decision to carry out an in-depth repairs review to identify the root causes, and to explore options to improve the service for our valued customers.

Why we’re doing this

Our goal is to implement a new, more efficient service delivery model that not only resolves customers’ repair needs promptly, but also leaves them feeling heard and satisfied with the repairs service and customer experience.

Involving our customers every step of the way

We believe that our customers’ voice matters the most in shaping the services we provide. That’s why we’ve engaged our customers through various channels such as surveys, focus groups, and consultations. This feedback was essential in guiding our review process.

What we’ve done so far

Last year, we initiated a comprehensive review of our repairs service involving a diverse range of customers and stakeholders, as well as the front-line teams delivering the current service.  Central to the review has been extensive input from our Customer Committee, ensuring customer voice is at the heart of shaping the new service.  We have also heavily engaged our Board throughout the review to help challenge and scrutinise our analysis and decision making.

We began by digging deep into analysing complaints, conducting consultations with dissatisfied customers, and gathering insights from staff and contractors involved in service delivery.

Recently, we also completed a series of focus groups to further understand our customers’ experiences and gather valuable feedback on areas that could be improved.

We then shared and discussed our findings and recommendations with our Board and Customer Committee via strategic workshops in Spring 2024.

You said, we listened, we are improving…

We heard lots of useful feedback and identified many great ideas for how we could make changes to improve the customer service, experience and satisfaction.  We are using these insights to develop a new repairs service, and we have also started to trial and test some ideas in response to what we heard already.

Take a look below at a summary of the feedback and key findings, and the recommended actions to shape the new repairs service:

Waiting times for appointments

Increased budget and number of operatives in the establishment for 2024/25 to support the increased demand and reduce wait times for customers. The additional budget has been put into the business plan for five years.

Quality of work

Increased supervision within the new delivery model to ensure quality of repair and workmanship is monitored more closely.

Provide better online portal functionality including ability to record videos and pictures of the job

A new repairs portal and diagnostic tool has been procured and will be rolled out by summer 2024.

Understanding different customer needs and accessibility requirements

We have commissioned Kwest to undertake a customer survey to gather customer data and cleanse the current data we hold as part of our Getting to Know You campaign, and we will use this to tailor the service to our customers’ needs.

Provide virtual video inspections

New software trialled and planned to roll out to increase surveyor productivity.

Improve customer communications

New ways of working to be launched as part of the implementation of the new service model following the success of the trial. This will ensure all customers receive a call the day before their repair, and further contact from the operative on the day to provide an estimated time of arrival. The new model also increases the number of customer liaison posts by one to support customers through major repairs i.e. severe leaks etc. Additionally, we will roll out quarterly focus group meetings with dissatisfied customers to embed a culture of continuous improvement.

Provide more flexible appointments

The new delivery model will offer evening and weekend appointments as standard. We have recently trialled this model and received great customer feedback and a reduction in customer wait times for their repair to be carried out.

Reduce the number of no access challenges

The increased communication with customers, and availability of evening and weekend appointments proved successful in reducing no access rates during the trial and this will be rolled out as a standard approach within the new delivery model.

Provide the ability to book follow on work on site

We will be implementing new measures and technology which allows the operative on site to book their own follow-on works should they not be able to support a first-time fix.

Build flexibility into diaries to increase right first time, and complete other jobs whilst on site

Roll out standard minute values across all jobs and build flexibility into the diary to enable jobs that take longer than originally anticipated to be completed, without impacting other planned jobs.

Sustaining a pipeline of skills and talent for the future

The use of apprenticeships to ensure a pipeline of skills for the future is being considered across the business as part of succession planning. Additionally, we will work closer with contracting partners to make use of apprentices through social value commitments for Salix Homes.

So, what does this mean for our customers and how will it benefit them?

This review isn’t just about identifying problems; it’s about finding solutions that directly address customer concerns and improve their overall experience of our repairs service. By listening to customer feedback, we’re committed to implementing changes that make a tangible difference in how repairs are handled, ensuring a more efficient, transparent, and customer-focused service.

Quality and regulatory assurance

Our actions are not just driven by customer feedback, but also by regulatory standards. Compliance with safety and quality standards is fundamental to us, ensuring that our service meets not only your expectations, but also regulatory requirements. This work will enable us to meet legal requirements under the new Awaab’s Law, as well as adhering to the new consumer standards, which outline that landlords must provide an effective and efficient repairs and maintenance service.

Next steps and expected outcomes

We are currently in the exciting stage of designing and building a new repairs model based on customer insights, and we expect to implement the new service from Autumn this year.

We want to make sure the new service is fit for the future and inclusive, as well as delivering first class service and value for money, to ensure we deliver the best possible service, to benefit all our customers, across all our communities.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress

We’re dedicated to transparency, and we will share regular progress updates with our customers, so they know exactly when changes are happening and what to expect from the new and improved service.