Customer service at CHP
It’s National Customer Service Week and we’re celebrating the importance of great customer service. To us, great customer service means treating you fairly and with respect, responding quickly to your enquiries, and being clear and consistent with how we communicate with you. It also means listening and acting on your feedback and delivering what we say we will. Our goal is to support you to live happily in your home and we’re always looking for ways to make your experience a positive one.
When we think of customer service we often just think of the person at the other end of the phone or the employee standing in front of us helping with our enquiry. But in an organisation like ours, everyone is responsible for giving our 27,000 customers a positive experience. Here are just some of the people you’re likely to receive services from over your lifetime in one of our homes.
Customer Resolution Centre
Our friendly team in the Customer Resolution Centre (CRC) are the first people you’ll speak to when you contact us, whether that’s by phone, email, web chat, or social media. The CRC are here to help with information and advice. They’ll always try to answer your queries the first time you contact us, from rent or tenancy enquiries, to calls about repairs. Last year they resolved 72% of your enquiries first time around. They answered 90,445 calls, received 24,686 emails, responded to 2,657 Live Chats, and replied to 763 messages asking for help on social media.
"I really love my job because I get to help people, and the different calls we handle keep things interesting. Learning new things all the time is something I find exciting, and my team is incredibly supportive, which makes it even better”, said CRC Advisor, Liz.
Districts, Income, and Tenancy Sustainment
We have several teams that work in different ways to support you with sustaining your tenancy and neighbourhood. Our Neighbourhood Advisors on our District Team spend lots of time out in the community building relationships, and along with our partners, help take care of you and your communities. If you need support with paying your rent or managing your money, or you need welfare and benefit advice, then our Income Team will be there to help. Last year they helped customers claim over £415,000 worth of additional benefits. If you’re experiencing challenges in your home or community such as anti-social behaviour (ASB), domestic abuse, and hoarding, our Tenancy Sustainment Team will be there for support. Last year they had 575 cases of ASB, 141 cases of domestic abuse, and six cases of hoarding.
Community Investment and Engagement
The Community Investment and Engagement Team provide opportunities for customers and the wider community to meet people, learn new skills, and take part in activities. They organise social events, regular clubs, and work with partners to offer training courses. Last year we had almost 4,000 visits to our Parkside Community Hub and over 750 learning opportunities were accessed. The team also manage our customer engagement programme giving you several different ways to share your opinions, be heard, and help shape our services. Over 400 of you got involved last year.
Customer Feedback
If you make a complaint, it will be handled by our Customer Feedback Team who manage your feedback. They let us know if you’re happy or unhappy with a service we’ve delivered, share best practice across the business, and help us learn from complaints. Last year they managed 203 complaints, 71% of which were resolved at the first stage.
Welcome
When you rent one of our homes your application will be handled by our Welcome Team. They let 926 homes last year. They also manage transfers, help families swap homes through mutual exchange, and support local authorities with providing temporary accommodation for people at risk of homelessness across Essex.
Operations and Building Safety
We also have a large Operations Team that are responsible for repairing, maintaining, and modernising your home along with preparing empty homes for new tenants. Last year they carried out over 18,100 emergency, planned, and responsive repairs. Our Building Safety Team carry out checks to help make sure your home is safe. Our Grounds Maintenance Team keep the communal gardens around our blocks and sheltered schemes maintained by cutting grass, maintaining trees and shrub beds, trimming hedges, and clearing weeds.
If you want to give feedback on our customer service visit our Compliments and complaints page or you can help shape our services by visiting our Get involved page. Alternatively, call 0300 555 0500 to speak to our CRC.