Sioned Hughes assesses progress so far in housing in moving transactions online.
When it comes to digitalisation, success is putting customers at the heart of the process.
In 2016, Altair and 3C, specialist IT consultants, carried out research on transformation and innovation in the housing sector. We published three reports in our series ‘Future Gazing, Future Shaping’, which analysed the results of our sector-wide survey and series of interviews that were designed to cover three main areas:
- What is the vision for the sector in 2025?
- How are organisations currently approaching transformation?
- What innovative ideas are being implemented (in and out of the sector) which organisations can learn from, to transform the way they operate in the future?
The digitalisation of services becoming the norm was one prediction amongst many Since then, the housing sector has moved on quickly. We wanted to see how our predictions from 2016 matchup to reality and to see how the sector’s views about technology, transformation and innovation has changed, so we re-launched our survey.
Early indications show that 75 per cent of respondents stated that digitalisation is a key priority for the next three years and that most housing associations now have some form of digital strategy in place.
When looking at the drivers for digitalisation, you see that it is about wanting to improve services and better understand the customer. Housing associations recognise that:
- Customers’ expectations are changing – they now want to be able to talk to you across multiple media and for you to have instant access to all their previous interactions and transactions.
- Current ways of working are barriers to delivering good services. We are all accessing services 24/7 in other areas of our life such as banking and shopping. Introducing the ability to self-serve on high volume customer transactions such as reporting repairs or checking the balance on accounts can bring the same benefits.
- Good data is key to understanding the customer/tenant better. Relevant, up-to-date data that is readily accessible helps inform staff in their day-to-day decisions as well as informing the design of future improvements and new products and services.
From those who have already responded, only about 15 per cent of organisations have 50 per cent or more of their transactions conducted online now, but 85 per cent of them are aiming to shift 50 per cent of more of their transactions online in the future. The importance of data comes through strongly too, with 87 per cent working towards digitalising data tracking of customer satisfaction.
If you and your organisation are considering how you digitally transform your services, Colin Sales, managing director of 3C Consultants outlined some key principles he and his team apply to help the transformation process.
- Focus on customer need– start with the customer need then use data not assumptions to drive decisions. For example, Google Analytic provides a wealth of performance data free of charge and has revealed that within the sector 69 per cent of access is now via smartphone. It has also shown that women aged between 40 and 50 are commonly the most active group, and between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning is the time when most online access occurs.
- Leadershipis key, the transformation process will not happen unless the CEO and senior leadership team give their unequivocal support to the project and actively lead from the front. As one survey respondent said, ‘digitalisation is more about a mindset than the kit.’
- Share the digital vision– to get staff on board, get your key messages out there and celebrate success. Digitalisation means automation, automation means you can use people for their expertise not for processing.
- Simplify and automate– most people will choose to go digital providing it’s quick and easy. Identify the quickest and most effective route from A to B.
- Motivate people– think about how you promote the service and can incentivise its use. A number of housing associations are providing support to get people online or incentivising. One housing association has reduced the rent in return for customers/tenants moving online and paying on time. Whilst that would not be an option for everyone it gives you a flavour of what can be done.
- Benchmark – to measure success you need to know your starting point, so carry out an initial performance benchmarking exercise which will help you to map your journey and celebrate the progress you’re making.
- Talk to others –it’s important to take advantage of other organisations’ experience both in and out of the sector, talk to those who have implemented programmes and who know what ‘good’ looks like and how it is best achieved. You will not be pioneers so don’t try and reinvent the wheel.
The pace of change is fast and we all need to be embracing digitalisation, that is no longer a prediction, but for it to be successful it needs to have customers/tenants’ needs and demands at the heart of the process.
Sioned Hughes is principal consultant at Altair. For the full survey results go to altairltd.co.uk/2016/11/housing-sector-transforming-now. To talk to us about your work or want to hear about our survey results, contact: Michael Appleby – Michael.appleby@altairltd.co.uk or 07545 314 749; Graham Hishmurgh – graham.hishmurgh@altairltd.co.uk or 07940 569 395; or Colin Sales – colin.sales@3cconsultants.co.uk or 07810 543008.