Back in 2021, we discussed the importance of modernising tenant complaints, and improving the escalation of complaints to the housing ombudsman. However, one year later, housing associations are yet to introduce complaints processes that empower tenants to raise complaints with the belief that the complaints will be dealt with.
Once complaints have been resolved, the next step for housing associations is to prevent complaints. Now, that it easier said that done. Its not easy to predict when boilers will break, when fence panels will blow down, or when anti-social behaviour will cause damage to properties. But housing providers can easily predict and carry out general maintenance, which can spot repairs before it leads to more serious complaints.
Predictions can be made by identifying areas of improvement, and by looking at trends. Heavy rain is associated with leaks and damp and appliances naturally deteriorate over time so will need more maintenance – once you begin looking at property and tenant statistics many common issues follow similar patterns.
A feedback loop is key
Housing associations need to learn from each complaint made against them – whether it’s a repair or customer service issue. All complaint data can be used to measure what’s currently going on, learn about solutions, and predict future complaints. This feedback loop could be a game changer for housing associations, if only they could get through the complaints quickly enough to put a solution in place.
Predicting tenant complaints will reduce the overall number of complaints – keeping your tenant satisfied. It symbolises a proactive organisation that cares about its tenants and reduces the amount of firefighting needed from the customer service and repairs teams.
Power Automate Process Advisor
Microsoft’s new Power Automate Process Advisor is one way that housing associations can understand how complaints are currently being handled, and the software then offers insight and analysis to better automate processes and prioritise tasks.
“Process advisor is a process mining capability in Power Automate that provides a deeper understanding of how people how and provides insights about time-consuming processes best suited for automation.”
It guides users towards process optimisation, with bottleneck visualisations and process recorders that create rich process maps and in-depth analysis. With just five steps users can identify which processes need optimising, collaborate with colleagues to review all current ways of working, record the processes, annotate and condense, and then analyse the process map created by the software.
Simple automation and process reviews can speed up the complaints process, predict future complaints, and the prevent a large number of repairs that often lead to dissatisfied customers.
