Lampton Services - Smart Review Journey

Wednesday 21st of August 2024

Tpas was delighted to work with Lampton Services (DLO at Hounslow), as they undertook the Tpas Contractor SMART review earlier this year.  Our National Consultancy Manager, Gillian McLaren carried out this review for the organisation.

 The SMART review consists of the following processes:  

1. A self-assessment against the Tpas Contractor Resident Engagement Standards 

2. Reality checking with key staff and customers through virtual platforms  

3. A headline report with recommendations for improvements; good practice and learning from the sector  

The Smart looks at five areas of involvement, and resident engagement:

1. Encourages Engagement

2. Responds to Challenge

3. Respects Residents

4. Communicate Effectively

5. Supports Local Communities

A Smart Review is an independent way of determining your resident engagement level. While there is no pass or fail with a Smart Review, you will be informed of good practices we find and any recommendations you should develop.

Read on to find out more. If you have a DLO who wants some independent observation on its processes for resident engagement, please contact us at consultancy@tpas.org.uk.

 

Lampton’s need for a Customer Charter – our Smart Review journey

At the start of 2023, Lampton identified a gap in our customer engagement and a need for a Customer Charter to share openly with our valued customers what we would deliver for them.

In Spring 2023, we launched an internal campaign for colleagues, to analyse how we could put our customers at the heart of everything we do.  Primarily we launched an internal communications campaign to engage with colleagues and to identify key customer service drivers.  The campaign included sharing regular messaging and graphics to engage colleagues on the topic of customer service. We also held face-to-face workshops with colleagues to discuss out how we wanted to improve customer care.

The outcome we identified as the key driver for great customer service was our passion for what we do and the services we provide.

The importance of having a Customer Charter

Lampton want our customers to trust that we will do exactly what we promise.  We believe that maximum transparency and keeping our customers informed, builds trust and the foundation to a thriving customer base and relationships.

Promoting a culture that values our staff was of equal important to Lampton. When colleagues feel valued, they take more pride in their work and provide better services to customers. To achieve this, we needed to increase engagement with our colleagues and build trusting relationships with open dialogue around customer service provision.

For Lampton to provide an excellent service, we also needed to engage with customers and hear their voices. This was a crucial part of how our charter was conceived. We felt that our Customer Charter needed to cover several aspects. This included the services we provide, our standards, timescales, customer feedback, comments, compliments, and complaints. In identifying these areas, we needed to invite our customers to participate in the project so they could form the backbone of our commitment, rather than Lampton assuming what they wanted. 

To ensure customer voices were heard and included in the development of our charter, throughout 2023, we attended several community events to meet with our customers in person and hear their voices.  In July 2023, we carried out a “Customer Big Day”, which was a door knocking survey to ask our customers if they would like to get involved and help shape our Customer Charter.

The feedback process

In November 2023, we pulled together several customer workshops to undertake a consultation on our first attempt to present a draft Customer Charter.  The workshops consisted of a presentation, setting the scene and our objectives, sharing with our customers what this charter should cover and establishing what input we wanted from them. Breakout groups were then formed with our customers and residents for discussion to capture strengths, gaps, customer improvements needed, recommendations and feedback.  This encouraged our customers to share their views and thoughts and raise any concerns.  This provided Lampton with invaluable insight into what our customers wanted, while also giving us an excellent framework from which to build a complete Customer Charter that works for everyone.

Positive outcomes

 

Through the process outlined above, Lampton found that our customers had an opportunity to get involved and form our commitment to them. The charter not only demonstrates to customers what they can expect from our services, but also acts as a guide to our employees outlining what is expected of them and how they can contribute to the delivery of an exceptional customer experience.

We also received feedback on things that we had to improve on to drive improvements. Specifically, we were informed that it would be helpful to be clearer on timescales and our standards. We have now taken rigorous steps to address this.

Lampton recognises the fact that this cannot be a ‘one-off’ initiative and continuous engagement with customers is needed to improve what we do. We will continue to attend community events and undertake regular customer satisfaction surveys to keep listening to our customers and residents of Hounslow.

 

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