The Challenge

Orbit Housing recognised that their Shared Service Centre (SSC) needed to improve and modernise the way it engaged with its customers. The way that a service centre operates has a significant impact on how the rest of the organisation can efficiently process customer contacts and more fundamentally how it can deliver on the overall customer experience. Orbit’s twin aims were to improve customer experience and satisfaction at point of contact, while ensuring that they could respond more quickly and effectively to customer requests.  

Orbit’s approach to customer engagement had been quite traditional, based primarily on contact via phone. This approach was failing due to outdated technology, increased demand and a lack of integration with their operational teams. 

£10 million of savings identified and delivered

The Response

We worked with Orbit staff at all levels, capturing their experience and insight, to create a new customer engagement model that used digital technology more effectively. The requirements of the customer and the customer engagement team were at the heart of the design process. We ensured we understood what they needed through delivering a combination of 1-2-1 meetings and workshops. 

 The new engagement model had to provide a return on investment, so once we had developed the new approach, we provided Orbit’s senior management team with a detailed analysis describing the cost, risk and benefits of implementation. 

The Outcome

Our approach ensured that both senior management and the customer engagement team were equally committed to the new vision for supporting their customers. Deliverables included a new customer engagement model, supported by a ‘Service Catalogue’ that describes the new way of working; a detailed cost-benefit analysis; and an implementation plan. 

51%

of all customer transactions are now completed digitally or online

Orbit Housing moved from 47th into the Top 25 Housing Organisations in 24 Housing magazine’s annual listing, in just two years.