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Section 4 Techniques and Tools

Customer Panels - Count me in: Grampian Housing Association

Grampian Housing Association set up a customer panel in 2003 and to date has conducted three surveys using the panel as a sampling base.

There are 154 members of the panel at present. The panel has aimed to be representative of the Grampian customer base, by age, gender, tenure and geographical area. Recruitment to the panel is a continuous process; efforts are targeted at groups of customers who have been under-represented such as owner occupiers and younger age groups. The panel does not actually meet although some surveys are followed up by informal meetings to discuss survey findings and recommendations in more detail. The panel is managed by an independent consultancy which was felt to provide greater validity to the process, although experience suggests that this may not be as important as had initially been thought.

The first survey was undertaken in February 2004 and achieved a 55 per cent response rate. This survey focused on awareness of the Customer Participation Strategy; how people make contact and raise issues and concerns with Grampian; views on whether Grampian takes account of customer views and how customers might have a bigger say in the affairs of the association. It also gathered views on the issues that future surveys should include.

The second survey was undertaken in May and June 2004; this time a 72 per cent response rate was achieved, thought to have been boosted by the incentive of a £50 gift voucher. The survey focused on the repairs service as it relates to tenants, shared owners and owner occupiers; satisfaction with homes and views on proposals for a new Customer Response Unit.

The most recent survey was conducted in March and April 2005 and focused on views on a proposed Customer Conference. Although this time questionnaires were sent to a greater number of panel members than before, the response rate was similar to the first survey at 54 per cent.

Each survey report is sent to survey participants and gives details of the response of the Association to the findings. One example of action following feedback from service users is the establishment of a Customer Response Unit, in response to issues raised by the panel in contacting the Association with routine enquiries. The most recent survey will help inform and shape the second Customer Conference planned for October 2005.

At each stage, members who did not respond to the last survey are contacted to see if they still wish to remain on the panel. The panel is publicised through other surveys such as the Customer Satisfaction Survey and information is sent out to those who request it. It is also promoted to all customers on an on-going basis by staff, including to new tenants. Although the representativeness of the panel is still an objective for Grampian, they are now taking a more relaxed view about this issue: “our views have relaxed on what’s representative – we were a bit hung up on the science of it”. They now have taken the view that they should not apply a higher standard of ‘representativeness’ to this approach than is taken with other forms of participation. However, they do see it as a key issue that efforts are made to involve younger customers.

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