Mystery tenant expections 'driving improvements' at Basildon ALMO

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities

St Georges Community Housing residents are driving home improvements in Basildon after 22 tenants were recruited as ‘mystery shoppers’.

The residents are employed as volunteers to secretly assess the quality of St Georges services by making a series of ‘test’ enquiries into areas such as repairs and property maintenance and older people’s services.

The shoppers scrutinise the services every three months and report to the Board and fellow residents who then consider whether any improvements need to be made.

The mystery shopping team, whose membership has now been increased to 35 residents, has already prompted changes including a review of St Georges Community Housing’s texting service, proving itself an invaluable aid to maintaining high standards of service.

Following input from the shoppers, St Georges Community Housing’s Customer Advisors have also been reminded to make sure that they always give customers a works order reference number, priority code and timescale of works.

St Georges Community Housing recruited the shoppers after posting an advert in the summer edition of St Georges News. The new members come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences so as to reflect the diversity of residents.

Steve Shynn, Chief Executive of St Georges Community Housing, said the mystery shopping team would be integral in shaping St Georges Community Housing services.

“Mystery shopping is important because tenants and leaseholders are involved in helping us to continually improve and develop our services to ensure they remain effective in meeting the changing needs of our residents.

“The initiative has already proved successful and the mystery shopping team has prompted a number of positive changes, demonstrating that our own customers are the best people to test the quality of services. Now, with an additional 22 members we will be able to put even greater emphasis on customer feedback when delivering services.”

Training for the new reps in mystery shopping techniques will commence shortly and will focus on giving an overview of how the Mystery Shopping programme works. They will also be involved in helping to shape the new way in which mystery shopping will be carried out in the future.