HOUSING ASSOCIATION• Channel Shift Consultancy

oat is a major housing association working across the South East of England to provide high-quality, affordable

homes and services. A key focus for Moat is making the most efficient use of its resources to ensure its customers’ needs are met in the most effective way.

With the help of GOSS, Moat has defined and initiated a phased channel shift strategy that will give more independence to its customers, while freeing up customer-facing staff to work on more complex cases and respond more readily to urgent enquiries and more vulnerable customers.

We knew that many of the enquiries coming into our contact centre could be more efficiently dealt with in other channels, but we wanted to take a strategic approach to managing that shift. GOSS has helped us to understand what channel shift means for Moat and to create an action plan that will ensure we get the best results from it.Mandy Samrai, Head of Business Strategy and Planning, Moat

M

www.gossinteractive.com CASE STUDY

GOSS DELIVERS CHANNELSHIFT STRATEGY FOR LEADINGHOUSING ASSOCIATION

A lifeline for customers in need As one of the UK’s leading housing associations, Moat owns or manages around 20,000 properties across Essex, Kent, Sussex and London. Part of Moat’s role is to provide housing and related services to more than 1,500 vulnerable people, for whom the company can be a lifeline in times of need.

The challenge Moat receives a high volume of calls from customers who want to conduct tasks ranging from paying rent to reporting problems, requesting repairs and discussing welfare issues.

Moat recognised that many customers would prefer to complete at least some of these tasks online, something that would give them a greater degree of independence. Reducing the volume of inbound calls would also free up customer-facing staff to work on more complex problems and prioritise enquiries from the most vulnerable residents. Not least, channel shift could ensure that Moat makes the most efficient and effective use of its resources.

But rather than jump head-first into a new channel strategy, Moat wanted to evaluate the options carefully and understand how channel shift could deliver the maximum benefit to its customers and to Moat itself – now and in the future.

The solution Moat engaged channel shift specialists from GOSS to advise and assist with drawing up a channel shift strategy, including:

Collating data to identify levels of current channel usage and the associated costs to serve customers through different channels (including phone, face, postal mail and face-to-face)

Delivering focus groups with customers to understand how they currently use and perceive the communications channels that Moat makes available to them

Developing a set of eight customer personas, each profiling a typical customer, to ensure the channel shift strategy would cater to the needs of different types of customer

Assessing customers’ propensity to switch channels today and in 5-10 years’ time, as web access technologies change and technology use evolves

Delivering a comprehensive report on the findings with recommendations for an optimum approach to handling customers and enquiries across different channels

The results From the work conducted with GOSS, Moat gained the following benefits:

An understanding of how Moat and its customers can benefit from channel shift, including the types of customer and enquiries that need to remain in higher- cost channels

Insight into the cost of providing service over different channels, particularly the high costs associated with postal communications

Actionable advice on how to design and manage individual channels for best results, including website and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) usability

An action plan which has led to detailed work on shifting more enquiries to the web for two key interactions –rent payment and requesting repairs – with a view to testing the results before expanding the strategy further

A foundation for developing a robust channel shift strategy over the next few years

We knew we needed help in understanding the potential of channel shift and defining a strategy that would work for us. GOSS had the experience and a proven channel shift methodology, and their consultants supported us to crystallise our thinking and establish the best way forward.

Mandy Samrai, Head of Business Strategy and Planning, Moat

Why GOSS Interactive?Leading edge web technology from GOSS Interactive powers some of the UK’s leading websites, including the Met Office, Brittany Ferries, BBC, Berkeley Group, Virgin Trains and over 70 public sector organisations.

GOSS consultants lead strategic projects across the public and private sectors, helping clients to define and implement web, mobile and channel shift strategies that deliver optimal results.

Get started todayFind out how GOSS can help you to develop a channel shift strategy that delivers tangible cost savings while transforming service delivery.

T: 0844 880 3637E: enquiries@gossinteractive.com W: www.gossinteractive.com