Customer influence
Over the last year we've successfully created and embedded our customer influence strategy, with the help of our customers. This new strategy is about listening to customers, understanding their needs, learning from feedback and taking action.
It's about strengthening further a culture where the joined-up approach between our customers and our people really helps shape and tailor services to make a difference to people now and in the future.
Customer influence is all about the impact we create by engaging with our customers and understanding expectations, experiences, and needs through feedback, sources of data and information. It helps to build trust and working together it's leading to innovative and effective solutions.
The goal is to create a sustainable and inclusive environment where every customer feels valued and heard. By embedding this customer-centric approach, we're driving continuous improvement and delivering services that meet expectations.
You've made a difference
Here are some examples of how customers have influenced what we do and how we do things.
Making it easier to get in touch
We've been working with over 600 customers through surveys and online webinars to gather thoughts on our contact methods and find areas to improve.
Reducing repair wait times
Getting repairs done within 28 days is essential for several reasons. Primarily, it ensures that homes remain safe and comfortable, preventing any long-term issues.
Shared owner and leaseholder event
We hosted an informal shared owner and leaseholder webinar through which we actively listened to the feedback shared in these conversations and gained invaluable insight.
Fielder Court residents' group, by Kevin Grantham
We started a residents' group around 18 months ago with the help of Sue Willis from VIVID's customer influence team who was extremely helpful and continues to be a great support. We live in a small complex which comprises 19 flats, all of which are for over 55 years only.
The idea behind this group is to encourage our residents to be more involved with what is happening where they live. It's also to further develop a close community feel and it has achieved both of these objectives. We have set up a WhatsApp group where we can pass information to all our residents quickly.
We have a meeting once every 3 months and will always get a turnout of at least 15 of the 19 flats being represented.
Kevin Grantham, VIVID customer
We received a grant from VIVID to start off the group and we now collect £15 per quarter from each flat so we have money to pay for thinsg to improve where we live, that we all can enjoy. We hold the meetings in a local centre, to give us space for everyone to get together easily.
Having a home and community you’re proud of can make all the difference. We have lovely communal gardens and these are maintained by several of our residents and where necessary we purchase flowers or equipment to make sure that it remains to a very high-standard. Everyone in the complex can enjoy this space, catch up, sit in the sun and enjoy a coffee or welcome visitors in a space that brings joy.
We have several residents who are in their 80s and 90s and we all do our best to look after each other. We do have a very good community feel and network. Being independent and staying in your own home means so much — and it’s even better knowing you’ve got a circle of support, help, or friendly faces just a call away.
We have also set up an ICE system so that in case of any emergencies if necessary, we have the contact details of relatives of all of the people who live in our flats.
I believe that by setting up the residents' group it has improved the quality of life of the people who live here and enables us to act quickly when necessary as well as to impart information that is relevant to our flats and the local area. We all take great pride and care of our community and area.
We’re excited to keep building on the strong sense of community we’ve created here at Fielder Court. It’s the little things - sharing a laugh, lending a hand, or simply saying hello - that make this place feel like home. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved together, and we know there’s so much more we can do. We’ll keep making Fielder Court a place where everyone feels welcome, supported, and happy to be.
"We’re excited to keep building on the strong sense of community we’ve created here at Fielder Court. It’s the little things — sharing a laugh, lending a hand, or simply saying hello — that make this place feel like home."
Customers Carol, Mary, Karen and Abbi share their experiences of working together with our teams to help shape many different aspects of our services so we can provide the best customer experience possible.
Carol Glenn
I have been involved in the Neighbourhood Volunteers scheme, and webinars about lots of things including service standards relating to paying rent, customer influence, neighbourhoods and anti-social behaviour. I was also involved and gave my views when VIVID was going through the Tpas resident engagement accreditation process (read more about Tpas accreditation below) and have been part of the Repairs Working Group. Everyone at VIVID is easy to talk to and they're very good listeners. I find it so interesting to look at what is coming up at VIVID as I rent from them and I can ask whatever questions I have. Not many housing associations do as much as VIVID do.
The whole process of being involved in the Tpas accreditation was lovely and the interviewers made me feel at ease. When I did the webinar about payments and rent, the staff were understanding and made me feel listened to and then followed through on what they said they were going to do. An amazing thing that VIVID does is always sending out the notes from the webinars and meetings afterwards so customers know their comments and feedback have been listened to and it shows us that it’s all being actioned. I love getting involved however I can.
Mary Thomson
The focus group was my first time getting involved with VIVID. I came as I was curious about the care and support that's out there for us. It allows VIVID to put a face to our voices and also for us to put a face to staff at VIVID. I felt the meeting was good and it was interesting to meet members of staff and also the other tenants that turned up. Everyone listened well and it was enjoyable.
Karen Hillier
It was a great session, so thank you to VIVID for inviting me. I have signed up before for sessions but never attended so this session was my first. I was interested in getting involved because there isn’t much on the website for autistic or young people. In the future, I think they should have outreach sessions for communities because VIVID covers a massive area and I think that if you were to go to rural areas to have sessions with groups, this would be helpful. The session was attended by a few people, so it would be good to get other people’s views as well.
Abbi Lenton
All of the staff were lovely and very helpful and attentive. It was great to meet some faces behind the work! Although many of us attendees fell astray and veered more towards voicing general opinions of VIVID rather than focusing on the help articles. However, while the staff were answering the other customers’ questions, it did actually give me some time to think, explore the "Help and support" part of the website on my mobile and offer feedback. This focus group session was a good place to start, with attentive and kind staff, who truly listen to you. I have signed up to be involved in future focus groups, volunteering and reviewing policies so I can continue to give feedback.
Thank you to Carol, Mary, Karen and Abbi for their positive feedback and for helping shape what and how we do things. We're delighted to be launching the first of our new service standards in July and making continuous improvements to our online information and services taking into account the feedback received.
Our achievements over the last year include:
customers are signed up to get involved with shaping services
customer touchpoints (events, webinars, surveys)
hours donated by involved customers
Tpas accreditation
In March this year we were awarded the Tpas accreditation for landlords. Gaining this accreditation signals the effectiveness of our strong culture of customer involvement and influence to help drive the continuous improvement of our homes and services.
Tpas are England’s leading customer engagement experts. They promote, support and champion customer involvement and empowerment in social housing across England.
To receive accreditation, our staff and customer volunteers went through a rigorous process, which included a framework to self-assess customer involvement, tested through reality checks, visits, and interviews.
Our accreditation will last three years and has given us useful recommendations for improvement and has highlighted where we're doing things well. The opportunities to learn from others during this process was fantastic.
Jenny Osbourne MBE, Chief Executive of Tpas said:
“We’re delighted that VIVID has successfully been accredited with Tpas. By completing the meticulous process to become an accredited housing organisation, you have demonstrated your continuing commitment to the values we share. Tpas believes that involving tenants in all aspects of service delivery in the housing sector is not only the right thing to do but also makes great business sense.”
This is a significant milestone that reflects our dedication, hard work and commitment to putting customers at the centre of everything we do.
Express your interest to get involved
We offer a wide range of different involvement, engagement and participation opportunities for customers, such as our Customer Service Committee, panels and select groups, neighbourhood volunteers, resident groups and surveys. By getting involved you’ll be supporting communities, co-developing our service, learning new skills and ensuring the customer voice is being heard and acted upon.
Why not join the 1,488 customers already making a difference to the services that we offer?
