Throughout the year, we collect feedback from customers. One of the methods we use is a quarterly phone survey.

Once a year, like all landlords who own more than 1000 homes, we submit the results of the phone survey to the Regulator for Social Housing. The results are known as Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).

The TSMs capture customer views about how well we’re delivering our services, as well as management information about repairs and maintenance, complaints, anti-social behaviour and building safety. They’re intended as a tool to allow customers to scrutinise their landlord’s performance.

MEL Research collect customer feedback for the TSMs on our behalf via a quarterly telephone survey. MEL Research is a specialist organisation, with 40 years’ experience, focused on research and insights. Their role is to contact customers, securely receive and process data, and report on survey results. You can read more about MEL Research by visiting their website directly.

How our quarterly telephone surveys work

Around the middle of every quarter MEL Research spends roughly four weeks contacting 150 customers to ask for their views on:

• repairs
• the condition of their home
• how we handle complaints and anti-social behaviour
• how open we are with our customers
• whether we treat customers with fairness and respect.

There are 12 pre-set questions in the survey, along with a few of our own. Over the course of the year, MEL Research speak to 600 of our customers to ask them for their views and feedback.

Meet some of the people who ask our survey questions

MEL Research contact centre colleagues – Angela, Telephone Unity Manager and Simon, Telephone Interviewer – share more about what goes on behind the scenes of the telephone surveys:

Simon supports other organisations alongside Leeds Federated so speaks to all sorts of people every day to capture their feedback. He aims for at least 50 calls an hour, depending on the length of each survey.

The team speak to a diverse range of people every day. They can change their approach to make sure people have the best opportunity to share their feedback.

Simon and Angela often hear people say ‘thank you’ for taking the time to speak to them and hear their feedback.

How we use the feedback we receive from customers in the telephone surveys

As well as using the results of the telephone surveys for our TSM measures, they help us understand the views and opinions of our customers. This means we can make informed decisions at all levels of the organisation. They also allow us to see what we’re doing well and where we need to make improvements.

The feedback collected by MEL Research has allowed us to:

• continue rolling out our new community-based approach. This helps build stronger communities and improve our local presence
• further develop our online customer engagement platform – Your Voice
• hold more ‘Time to Talk’ webinars for customers to have their say, and learn about, different topics, from damp and mould to service charges
• continue to work on improving our approach to resolving issues relating to damp and mould, including meeting the requirements of the upcoming Awaab’s Law
• welcome another Fire Tester to our team. This has helped us cover absences and provide more opportunities to speak to customers about fire safety in communal and shared areas
• start to review how we can encourage better access to homes so we can successfully complete important safety checks
• overhaul our approach to anti-social behaviour and good neighbourhood management.

Get involved and make a difference

If you’re a Leeds Federated customer and you get a call from MEL Research, please do take part and give them your feedback – it makes all the difference! The survey only takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, and you won’t be asked to complete it more than once a year. Your answers can also be completely anonymous.