Background
What are Reality Checks?
What is mystery shopping?
What are Customer Inspectors?
Who are Customer Inspectors?
What do Customer Inspectors do?
Customer Inspectors Training and Support
Guide and Agreement to being a Customer Inspector
Is being a Customer Inspector enjoyable?
What do Customer Inspectors gain?
Services checked to date
Results of some previous checks
Contact us
In 1999 Bolton at Home (or Bolton Housing as it was then) decided to
develop a process for reality checks/mystery shopping to improve services.
At that time members of BATRA (Bolton Affiliation of Tenants & Resident
Associations) carried out the checks.
It was later agreed with BATRA (Bolton Affiliation of Tenants & Resident
Associations) that volunteer customers should be used to check the services.
Recruitment for volunteer Customer Inspectors began in 2001/2002 with the
first Customer Inspector reality check taking place in August 2002.
The programme for April 2006 – March 2007 includes 24 checks, based on 2 checks per month.
Reality Checking is checking the reality of a service provided, eg the
standard of an estate or the standard of a property which is available for
relet. Customer Inspectors will walk round the estate or the property with
an agreed checklist to confirm whether the standards Bolton at Home say they
provide are actually being provided. This is the reality!
Customer Inspectors either visit or telephone Bolton at Home, posing as a customer with an agreed scenario to request information or a service, to check the response, advice and help they receive. This again confirms whether the standards Bolton at Home say they provide are actually being provided.
Customer Inspectors are volunteers who work on behalf of Bolton at Home in checking the standard of services provided, reporting back their findings and ensuring that those findings and any recommendations made are acted upon and relevant improvements made.
Anyone with an interest in Bolton can become a Customer Inspector:
We always ensure that the majority of Customer Inspectors are, in fact, tenants but welcome anyone wishing to be involved for their experience and new ideas.
Customer Inspectors carry out Reality Checks and Mystery Shopping to help
Bolton at Home improve services. Results of the checks are presented back to
the Senior Manager of the service, together with recommendations the
Customer Inspectors wish to make. The Manager will then investigate and
respond to the findings and recommendations and confirm any actions and
improvements they are to take as a result of the findings.
This is where you can truly make a difference in telling us where we need to
improve and where we are doing well.
Customer Inspectors receive generic training in Health & Safety,
Presentation Skills, Confidentiality, Equality & Diversity, Meeting Skills,
Code of Conduct and Assertiveness. Customer Inspectors also receive training
in the service areas before each check.
Together with the Service Manager, they will agree what they want to check
and how they will undertake the check – visiting offices, telephoning
services, visiting customers, postal questionnaires etc. Customer Inspectors
decide, as a group, when and how their check will be conducted and take
responsibility for assisting with the analysis of the results and ensuring
that feedback and action is taken by the Service Manager.
Customer Inspectors receive the full support of the Service Development
Manager responsible for running this project and work with the Best Practice
& Performance Team in collating the information and reporting the findings.
Customer Inspectors chose which checks they wish to undertake according to
their interest and availability.
To ensure Customer Inspectors and Bolton at Home are working together to
carry out the checks in a professional manner, a Job Description was
developed. This has now been developed with Customer Inspectors and is now
called ‘Your Guide & Agreement to being a Customer Inspector’.
This details clearly what being a Customer Inspector means, the
responsibility of both Customer Inspectors and Bolton at Home, and what
everyone can expect. This allows us all to work together feeling safe in the
knowledge of what is expected.
Most of the Customer Inspectors who signed up at the beginning of this
project are still with us. Our Customer Inspectors tell us they enjoy the
work, meeting with each other, meeting other officers, the very nice
biscuits offered at all meetings, and lunches when time and budget allows.
We have received a number of thank you letters from previous and current
Customer Inspectors. Some of their quotes are given below:
Most of all our Customer Inspectors feel great satisfaction in being involved in making a difference to services which directly affect them. They enjoy meeting the officers and learning about the service areas and when changes happen and improvements become real, then it all becomes worthwhile.
Apart from a great feeling of satisfaction in seeing their work making a
difference in improving services, a number of previous Customer Inspectors
have left us to return to full time employment, stating quite clearly, that
joining and working with the Customer Inspectors helped them regain
confidence and feel ready to return to paid employment.
Customer Inspectors receive expenses, lunches when appropriate and
certificates confirming their attendance at training. This, we have learnt,
is useful to Customer Inspectors to keep as part of their Record of
Achievement and can be used when wishing to apply to join other courses,
college or job applications.
Every possible action is taken to ensure your work is safe as well as
rewarding. Personal alarms, A-Zs, flasks, biscuits, waterproofs, contact
numbers are provided before each check. Customer Inspectors have received
training in Personal Safety and refresher training is ongoing.
Ongoing generic training in a variety of areas is also offered – Health &
Safety, Presentation Skills, Confidentiality, Equality & Diversity, Meeting
Skills, code of Conduct, Assertiveness.
5 reality checks of ready to let properties have taken place. As a result of these and an inspection by the Audit Commission a new Agreed Lettable Standard was developed with the Customer Inspectors and was put in place in May 2004. Standards are now consistent across the borough and continue to improve.
5 reality checks on different estates have taken place. New initiatives have been introduced to improve the environment and further regular checks are to continue to ensure standards are being met and improvement continues.
2 mystery shops have taken place. Specialist teams are now in place to help deal with Anti Social Behaviour. The mystery shops identified areas of weakness and assisted the teams in ensuring that the service provides high levels of support and information throughout the process.
2 reality checks have taken place. Feedback from these checks ensures that future literature is printed in a clear format, using easy to understand language with colours and layout which do not hinder the reader. The website is being developed in accordance with feedback received from these checks to ensure the design is clear, links are easy to use and the whole process is “user friendly” (users can easily follow instructions to help them find what they want).
2 reality checks have taken place. Resulting from these checks a new Block Caretaking standard has been introduced to those Blocks where a Caretaking Service is in place. This Caretaking standard was developed with Customer Inspectors and was put in place from May 2005.
2 mystery shops have taken place. Improved customer care, support for use of the new Kiosks, access to and within the offices and improved signage were identified. Action has been taken to ensure these issues are addressed.
If you would like to learn more about becoming a Customer Inspector, please contact Gill Tuke, Service Development Manager (Performance) on 01204 335645. You will be invited for an informal chat before you decide whether becoming a Customer Inspector is right for you.
Best Practice and Performance Team,
Bolton at Home,
1-3 The Courtyard,
Calvin Street,
The Valley,
Bolton at Home
BL1 8PB
Tel: 01204 335645
Fax: 01204 335662
Email: gill.tuke@boltonathome.org.uk
If you require this information in another format i.e. large print, audio or
translated into Urdu or Gujarati please telephone 01204 335744.
