Shining a spotlight on our Hillcrest heroes: customer service
Continuing to shine a light on our Hillcrest heroes, we’d like to introduce a team that continues to provide a positive image when customers contact Hillcrest for repairs and housing related enquiries.
The customer service team moved quickly to home working at lockdown and has been successfully set up at home with no detriment to the service delivered to customers.
The lockdown and changes to life have been an anxious time for our tenants and customers but our phone lines have remained open and callers are greeted with a friendly welcoming voice offering reassurance about the services that are available.
The team adapted quickly to the change to services and they ensure that they are only allocating emergency repairs and are asking tenants key Covid-19 questions to maintain the health and safety of our trades staff.
The team deals with such a vast range of enquiries whether it be repairs, alterations, pets, rent, and tenancy support services and never know what their next call will be about. They have dealt with a rise in callers reporting anti social behaviour due to living closely with their neighbours and have been available to offer advice about social distancing, bins, noise and other issues.
The team helped carry out welfare calls to our tenants, and although it was a challenging task and certainly not something they were all used to, it turned out to be a satisfying exercise knowing they were getting help to those who needed it most.
Whilst part of the team has been used to being dispersed from their team members they have all had to cope with the new reality of having partners, pets and children in the mix when answering calls. Not an easy task!
The reception team may not be there to greet staff and callers with a friendly face at Hillcrest Headquarters but they have helped by providing administration support to other Hillcrest departments as required.
Everyone in the team has experienced challenges moving to this new norm but thanks to Yvonne and Jill – the team leaders who have prepared rotas and kept the team motivated through daily contact, the team spirit remains high. It has also been helped along with some laughs through the team’s WhatsApp chat.
Kirsteen Beeching, manager of the customer service team, said: “I am proud of each and every one of them for their resilience and the fact that they have continued to deliver a great service to ensure a positive customer experience. Well done to you all.”