Data gathering is only the first step of any process to drive improvement. More important is how this is translated into meaningful information that can be used to influence services.

To know and understand what customers think and how they are likely to act, information needs to be not just factual - such as age and family status - but also about attitudes, needs and increasingly, aspirations.

It is this insight that allows organisations to communicate more effectively and allows services to be tailored in such a way that it is truly aligned to needs and expectations. And of course, keeping on top of the dynamics of changing circumstances is an on-going process.

Even with housing providers keen to take it forward, approximately 40% do not have the systems and information in place to make it a reality. This will of course change over time, particularly with more guidance now available and an increased willingness to share knowledge and experience.

The tie in with the Government's Big Society and the Localism agenda is also clear. At a local level, organisations will need to develop greater understanding of the characteristics of the neighbourhoods and communities they serve.

With further spending cuts looming closer, the financial pressures on all housing providers will be even greater. Some cite problems with their current housing management systems as one obstacle to retrieving the data they need; the danger being that the exercise becomes too manual, over complex and reliant on external business intelligence tools and spreadsheets -a costly approach at a time when budgets are being ever squeezed.

First Adapt believe that many of the challenges are similar to those faced by organisations wanting to make real efficiency and improvement gains but struggling to cut through the sea of data, policies and procedures which, at worst act as bureaucratic red tape and a real barrier against change.

Working with Consult CIH, we have developed a tailored Customer Insight Knowledge Map™,which overcomes many of the data gathering obstacles outlined above and presents information in the visual and intuitive way staff are already familiar with from the maps.

The emphasis is on reasonable investment in existing staff skills and systems rather than the far more costly route of new systems.

www.firstadapt.com

Telephone: 0844 414 2605

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