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TENANT SELF-SERVICE: NEW SOLUTIONS TO UNLOCK OPTIMISED COSTS AND EFFICIENCY
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3 min. reading time
12. November 2024
James Alex Waldron
T
he social housing sector faces increasing pressure to deliver high-quality, efficient services while managing tight budgets, compliance requirements, and tenant satisfaction. In response to these challenges, the rise of tenant self-service tools has revolutionised how housing providers operate and interact with tenants. By leveraging developed, yet highly flexible automation, self-service solutions empower your tenants to handle their own service requests, payments, and inquiries: Boosting operational efficiency and enhancing the overall tenant experience.
Driving innovation in this space are PayPoint and FLS – FAST LEAN SMART. Organisations that adopt PayPoint's self-service payment solutions and FLS' real-time repairs and maintenance scheduling into their ecosystem deliver a seamless, efficient, and tenant-focused service model.
Driving innovation in this space are PayPoint and FLS – FAST LEAN SMART. Organisations that adopt PayPoint's self-service payment solutions and FLS' real-time repairs and maintenance scheduling into their ecosystem deliver a seamless, efficient, and tenant-focused service model.
FLS ecosystem Partner PayPoint is a leading payments provider in the UK that works across the social housing sector to provide digital payment solutions, quality support, and tailored training and advice on rental income to housing associations and councils across the UK.
"PayPoint recognises that social landlords have been largely underserved by providers. FLS shares our belief that access to real time data should be a standard, as it as in many other industries. We're delighted to partner with innovative, like-minded organisations that bring real value to the sector: Which is why we are proud to partner with FLS."
"PayPoint recognises that social landlords have been largely underserved by providers. FLS shares our belief that access to real time data should be a standard, as it as in many other industries. We're delighted to partner with innovative, like-minded organisations that bring real value to the sector: Which is why we are proud to partner with FLS."
THE SHIFT TOWARD TENANT SELF-SERVICE
Tenant self-service transforms housing providers by automating key processes and enabling tenants to take more control and transparency in frontline services. From reporting repairs to paying rent (and critically, tracking progress in real-time) self-service platforms give tenants greater autonomy while reducing head-office administration. The digital shift improves service delivery speed, accuracy, and overall efficiency.For tenants, self-service platforms mean 24/7 access to services, such as:
- Submitting repair requests: Tenants can easily log maintenance issues and receive real-time updates on the status of their requests.
- Paying rent or service charges: Tenants can make secure online payments at their convenience in a variety of ways.
- Scheduling appointments: With the ability to book and re-book appointments directly, tenants can choose times that fit their working lives, reducing 'no-access' visits with improved communication.
For housing providers, self-service systems reduce the volume of inbound calls, manual data entry, and paperwork. This not only improves efficiency but also ensures faster response times, greater accuracy, and a more streamlined tenant experience. This is also critical when examining indirect costs.
FLS research within the technical services sector shows that one field operative who experiences just two 'no-access' appointments per week can cost an organisation around £4,534 across 12 months.
Read the research and begin building your business case with our E-Book:
PAYPOINT: SIMPLIFYING PAYMENTS FOR TENANTS
One of the most critical aspects of tenant self-service is facilitating easy, accessible payment solutions. PayPoint, the leader in omnichannel payment solutions, plays a key role in enabling seamless tenant payment experiences.PayPoint offers tenants a range of flexible payment methods, whether they prefer online, mobile, in-person, or Direct Debit options. With PayPoint's extensive network of payment locations across the UK, tenants can make cash payments at thousands of local shops, providing convenient options for those without access to digital banking.
PayPoint also supports Open Banking payments via mobile apps and online portals, allowing tenants to pay rent, utility bills, or service charges from anywhere, at any time, and without costly acquiring fees.
This flexibility empowers tenants by giving them choices and ensuring that no one is left behind, regardless of their financial or technological situation. For housing providers, PayPoint's payment solutions offer real-time transaction data, improving transparency and helping streamline the financial reconciliation process.
Incorporating PayPoint into a tenant self-service ecosystem ensures that tenants have reliable, accessible, and easy-to-use payment options, which reduces the likelihood of arrears and improves cash flow for housing providers.
OPTIMISED REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING
Another essential element of tenant self-service is scheduling, particularly when it comes to repairs and maintenance. Organisations with more than 75 repairs and maintenance operative miss more than 20% of available efficiency due to a lack of integration or inability to design streamlined workflows. Efficiently managing field service operations is a complex challenge for housing providers, and this is where FLS VISITOUR shines. FLS designs intelligent, real-time scheduling software that optimises field appointments and resource allocation for housing providers.With an FLS VISITOUR integration, tenants book appointments directly via self-service portals. The system uses real-time data and an advanced algorithm to calculate the most efficient routes for field service teams, taking into account factors such as technician skills and availability, tenant preferences, and actual time-of-day travel. This dynamic approach ensures that tenants receive more accurate appointment windows and faster service, significantly reducing the frustration of waiting at home for long periods.
For housing providers, FLS enhances operational efficiency by ensuring that field service teams can complete more jobs in less time. The software reduces travel time between appointments, minimises operative downtime, and enables service teams to respond more quickly to urgent repairs. Additionally, real-time updates keep tenants informed about the status of their requests, creating transparency and improving communication.
FLS also helps housing providers comply with strict regulatory and compliance requirements. For instance, by scheduling and tracking planned inspections such as gas safety checks, electrical inspections, or other compliance-related tasks, housing providers can ensure they meet deadlines and reduce the risk of penalties.
By integrating FLS scheduling software into a tenant self-service platform, housing providers can offer a streamlined, tenant-friendly system for managing repairs, while simultaneously improving internal operational efficiency and compliance.
THE HIGH COST OF INBOUND CALLS
Real-time optimisation removes manual processes from the very start, to design an efficient (and complete) schedule within seconds, considering all SLAs and KPIs. Skills and materials rules maximise sooner attendance and first-time fix rates. 24×7 self-service provides automated messaging and ETA. This removes the necessity for inbound calls and the cost to service queries. Providers can now offer and immediately lock-in system-suggested, cost-optimised appointments that mitigate the risk of cancellation.According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a field scheduling planner is £25,000 pa. Including recruitment, onboarding, taxes and benefits, the average total cost to employers is closer to £32,680 pa. Again using FLS research and taking the employment costs of a small team of six scheduling planners:
Add a call centre's 10 minute manual booking process across 50,000 appointments, and a Housing Provider can unknowingly risk £191,580 of cost by ignoring the efficiencies self-service tools provide.
Read the research and begin building your business case with our E-Book:
BENEFITS OF INTEGRATING PAYPOINT AND FLS VISITOUR FEATURES INTO YOUR TENANT SELF-SERVICE
Combining the payment and scheduling capabilities of PayPoint and FLS VISITOUR within a self-service platform delivers substantial benefits for both tenants and housing providers:- Enhanced Tenant Experience: Tenants enjoy a greater sense of control and autonomy while experiencing fewer delays or disruptions.
- Increased Operational Efficiency: Housing providers manage payments and service requests with less manual intervention, leading to faster processing times, reduced workloads for staff, and significant cost savings. FLS ensures that repairs and maintenance are handled efficiently, while PayPoint ensures smooth financial transactions.
- Improved Compliance: FLS' ability to track and schedule compliance-related tasks, such as fire, gas safety, and welfare checks, ensures that housing providers stay on top of regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
- Cost Reduction: Automating key tasks like payment processing and field service scheduling reduces administrative costs. FLS' embedded route optimisation further lowers expenses related to travel and workforce management, including fuel use and CO2 production.
- Data-Driven Insights: Both PayPoint and FLS provide valuable data to monitor tenant behaviour trends, such as payment patterns and service requests. Data is fed seamlessly into an HMS/CRM. This allows housing providers to make data-driven decisions to improve service delivery and financial management.
CONCLUSION
The combination of self-service platforms, payment flexibility from PayPoint, and real-time field scheduling optimisation from FLS – FAST LEAN SMART offers a powerful solution to the challenges faced by the social housing sector.By embracing digital transformation and automation, housing providers can unlock new levels of efficiency, increase productivity 20-50%, improve tenant satisfaction, and stay ahead of regulatory and operational demands.
SUPPORT AND COMPLIANCE WITH FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT FOR THE HOUSING SECTOR
We evaluate your field organisation's process efficiency, planning quality, and cost structure. To gain an understanding of tools to optimise the field experience for your mobile workforce and housing tenants book a short discussion or contact us at info@fastleansmart.com.Read more:
Improve Tenant Satisfaction Measures with Field Workforce Management software
Cost Control: Reactive maintenance with Field Service Management software
FLS: The ClickSoftware alternative for Field Service Management
Author
JAMES ALEX WALDRON
UK Marketing Manager
+44 1183 800189
Send email
James Alex Waldron has worked in written communications for over 15 years. Since 2021, he has written for FLS and the Solvares Group on the topics of digital field service transformation and mobile workforce management, and regularly provides insight to the industry press.
JAMES ALEX WALDRON
UK Marketing Manager
+44 1183 800189
Send email
James Alex Waldron has worked in written communications for over 15 years. Since 2021, he has written for FLS and the Solvares Group on the topics of digital field service transformation and mobile workforce management, and regularly provides insight to the industry press.
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