Orangutan offers clever new options for Affordable Homes - centric loyalty programmes

4 years ago

The drive to improve customer experiences and boost loyalty in the affordable housing sector has led to the development of a new customer loyalty programme, spearheaded by leading housing association Thirteen in coordination with client performance experts Orangutan.

“This is not a purely altruistic move,” says David Ripley from Thirteen. “Our aim is to drive down costs by reducing voids, maintenance costs and use of digital services – all whilst improving potential revenue through boosting resident aspirations.” This aspirational side could take the form of either part or shared ownership, as well as opportunities to own their property outright.

The new concept was originally a difficult one to explain to internal audiences. Whilst these programmes are familiar in the commercial world like supermarket cards, not everyone can understand what place a customer loyalty programme has in affordable housing.

In the affordable housing sector, upgrading residents has generally not been a major concern, and their existing spending habits are already known. Instead, loyalty and membership is about shifting perceptions of housing. Instead of viewing tenants as merely temporary residents, they should be encouraged to become members of a thriving community and an organisation which offers them much more.

Recent developments in the housing sector such as The Hackitt Report and The New Deal for Social Housing Green Paper both highlight that customer experience remains poor in the social housing arena – and companies have to prepare for added competition and regulatory changes.

For Thirteen, the loyalty programme will focus on encouraging a sense of community and help residents make their money go further, whilst simultaneously aiding them in developing better habits. The company understands its corporate responsibility to reinforce positive behaviours – so rewards will follow which are in line with these ideals.

Customer facing staff are at the forefront of the programme, which will help companies to develop stronger relationships with their clientele. When developing this new solution, there was no better partner than Orangutan, who have worked closely with Thirteen every step of the way.

Find out more about the programme online at www.equitymembership.co.uk or discover Orangutan at www.orangutan.co.uk.

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Press responses to be sent to:

Tim Peniston-Bird

08456 441122

tim@orangutan.co.uk

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About Orangutan

If you’re looking to create content on how businesses acquire or retain customers through incentives & loyalty programmes then we can help. For 30 years (the last 20 as MD of Orangutan) , I’ve been designing complex incentive & loyalty programmes to drive sales for the world’s leading brands, including: AIG, BMW, Compaq, Microsoft, P&G, Coty, GE, Honda, Lloyds & Wella to name a few. This goes deeper than simple reward programmes, helping organisations to change working styles, product offerings & sales channels to optimise their performance We can show readers how to create results where others failed through a process that ensures the programme's launch, structure, behaviours targeted & recognition & rewards are compelling enough for the audience. We can help with questions around how incentive & loyalty programmes can be used strategically - clear objectives & working to the psychology of the audience - which we can back up with research & case histories.