Turning Customer Insight into Organisational Action

How do we move beyond collecting tenant feedback and make sure it leads to real improvements in services?

This was the focus of our recent webinar, Turning Customer Insight into Organisational Action, featuring Darren Wake from CustomerSure and Michael McGuigan from Gentoo.

The session explored one of the biggest challenges facing social landlords: not just listening to residents, but making sure their feedback is acted upon and leads to meaningful change.

Moving from 'You Said, We Did' to 'Listens and Acts'

An interactive poll during the webinar highlighted some familiar challenges. 53% of attendees said their biggest barrier was getting colleagues and different departments to take ownership of customer feedback, while 22% said turning insights into tangible service improvements was their biggest challenge.

Michael shared Gentoo's experience of tackling these issues through its partnership with CustomerSure and the introduction of its 'Listens and Acts' approach.

Over the past 12–18 months, Gentoo has been working to make customer feedback more accessible across the organisation, using real-time insight to help teams understand residents' experiences and identify where improvements are needed.

The CustomerSure platform has been introduced across a range of services, including repairs and maintenance, asset management, regeneration, complaints, housing and antisocial behaviour.

Importantly, this has been about much more than introducing new technology. Gentoo has focused on creating a cultural shift, encouraging teams to take ownership of feedback and work together to improve the customer experience.

Making feedback everyone's responsibility

One of the key lessons from Gentoo's experience was the importance of starting small rather than trying to change everything at once.

The electrical repairs team was an early example, with customer champions identified to help introduce the approach and encourage colleagues to engage with feedback.

Gentoo also established a quarterly Customer Experience (CX) Forum, bringing teams together to review progress and develop customer improvement plans. These focus on areas such as record keeping, communication and taking action.

Michael highlighted the importance of senior leadership support, understanding the concerns of individual teams and making colleagues feel part of the journey, rather than simply telling them what they need to do.

Seeing feedback in real time has also helped teams recognise the impact of their work, with positive comments providing motivation as well as highlighting where things need to improve.

Some key takeaways for housing providers

Darren and Michael shared some practical advice for organisations looking to make better use of resident feedback:

• Start small: Begin with a pilot in one service area, learn from the experience and build from there.
• Co-create, don't impose: Involve colleagues in developing the approach so they feel ownership of the changes.
• Identify customer champions: Find people within teams who can help encourage others and keep momentum going.
• Focus on insight, not just scores: Look beyond satisfaction figures to understand what residents are actually telling you.
• Keep communicating: Make sure residents know their feedback has been heard and what action is being taken.
• Get leadership buy-in: Cultural change needs support from senior leaders, alongside clear accountability.
• Keep the human connection: Technology and AI can help analyse feedback, but meaningful conversations and human responses remain essential.

Turning listening into lasting change

The webinar reinforced that gathering feedback is only the starting point. The real difference comes when organisations take responsibility for acting on what residents tell them, share learning across departments and can demonstrate how services have improved as a result.

Gentoo's experience shows how starting small, building ownership and making customer insight part of everyday conversations can help create a stronger culture of listening and action.

Ultimately, residents want to know that their voices matter – and that when they take the time to share their experiences, something happens as a result.

You can watch the recording of the session here.

For more information on CustomerSure you can visit their website here  https://www.customersure.com/