This course explores what customer excellence looks like in practice and how housing professionals can contribute to a positive, resident-centred culture. It considers the everyday behaviours and interactions that build trust, alongside the wider importance of meaningful resident engagement, transparency and accountability.

What will delegates learn?

Delegates will develop a clearer understanding of what excellent customer service means in social housing and the role they play in delivering positive resident experiences.

The session will provide practical approaches to building trust, communicating effectively, understanding individual needs and taking ownership of issues. Delegates will also explore how resident feedback and meaningful engagement can improve services, strengthen relationships and support a culture of continuous improvement.

This course will cover

• Customer excellence in social housing – understanding what resident-centred service delivery means and why it matters
• Regulatory expectations – the requirements of the Competence and Conduct Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard
• Understanding residents’ needs and expectations – recognising individual circumstances, vulnerabilities and the barriers that can affect residents’ experiences of housing services
• Building trust and positive relationships – demonstrating professionalism, respect, empathy and accountability in everyday interactions
• Effective communication and active listening – developing listening, questioning and communication skills, including adapting approaches to individual needs
• Creating a resident-centred culture – promoting openness, transparency, fairness and accountability across housing services
• Meaningful resident engagement and influence – ensuring residents have genuine opportunities to shape services and decisions, moving beyond tokenistic consultation
• Taking ownership and managing expectations – responding effectively to concerns, following through on commitments and keeping residents informed
• Using feedback to improve services – learning from complaints, resident feedback and Tenant Satisfaction Measures to identify areas for improvement
• Embedding customer excellence – recognising how individual behaviours, team practices and organisational culture contribute to better outcomes for residents.

Who should attend?

This course is suitable for frontline housing staff, customer service teams, neighbourhood officers, resident engagement teams, repairs and property services staff, operational managers and anyone involved in delivering or improving services for residents.

It will be particularly valuable for staff who interact directly with residents and want to strengthen their communication skills, build positive relationships and contribute to a more resident-centred approach to service delivery.

Debbie Larner has worked in the social housing sector for over 30 years within both local authorities and housing associations before moving on to join the professional body – the CIH – where she was Head of Practice with a key focus on translating government policy into practice. In that role she developed expertise in a number of areas including housing and asset management, resident engagement, equality diversity and inclusion, health and safety (specifically building safety post Grenfell). She has also co-led research into the future of social housing, stigma and stereotyping in housing and the role of the housing professional. Debbie is recognised as a leader in developing and embedding professional standards with sector bodies and individual organisations and developed the CIH professional standards for housing and, as part of this work has a strong interest in how organisations can develop strong values-led cultures, create inclusive behaviours and act as ambassadors for the profession. Debbie is an experienced public speaker, chair, and trainer.