The Customer
Clarion Housing Group is the largest provider of social housing in the country and one of the largest property developers in the UK, owning and managing over 125,000 homes. In 2014, Affinity Sutton, later to become Clarion Housing Group, embarked on a large-scale transformation programme that would affect every aspect of its business, covering everything from how Clarion worked to the services it offered its customers.
We wanted this transformation project to change the way we work and the services we offer, and we needed a system that would enable it. It was never a pure technology project.
To make that vision real, Clarion needed to replace over 50 existing systems, both front and back office, with a single strategic platform.
VIDEO (Embed: “Clarion Housing Group Modernizes Operations and Customer Experience with Hitachi Solutions”)
The Challenge
Clarion Housing Group recognised a real opportunity to implement a solution that could deliver its services on a single cloud platform and provide a full suite of integrated capabilities, including:
- Time to value: quicker time to resolution and transfers to the back office
- Identity verification: a robust identity verification process for multiple customer types
- A single view: a single view of customer, property and contract
- Streamlined processes: removing dependency on legacy, siloed solutions
- Multi-channel: integration across all channels, including post, telephony, social and digital
- Customer experience: a single application experience for managing customer interactions
The Solution
Hitachi Solutions carried out research to support its understanding of the challenge, shadowing a diverse range of Clarion employees, from caretakers through to repair operatives. Thanks to close collaboration between the Clarion and Hitachi Solutions teams, customer experience and back-office utilisation were improved through reduced end-to-end handling time and clear visibility and ownership at each case stage. The solutions implemented removed the dependency on specialised teams for key processes and captured and shared a repository of knowledge.
The solution consisted of three components: Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, Essentials for Housing, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
Why Hitachi Solutions
Clarion valued a partner that immersed itself in the business, shadowing frontline staff to understand the real challenge before designing the answer. The result was a strong, collaborative relationship and a solution that was a first in the housing association world, built on Essentials for Housing and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
It’s been great working with my colleagues in Hitachi Solutions. We’ve had a great relationship and there’s a lot of pride in the solution we’ve built that’s a first in the housing association world.
The Benefits
- More than 50 front and back-office systems consolidated onto a single strategic platform
- A single view of customer, property and contract
- Reduced end-to-end handling time, with clear visibility and ownership at each case stage
- Multi-channel integration across post, telephony, social and digital
- Reduced dependency on specialised teams, with shared knowledge captured and reused
- A first-of-its-kind solution in the housing association sector
What’s Next?
Multiple benefits are expected once the whole organisation is using the same platform, with Clarion anticipating a particular increase in the effectiveness of its customer service. For example, direct debit requests can already be set up on the first contact with the customer, whereas this used to involve different systems and departments and take multiple days. Clarion plans to leverage its position as a leader in its use of technology to consolidate its place as a forerunner in the housing market.