Broadacres Housing has built a new complaints management system based on Salesforce technology. The housing provider’s internal team has already developed Salesforce-based systems covering legal services, contact centre and financial advice.
As well as making its complaints-handling activities more streamlined, Broadacres’ new system is expected to save considerable time around the collation of complaints’ information when needed for the Housing Ombudsman.
Broadacres developed the system itself using in-house resources and without any reliance on external Salesforce technology partners, marking a cultural and developmental shift towards complete autonomy. The project has also expanded the use of Salesforce across Broadacres’ business operations to multiple teams.
Mark Birch, chief technology officer, Broadacres Housing, said, “It’s been great to see our internal development team thrive with this project. Not only have they succeeded with our new complaints management system, but we can also see the team’s potential to transform our business in other areas.”
The housing provider also reported that the adaptability of its new complaints platform was demonstrated when changes to the Housing Ombudsman’s policies were released just a few weeks before the system was due to go live. Broadacres’ internal development team were able to update the system to reflect the policy changes within just one day, avoiding any impact on the go-live date.
Given the wide geographic and rural spread of Broadacres’ housing portfolio, mobility was built into the system from the start, with all of its desktop functionality immediately available on the mobile app version of the system.
Tom Lancefield, lead for social housing, Salesforce UK&I, said. “It’s fantastic to see the collaborative approach that Broadacres has taken to implementing complaints in Salesforce, working with other housing providers to share configurations, data schemas and best practices.
“Equally impressive was that this project was delivered by Broadacres’ internal staff who have quickly upskilled on our platform through Salesforce’s Trailhead online learning platform.”
