“This is more than just a job.”
AMANDA, RESEARCHER, LEEDS HUB
Why us?
Viewpoint are one of the top performers in the country for phone surveys, delivering over 60% return rate on tenant surveys (compared to the 10-25% clients tell us they achieve when they do it in house, online or by post).
“They were up against some big national orgs, but they won on price and quality.”
Barry, Project officer at Sheffield City Council
We hit that sweet spot of cost, quality and service, and because we’re a social enterprise, we also provide social value too.
Because we are a social enterprise…
Viewpoint was founded as a social enterprise 15 years ago to address the inequalities many individuals face through disability or economic deprivation.
We are the only social enterprise in our sector and we achieve our high levels of performance and quality because of the diversity of the people we employ.
Because we are such a diverse team, we are not only exceptionally resilient, but empathetic listeners. Our team are regularly commended by our clients for their sensitivity with phone surveys where your customers may need a bit more time, patience and a friendly ear.
Because we have a highly supportive work environment - flexible hours, five hour shifts, team targets and whatever kit each individual needs - our researchers are present with every customer, which explains our high performance rates and quality standards.
Because we provide opportunities for people who have previously experienced barriers to work, the chance to excel is reflected in every phone call we make. To us, this is more than just a job.
Because, to us, it’s personal…
“We actually get the chance to build a personal relationship with each individual…it’s not just about numbers.”
Marjorie, Leeds Hub
"It’s a human way of gaining feedback from tenants, rather than text messages and emails. It’s a real person, speaking to another real person.”
Dean, Leeds Hub
“It’s what’s it all about - talking to people. This is what’s happening to the world - nobody’s talking! When you get to my age - that’s what’s gone - there is no personal touch! I think people like hearing from us and that’s a gift.”
Janet, (aged 73), Sheffield Hub.
“I feel that I can relate to someone on a personal level… if I’m doing adaptation surveys, I can say - oh I’m a full-time wheelchair user myself… it’s our differences that makes us good together.”
Sophy, Sheffield Hub
“Because we are housing tenants too, we relate with them, have more empathy with them… sometimes we’ve had the same issues as them, and if I can help them, I will.”
Kelly, Doncaster Hub (also a St Leger Homes tenant)
“The secret is listening to people and being genuinely interested in people.”
Trisha, Sheffield Hub
Because we are specialists in the housing sector…
We are experts in telephone-based tenant satisfaction questionnaires for Local Authorities, Housing Associations and construction firms, and love to work with organisations committed to social value.
Our Doncaster Hub is based in St Leger Homes and is run by their tenants who live nearby.
South Yorkshire Housing Association have also recently invested in us to help us extend our reach so that more people can benefit from our services and employment opportunities.
Housing clients include: St Leger Homes of Doncaster, Sheffield City Council, Kier Group, Bassetlaw District Council, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Engie, Newark and Sherwood Homes, Norwich City Council.
Because we work on the phone…
Great response rate - over 60% response rate for tenant surveys.
“We were doing this inhouse… our return rates were 10-30 per cent - the numbers were too low - plus we were sending out the survey by post which was expensive, and we didn’t have the resource inhouse to do a phone survey. The inhouse cost was not much less than the annual cost of Viewpoint, and the improved return rate, and the extra analysis we could do as a result was completely worth it.”
Nicola, Policy & Performance Officer, Newark and Sherwood Homes Ltd
Captures the voices of your ‘hard to reach’ customers.
Telephone surveys are great if you have older customers who are not online, customers with disabilities who are less mobile, or customers who are blind or partially sighted.
“A lot of older people still aren’t online and so don’t have a voice, and people with mobility problems can’t always return a postal survey.”
Sarah, Doncaster Hub
Captures the voice of your ‘in-betweeners’.
If you’re just relying on text or an online/postal survey, you tend to get responses from those on the extreme ends of the scale - those with a grievance or those who have had exceptional service. But this can give skewed data sets - how do you capture the rest?
“Some organisations might see telephone survey as archaic, but we really see the value of them. The beauty of a phone survey is it really is the full breadth - including the inbetweeners who make 90% of most people! Most organisations miss those if you’re just relying on text or online.”
Barry, Sheffield City Council
High quality, accurate data.
Our team are renowned for their communication skills and their natural curiosity. They receive all the support, training and equipment they need to collect the highest quality of data, and each of our researchers invests the time at the start of a new survey to really understand the purpose, content and context. They are experts in eliciting precise responses and probing to check that feedback is accurate. All our calls are recorded, which means you can also revisit the conversations that need more detailed analysis.
More nuanced, richer data.
“It’s more in depth and more personal to them, and it allows you to pick up on the nuances. For us, it’s a conversation - we’ll pick up on things that might not strictly be related to that specific survey, but we recognise it’s still valuable data for the client (and sometimes for the individual) so will always pass that on.”
Lynne, Doncaster Hub
“You can probe them more… if they aren’t happy about something, you can usually find out why.”
Kelly, Doncaster Hub
More personal.
“It’s what’s it all about - talking to people. This is what’s happening to the world - nobody’s talking! When you get to my age - that’s what’s gone - there is no personal touch! A man I’ve just spoken to at the end of the call said ‘thank you for being patient with me’. I think people like hearing from us.”
Janet, (73), Sheffield Hub.
More responsive and flexible.
“It allows us to tweak our focus each month, to ensure we proactively reach out to the views of specific groups. For example, if one month we notice we are not getting a representative number of BAME respondents, the next month, Viewpoint will focus on capturing those.”
Barry, Sheffield City Council
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