The Tenants’ Association, an organization that represents all tenants in Sweden, conducted a survey earlier this year that showed that Skövdebostäder has some of the most satisfied tenants among the municipal housing companies in the region. The result was, of course, encouraging, but with a good result comes the risk of becoming complacent and letting one’s guard down.
“It’s of the utmost importance to maintain customer satisfaction. We can’t let up. The procedures and instructions that guide our work every day must continue to be followed and refined, especially since we know they work as well as they do,” he says.
As district manager, Erik has already worked on the company’s top priority: customer satisfaction. But as head of housing services, he now has responsibility for this issue across the company’s entire housing portfolio. One of the challenges, therefore, is to ensure that tenants in all areas have the same experience with Skövdebostäder as a landlord.
“We’re a very large company with over 5,000 apartments. That’s why it’s both challenging and very important to ensure that the same service is provided, in the same way, in all areas. For example, if you have a broken refrigerator, the issue should be handled the same way no matter where you live,” he says.
Satisfied or dissatisfied
The task of ensuring tenant satisfaction is, of course, easier if there is agreement on what makes a tenant satisfied. The company measures customer satisfaction in various ways, including through its own customer surveys. Various indices, including the Service and Product Indices, reveal what tenants think about safety, cleanliness, customer service, and other factors in each area. At the same time, it’s important to understand how tenants experience their daily lives and to put yourself in their shoes.
– A friendly attitude and high responsiveness—I think that’s important. Being able to quickly and easily get in touch with someone if something isn’t working as it should. I believe it’s very important for tenants to feel heard. That’s why I also strongly believe in tenant participation—that tenants can suggest measures to be taken. If you look at it the other way around, dissatisfaction is something that builds up when tenants don’t receive feedback. It creates uncertainty, and that’s something we need to counteract,” he concludes.