Our Local Offer
There must be an election looming!
On Wednesday I was invited to two meetings; the first with John Thurso MP, Liberal Democrat shadow business secretary and later that day, former home secretary, David Blunkett. Both discussions focussed on the impact that the election would have on business and in particular small local businesses such as CCHA. One thing they both made clear was that in the new period of austerity businesses would only survive if they continued to innovate and provided an efficient service that customers actually wanted.
By chance, our regulator, the Tenants Services Authority released its new regulatory guidance 24 hours later. A less weighty tome than many expected and straight to the point; they too expect us to work with residents on a “Local Offer”, in other words...services that people actually want in a way they want it. This of course the commercial sector has been offering for years. You wouldn’t find a DIY store selling a loo seat without a hole in the middle nor an insurance company offering to insure your garden water butt against fire. Er.....they may just find themselves without the till ringing on those items.
For me, a “Local Offer” is not simply a reaction to the new regulatory regime, but makes absolutely excellent business sense. Although our customers don’t always have the same choice as many; we’ll aim to treat them as if they had a choice to walk away from us and towards a competitor tomorrow.
We are starting to put together ideas about how we will work with residents on our own local offer - look out for lots of Involvement opportunities and make my new Politician friends John and David proud.
