1. BIRMINGHAM CITY BUSINESS SCHOOL
BA (Hons) Business & Management
CourseworkCoverSheet
Module title: Management Consultancy Project
Module code: MAN6010
Module tutor: Martin Hipkiss / Geoff Stanley
Date: 25th April 2016
Assignment type: Group report
Word Count: 7,270 words
Student name: Student number:
Akshay Kanda 13154014
Dayna Vekaria 13151548
Dhijay V. Patel 13156176
Edilaine D. Santos 12778522
Fiona I. Ifeozo 13158568
Lewis T. J. Gardner 13185440
Ming Chi Wong 14139875
Mohammad F. Kaleem 13187473
Nikhil Shah 13158027
3. Abstract
The purpose of this report is to show how Connect Consultancy consulted with
Birmingham City council to help solve a number of issues within the organisation.
The main issues that will be discussed in this report are the problems surrounding
how Birmingham City Council's housing department, firstly how they can improve
their internal and external communication. Secondly, improving the customer
journey/ satisfaction of BCC's housing tenants. Finally, identifying whether utilizing
social media will decrease demand. We will discuss in detail the different types of
research methods used such as focus group meetings with current tenants and also
visiting the customer service hubs. Furthermore, this report discusses the different
stages of the consultancy cycle. Based on the research gathered, the report will be
concluded by stating the most appropriate solutions to the problems presented. At
the end of this report is the appendices containing all relevant data.
4. Table of Contents
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................ii
Table of Contents.................................................................................................................iv
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
1.1. Meet the team ................................................................................................................1
1.2. Client background ..........................................................................................................2
1.3. Scope of the project.......................................................................................................2
1.4. Methodology...................................................................................................................3
2. Consultancy Cycle........................................................................................................4
2.1 Gaining entry..................................................................................................................5
2.2 Contracting.....................................................................................................................6
2.3 Collecting Data...............................................................................................................9
2.4 Analysing Data.............................................................................................................15
2.5 Generating Options......................................................................................................25
2.6 Disengaging .................................................................................................................30
3. Conclusion................................................................................................................... 33
References........................................................................................................................... 34
List of Appendices..................................................................................................................
5. 1
1. Introduction
This Management Consultancy Project is part of the undergraduate programme at
Birmingham City University. Participants of the project serve as consultants to work
with external client organisation for fostering greater learning experience through the
integration of theories and practices.
1.1. Meet the team
Connect Consultancy is formed in association to the project, which gathered nine
individuals to work together towards being a trusted team of consultants whilst
focusing on different business areas. The team members include:
Akshay Kanda – Studying Business and Management
Dayna Vekaria – Studying Business and Management
Dhijay V. Patel – Studying Business and Management
Edilaine D. Santos – Studying Business and Human Resource Management
Fiona I. Ifeozo – Studying Business and Economics
Lewis T. J. Gardner – Studying Business and Economics
Ming Chi Wong – Studying Business and Management
Mohammad F. Kaleem – Studying Economics and Finance
Nikhil Shah – Studying Business and Management
Detailed profiles can be found in Appendix 2.
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1.2. Client background
The client of this consultation project is Birmingham City Council, precisely the
housing services which is managed by the Place Directorate. The council is the
largest single provider of social housing in the country (Birmingham City Council,
2014a). There are 3 customer service centres providing support and services to
over 63 thousand council property tenants in the whole city as of April 2014
(Birmingham City Council, 2014b):
East & North centre (located in Lea Hall) – serves Yardley, Hall Green and
Hodge Hill districts
West & Central centre (located in Ladywood) – serves Ladywood,
Erdington, Perry Barr and Sutton Coldfield districts
South centre (located in Longbridge) – serves Edgbaston, Northfield, Selly
Oak and Kings Norton districts
Currently, council tenants mainly contact the housing team by telephone. There
are additional methods of communication presented online via Birmingham City
Council's, promoted by Mrs Barbara Nice (Birmingham City Council, ca. 2013).
1.3. Scope of the project
The project is aimed to improve customer satisfaction in relation to the tenants of
Birmingham City Council. The two main focal points are:
1. Evaluate the current customer service journey alongside measuring levels
of satisfaction
2. Evaluate whether a channel shift and the use of social media (Twitter,
YouTube etc.) can improve communication between the council and their
tenants. Additionally, asses whether this shift will reduce demand
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1.4. Methodology
The consultancy team engaged meetings with staff of the client organisation as
the main approach for consulting. For data collection, both primary and
secondary researches were carried out. The team performed visits to all 3
customer service centres for an overview of the current workflow and viewpoints
from front line employees. Besides, a focus group has been organised for
insights from tenants regarding the housing services. Studies on other housing
service organisations have been done for further contextual facts about the
market and benchmarking. The analysis of all findings are detailed in this report,
along with established suggestions for the council as moving forward with this
project.
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2. Consultancy Cycle
The traditional approach used to commence a consulting project is the consultancy
cycle. There are a variety of interpretations of the model, but it commonly consists of
seven stages, shown in below Figure 1:
Figure 1 - Consultancy Cycle
The model is developed in a cyclical form, since consultants may require to return to
an earlier stage, for example, further data must be gathered in order to move into the
data analysis stage. For the nature of this consulting project, the implementation
stage has been left out. Therefore, it will not be discussed in this report.
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2.1 Gaining entry
Entry is the first phase of the consultancy cycle, which is the initial point of
contact with the client. Creating a positive first impression is important, as
achieving this in the first stage is vital for the consulting process. As a consultant
a sufficient time frame should be designated for the entry phase with the client.
The main objective of this stage is for the consultant(s) and client to become
introduced to one another, in order to develop an effective working relationship
with openness, trust and honesty. During this stage, consultant and client should
discuss the issues for a clear understanding of the problem and mutual
expectations, this avoids time wasting through working in the wrong direction
resulting in inappropriate solutions being presented (Cockman et al, 1999;
Wickham and Wilcock, 2012). However, consultants can easily concentrate on
building a strong mutual trust with the client for too long therefore failing to
consider the significance of the project presented.
Having considered the importance of the entry stage, contact was initiated soon
after the project brief was received. This was conducted via email. The first
meeting for Connect Consultancy to meet the client was held on 11th February
2016. Regrettably one team member was unable to join the first meeting, which
affected the overall first impression of the team. During the meeting the client
presented relevant background information, such as the general structure of the
housing team, basics surrounding the operations, and outlined the problematic
areas stated in the brief. The team initiated conversations surrounding the
mutual expectations of the consulting project mentioned in the previous section –
10. 6
scope of the project. Overall, the meeting ran smoothly, with positive interactions
throughout. High levels of professionalism was displayed and maintained by all
members of Connect Consultancy as a positive relationship with the client was
established. Due to time constraints, the time spent on this stage was limited.
2.2 Contracting
A contract is defined as a ‘voluntary, deliberate, and legally binding agreement
between two or more competent parties.’ With a contract, the contractor (us) and
the client are both protected. This ensures that the both parties involved
understand what is desired from one another therefore minimising potential
conflict arising from miscommunication.
In order to develop a detailed and accurate contract, the task needed to be
clarified. Prior to the first meeting, we decided to evaluate and discuss the issues
presented in the project brief. These were not discussed in detail to avoid biased
solutions being applied to the basic description of the issue. There were many
constraints regarding this project. Firstly, there was a time constraint as the
project had to be completed by 25th April 2016 at 12 noon. Therefore, the data
had to be collected, analysed and a solution(s) had to be devised. It was
important that a group contract was created to ensure that each member was
obligated to behave in a professional manner at all times. We identified the
importance of team work and applied Bruce Tuckman's (1965) theory. This
theory consists of four stages – forming, storming, norming and, performing
(Reynolds, 2009). During the forming stage we agreed on the mutual goals
11. 7
surrounding the project. This is confirmed in one of our group rules, "we shall
work together on the assignment".
As previously stated contact was then initiated with our client to organise our first
meeting. As consultants we expressed our desire to help others through
providing solutions, these feelings were reciprocated by our client. We therefore
decided to implement the process consultation/collaborative consultancy style.
This is because "each party sees that they have expertise and experience that
will be of value in joint problem-solving and diagnosis" (Kenton and Moody,
2003). In this meeting an oral contract was made based on the mutual
expectations of this project. An oral contract is not reliable as the agreement
made can be denied. Therefore, a client contract was devised which outlined
what Connect Consultancy were offering and what is to be expected of us. The
headings 'ownership of IP & confidentiality' states that all research gathered is
solely the property of our client ensuring that the data is meeting the
requirements of the Data Protection Act (1998). This meant that as consultants
we had no ownership of our research. Our client agreed with this document as it
was signed by himself, and all of Connect Consultancy.
Furthermore, we have stated that the agreement can be terminated if we or the
client breech any terms of the contract. This also relates to any unachieved
expectations. We had included this as we felt a reliable contract ‘should clearly
set out the process surrounding termination involving how it should be handled
12. 8
and the 'ideal' way to inform the other party. The contract can be terminated
immediately (within reason) or with notice.
13. 9
2.3 Collecting Data
This section is devoted to the discussion regarding the methods implemented
during the collection of data, the procedure, followed by the analysis of all
relevant data gathered. The method of data collection is dependant on the
organisation. In order to provide robust recommendations to Birmingham City
Council’s housing department both primary and secondary research were
accumulated. Primary research involves collecting data that is original in nature
as it is “collected to address a specific problem” (Wiid and Diggines, 2009). This
was gathered during one to one interviews conducted at the three customer
service hubs and an organised focus group. On the other hand, secondary
research involves applying existing data that was previously collected for a
different purpose to the current project. This was gathered via research done on
the Birmingham City Council website, and other local council websites.
In order to increase the reliability and feasibility of this data - multiple methods
(qualitative and quantitative approaches) were incorporated, known as
triangulation (Denzin, 2009). Therefore, this counterbalances the weaknesses
associated with each method (Axinn and Pearce, 2006). Foremost, qualitative
data traditionally consists of two broad approaches: observation and interviews.
This method was enforced to gain an understanding of the issues presented in
the project brief provided by the client. Quantitative information traditionally
focuses on gathering numerical data to determine the relationship between an
independent variable and another outcome variable. In relation to Birmingham
City housing department, Connect Consultancy aimed to identify whether
14. 10
increasing the client’s presence on social media would reduce in a decline of
calls received by each hub.
Hub Visit
As previously stated Birmingham City Council housing department have three
customer service centres: East & North centre (located in Lea Hall), West &
Central centre (located in Ladywood), and the South centre (located in
Longbridge). The project brief mentions the issue surrounding the hubs, the
issue was later confirmed to be based on the number of calls received by each
hub. Currently despite being the smallest centre, the south hub receives the
most calls. In order to provide a recommendation, a questionnaire (see Appendix
7) was created consisting of eleven open and closed questions. The objective of
producing this questionnaire was to determine why a large number of tenants
call the centre as opposed to visiting the organisation's website.
Connect Consultancy purposefully divided into three subgroups to ensure that all
of the hubs were visited. These visits occurred on 25th February & 03rd March
2016 and each lasted for four hours. The first set of data was collected via a
naturalistic observation upon entering the hubs, this was to get a brief
understanding of the work ethic and culture. A naturalistic observation involves
assessing the “spontaneous behaviour of participants in natural surroundings”
(McLeod, 2015). The results of the observations were initially recorded in a note
format then transferred into a table shown below Table 1.
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Table 1 - Observation results
East & North
centre
Warmly welcomed upon arrival
Dynamic environment; sunlight alongside highly lit room.
Calm atmosphere (evident that it is not a busy day), well
divided working environments
Staff: Some uneasy, advanced in age
West & central
centre
Warmly welcomed upon arrival
Only four members of staff
South centre Warmly welcomed upon arrival
Age range of staff 30 – 60+
Prior to the interview process, each member of Connect Consultancy briefly
disclosed the importance of confidentiality with each member of staff that was
being interviewed. Following this, each interviewee was given the option of
anonymity. Once a mutual agreement was decided, the interview proceeded. In
order to avoid biased information being given, an acceptant intervention style
was adopted which involved actively listening so that emotions that would have
previously prevented an honest answer are minimised/eradicated. Both
managers and staff were interviewed to ensure reliable and representative data
was collected.
The duration of interviews was approximately ten minutes. The interview process
was slightly unstructured. This is because the questions were pre-designed but
were also flexible as a ‘comfort zone’ was created. The data collected for each
16. 12
hub is shown in the appendices. As consultants, we embraced a professional
demeanour and attitude to all issues presented.
Reappearing similarities of data collected from each hub are as follows:
The busiest days are Monday and Tuesday
The communication between tenants and employees can be improved
The systems Northgate and CRM to not ‘interact’ therefore complications
such as crashes have drastic consequences
Communication between the hub & back office does not always run
smoothly
Culture of resistance
Other Primary research
Primary data was collected from Ongo (see Appendix 7) as they were awarded
Customer Service Contact Centre of the year in 2015. Upon visiting their website,
the contact information and social media links were easily visible, located at the
bottom of each screen therefore making it easily accessible to customers. They
also made their website more user friendly by giving the option to enlarge the
text and also transform the visible information into audible text. After making
contact with the organisation it was identified that the strategy behind their
success is to have less than 20 per cent of calls transferred to other staff. To do
this, employee is trained to handle all types of complaints that they may receive,
by doing this, customer complaints are dealt with quickly therefore minimising
the frustration linked to lengthy customer journeys. This is a strategy that
17. 13
Birmingham City Council should consider implementing, as a large number of
calls that are received are not necessary.
Secondary research
Secondary research was conducted to provide supporting data that could be
used to strengthen the recommendations provided to the client. The aim was to
collect data based on ways to improve the accessibility of the housing
department, improve communication between the department and customers
alongside incorporating social media to reduce demand. Research was
conducted on the Birmingham City Council website, as during our first meeting
with our client it was discussed that the main reason why the customer service
hubs receive so many calls is because it is hard for tenants to navigate around
the website. Further research was collected on the other four main councils in
the West Midlands also know as the "super councils" (see Appendix 7). The
findings show that on average it takes two more clicks to find the housing team’s
contact page than it does for other housing organisations in the West Midlands.
A telephone interview with the Liverpool Housing Trust was scheduled as they
were previously awarded with the best customer service for a housing trust. This
would have provided supportive data on how to improve the customer service
and develop a more user friendly website. However, it has not been possible to
conduct the telephone interview due to communication issues with the
organisation. However, a telephone interview was successfully conducted with
Solihull Council. The aim of this was to collect data regarding the positives and
negatives of opening their customer service centre on a Saturday, as many
18. 14
working class people do not have time to contact them during the week.
However, it was also identified that despite opening on a Saturday, they were
unable to reduce the number of calls received on a Monday.
This positively correlates with the data collected from visits to customer service
hubs, were employees identified the busiest days as Mondays and Tuesdays.
Data collected on Wolverhampton Council’s website showed how they utilize
social media as a method of communication. They have a Facebook Page and
Twitter with over five-thousand follows were they provide updates and advice
regarding housing information. Additionally, Sandwell and Walsall Council also
utilize social media as method of communication.
Focus groups
Due to external circumstances it was difficult to organise the focus group, Arthur
was absent and the Easter holiday prolonged the meeting until 14th April 2016.
As this was close to our module deadlines unfortunately only two group
members were able to attend. The focus group was attended by five of the
tenants (their names are withheld for confidentiality reasons), Arthur Tsang and
Hilary Davies (East & North hub manager). With the permission of all involved,
the focus group was also audibly recorded and some pictures were taken (see
Appendix 7). Questions were asked on the current service provided by the
council followed by how the process could be improved.
The key points raised revolved around communication issues with the tenants,
people were confused about what services the customers service hubs provide
19. 15
and say the council website provides conflicting and confusing information. The
customer journey is made frustrating as customers continuously report being
passed around and sent between departments, which raises internal concern
that staff are not trained enough. There was also a general consensus that the
service hubs take too long to process and respond to tenant enquiries. Further
improvements included improving communication and information access shared
with the tenants, which could be done by reducing and simplifying contact
methods and websites. Support for social media use was strong as a way to
improve customer services, however further concerns were raised regarding
some tenants not being computer literate.
In order to provide the best recommendations to our client we believed it was
important to conduct both primary and secondary research to provide broader
perspectives in order to strengthen our conclusion. Additionally, we were able to
gather useful qualitative and quantitative data through our visits to customer
service hubs, focus group meetings and research done on Birmingham City
Council as well as other local housing organisations. This data will be further
analysed in the section below.
2.4 Analysing Data
During our consultancy project, we gathered various amounts of data in order to
understand the issues of the client in detail. Interpretations and critical analysis
of the data we have collected provided our team with the applicable knowledge
required to begin generating ideas for the client. At this stage of the consultancy
cycle, we have been able to gather data through primary research such as
20. 16
visiting customer service hubs, conducting a focus group, meetings with the
client and a phone call interview with a local housing authority. Secondary
research on other local councils/authorities has also been completed. The
research gathered provided interlinking yet significant information that our
consultancy team have analysed.
Primary Research
Customer Service Hubs
Analysing the data gathered from visiting the three BCC customer service hubs
for housing enquiries was of significance. Our consultancy team produced three 3
reports respective to each hub to record and analyse the data gathered,
(Appendix 7.8, 7.9, 7.10).
A key consideration we discovered from analysing the data we gathered from
visiting the customer service hubs was the concerns staff had with their main data
recording systems, CRM and Northgate. All the staff clearly stated their
preference for Northgate. This is due to the longevity of the process of recording
calls with CRM. They believed CRM to not be specifically designed or adjusted to
the needs of the hub. Furthermore staff considered CRM to not be user friendly as
there are a vast amount of screens and data to record. From our analysis,
although Northgate could just be used to lessen confusion for staff, it could be
suggested staff may require further knowledge of how to operate CRM and may
need to familiarise themselves with the data recording system through training.
21. 17
The housing tenants of BCC may suffer as the delay in solving the issue may
increase and this could then negatively impact the relationship between the
housing tenants of BCC and BCC. ‘A training initiative helps to boost customer
service and improve customer relations’, (Human Resource Management
International Digest, 2008). Similarly, (Paajanen, 1997) proposes ‘good customer
service rests on three pillars; the right employees, sound practices and training.
Training is often the first step companies take to improve customer service’. Staff
may then possess the depth and understanding to use CRM more effectively as
‘CRM enhances promotion through adding effective C2B communication facilities’
(IGI Global, 2016) which would improve workflow and enhance customer
satisfaction.
In terms of a channel shift and the use of forms of social media, the staff
responded with mixed reviews. The staff were both in favour and against the use
of social media. Those who were in favour of social media suggested an increase
in the use of forms such as Twitter. Skype etc. to enable better communication
with tenants more suited for current times. ‘As your customers move to other
forms of media, it is your job to stay ahead of the curve and be where they are’,
(Beard, 2016). Better communication leads to a more positive employee-customer
relationship as it ‘prevents misunderstandings’ (Dolphin, 2009) from occurring.
This may lead to a reduction in demand as a decline in the amount of calls
received by the hubs will be visible as customers are better informed and
consequently the main housing issues can be resolved by the hubs while the
quicker more straight forward issues are resolved without calling.
22. 18
In contrast, those opposing the use of social media indicated the potential for
customers to become over reliant on it. Specifically, staff emphasised social
media being used more and targeted towards the younger generation as the
elderly and those who don’t speak English as their first language may struggle.
‘Many seniors have physical conditions or health issues that make it difficult to
use new technologies. Around two in five seniors indicate that they have a
physical or health condition that makes reading difficult or challenging’ (Smith,
2014). This may prove detrimental in reducing demand as those who struggle to
use social media will still call in. A shift in culture may be needed to allow BCC to
apply a 21st century approach. Additionally staff stated tenants prefer interacting
with an employee over the phone as the majority of their housing tenants are of
the elderly persuasion. ‘It is known, that close customer interactions help increase
customer satisfaction as a crucial antecedent of customer loyalty’ (Bellingkrodt,
2015).
Lastly, we found that there seems to be a distant relationship between the hubs
and the back office teams. The staff we questioned believed there to be a lack of
knowledge and understanding from staff in regards to what issues were of
relevance to their department and with little interaction between the two, issues
such as miscommunication and duplication of data occurs. There was a significant
amount of calls to each of the hubs, particularly repair related calls that should not
have been transferred to the housing department hubs number, thus could have
been avoided or dealt with before hand by the appropriate employees.
23. 19
‘Organisations should strive to be transparent in regards to how they share
information internally’, (Vessella, 2016). ‘Any kind of misunderstanding in the
workplace, big or small, always has a negative effect on the company’,
(Speedupcareer, 2016). This may cause substantial challenges for the staff at the
hubs as it leads to an influx of calls that should not be for the hub, hence there are
more calls to be passed back to the repairs department leading to a time
consuming cycle, negatively effecting the customer journey whilst increasing
demand. As mentioned above, re-educating staff in terms of additional training
about their roles may be required.
Focus Groups
A report was produced following the focus group conducted with tenants from
BCC, (Appendix 7.12), in order to analyse the data gathered. Due to time
limitations, only one of the possible two focus groups were conducted before the
deadline of this report. The tenants highlighted their concerns with the website.
The tenants stated that there was too much information on the pages and too
many clicks were required to reach the relevant information. Furthermore, they
added that there were too many numbers for different departments and that all the
numbers seem to end up going to the same department. BCC may consider
redesigning their website and service to ensure the highest possible efficiency
and customer satisfaction is met. Yola suggests two significant considerations
when considering the design of a website. The main two steps are to create a
strong and clear message as well as having easy navigations. These are
imperative as, ‘your website is your best chance of making a lasting impression to
24. 20
your customer’, (Yola, 2013). Ultimately, this may create the foundation for BCC
and their tenants to engage in a more productive, healthy relationship thus
allowing customer journey to improve whilst lowering demand.
If this can be implemented successfully, re-educating the tenants of BCC of where
and how to access information may be essential in reducing demand. It could be
suggested, each organisation will have their own demand profile and this
uniqueness means that the causes of avoidable contacts are varied. In terms of
making information available online simple and accessible, customer education
comes to forefront, (CCA, 2012).
Although, from analysing the data gathered from hubs provided insight into the
influx of repair calls that should not be for the customer service housing hubs.
Also, some staff may require further knowledge of what issues were of relevance
to their department, the tenants of BCC could also require further knowledge of
what number and options to choose when calling in. There is a misconception that
the housing customer service hubs and the repairs contact centre are one. This
led to tenants being passed around from department to department causing
lengthy resolutions for BCC’s tenants. Again, re-educating the tenants of BCC
may be essential. When considering the value creation model, (figure 2),
25. 21
, choosing value involves understanding the customer’s needs to focus priorities.
Delivering value involves determining what business improvements will deliver
greatest value to tenants. It is then vital to communicate value to educate the
market.
When re-educating BCC’s tenants, a channel shift and use of social media may
be effective. The tenants questioned from the focus group specified their general
support for the use of social media as a means to improve the customer service
experience. Informing tenants consistently with relevant information allows BCC’s
tenants to ‘share those interests, or who just want to stay informed, can read
these stories and share them as well.’ (Jackson, 2016). As a result, demand may
decrease, however it was stated that tenants who struggle to have access to new
technologies and those who do not wish to ask personal questions through a
social media platform may be reluctant to engage and thus demand in calls may
not alter.
26. 22
Ongo Phone Call Interview
Conducting a phone call interview with Ongo (housing authority) was highly
beneficial in understanding the route which they taken and adapted. A report was
produced in order to analyse the data gathered from the conversation, (Appendix
7.11). The key considerations to be made from analysing this are the efficiency of
their website, the feedback systems in place to achieve the high customer
satisfaction and their ability to implement social media platforms. Feedback was
stated to be of major importance in order to have high customer satisfaction levels.
There are certain methods of measuring customer satisfaction, (Figure 3),
one is a theoretical or conceptual approach. This method, ‘directly measures on
customer feedback’, (Akbari et al, 2013). BCC currently operate on a passive
feedback type as they rely on complaints as their only form of improving the
organisation. ‘Customer feedback collection tools can be generally categorized
into two types, active and passive’, (Wirtz, 2010). However, Ongo use more of an
active feedback system as their customer feedback is based on surveys and
questionnaires. Therefore a more active approach for feedback would be
beneficial to BCC as it would improve the customer journey by highlighting issues
arisen. The use of social media in Ongo is clearly advertised throughout their
website. ‘Many local authorities have already spotted that increasing use of social
27. 23
media allows them to reduce costs by moving to more cost effective channels
whilst actually improving their customers experience’, (BDO, 2016). As well as
increasing awareness of new information to customers on social media it will also
enable cost reductions and continue to improve on customer journeys.
Secondary Research
Other local Housing Councils/Authorities
Relating to information collected, connect consultancy used secondary research
to differentiate Birmingham city council’s website to other local council’s websites
which was done to compare the difference in the ways councils innovate their
website pages and bench mark these services against BCC. “Secondary research
data once obtained, this data can be further analysed to provide additional or
different knowledge, interpretation or conclusions” (Bulmer et al, 2009). Thus,
during the second research, it was obvious that Birmingham city council may need
to update their home page. Solihull Council’s home page is more user friendly,
welcoming and more innovative, thus making it simpler for customers to access
as opposed to BCC as their page is very informative making it difficult for anyone
to browse BCC’s home page. Moreover, Birmingham city council’s website could
be updated constantly in order to fit modern generation. “Fear of obsolescence is
usually a greater incentive to invest in new technologies than the lure of
enhancement of existing offerings, (Chandy et al, 2003). Most businesses are
involved in social media as this is seemed as the fastest way to reach their
customers. This illustrates how some councils are already exploring the social
media app’s and taking into consideration how their customers are evolving
28. 24
throughout technology beneficial to their housing tenants, a route BCC may opt to
undertake. BCC currently uses six different numbers that deals with all requests
which is time consuming and not cost effective. In addition, Coventry’s Councils
website offers a colourful home page with different options not just relating to their
services but any upcoming events to the city which offers diverse social media
options such as Flick, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. It may be recommended
that Birmingham city council could improve their website into a more welcoming
home page format by changing the colours and using less information regarding
their services but with the necessary and use of more pleasant features.
Meetings with Client
Throughout the meetings with the client it was gathered that even though the
company does their best to meet their customer’s preferences, BCC’s housing
department may be implementing the incorrect methods to meet their goals and
objectives. However, certain aspects of the communication process can be
improved to minimise all concerns that have been brought forward such as the
use of verbal communication within workforce, staff social media, customer
service, and the use of technological services. However, based on our data
collection all the information became even more intense.
From the meetings with our client we discussed scope of the project and the issue
of lack of communication within departments but also lack communication
between the council and their tenants. However, to improve such situation
29. 25
internal communication needs to be stronger. “It is the correct design of the
structure which is of most significance in determining organisation performance.
(Drucker et al, 2005). BCC should prioritise and understand the benefits of
effective communication since this will help the company to focus on developing a
pleasant place for staff to work in as well as better production between them and
dealing with customers with professionalism. We also discussed the relevant
primary and secondary research required to address the client’s needs. The key
considerations for the client were the customer journey/satisfaction and
implementing a channel shift/ use of social media.
2.5 Generating Options
According to (Lee and Kozar, 2009) websites are the most important tool in the
communication process over the Internet from looking at BCC's website, they may
need to drastically improve their online website by hiring a professional website
designer in order to help them to restructure it. The reason for this is because
currently the website is really out of date compared to other councils in the local
district. The website needs to state clear information and can be quick to access,
(see appendices 6). Our team did a survey on how many clicks does it take to get
to finding a number for the housing department. Out of all the councils that we did
a research on, Birmingham City Council has the highest amount of clicks in order
to find the contact number. Most of the councils had a maximum of three or even
two clicks to get a contact number, where as Birmingham City council had more
than that. (See appendices 7) for how many each council had. The way that the
council will be able to implement improvements to their website is as we have said
30. 26
before it needs a restructure and a complete design change. However another
important factor may be that the council needs to reduce the amount of numbers
they have on their website, if you look at appendices 8 Solihull Council has only
one number for their housing department and only one email address. By sticking
to one number this will not get tenants confused as to which department they
need to call.
The idea about Birmingham City Council using social media as another means of
communicate is a good idea to a certain existence (See Appendices 10).
Following the focus group meeting with tenants, a possibility for Birmingham City
Council may be that they could use social media to communicate with tenants by
informing them with information they may be unaware of. In addition to this a live
chat system can also be implemented on their website, as this would help to
reduce calls as sometimes people haven't got time to call and wait within a queue.
This would help to reduce demand within the contact centre.
An inbox system may be put into place which only one person should deal with,
this is so that if anyone decides to email instead of phone this can get picked up
very quickly, by doing this and keeping it to one individual person email,
responses will be made quicker.
‘Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and
maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization, (Page
2016). The communication frailties within BCC’s housing department have
31. 27
created major problems, this is because the research we constructed and
analysed highlighted why staff training within BCC’s housing department has to be
improved. Staff training plays a major role in helping employees ‘acquire new
skills and sharpen existing ones’ to help ‘increase productivity’ (Chopra, 2015)
and 'is essential for an organisation's success' (Today, 2016). As inadequate staff
training is a problem for the BCC’s housing department. They may want to look
into their staff training programs and consider the following improvement
opportunities. They could introduce a monthly or quarterly training program to help
their staff members keep up to date with new innovations in customer service
methods. This is because according to (Abbott, 2015), ‘regular training can have a
really positive effect on your team.’ Secondly they could utilise the staff training
initiative used by Ongo. Where as seen on appendix 8.1, the BCC’s housing
department can use this model to help them train there staff in all aspect of the
department to help reduce the number of irreverent calls and increase customer
satisfaction.
In addition to this we found that staff members were having trouble using the new
CRM data collection system, which was recently added to the hubs. When
speaking to staff members at the hubs we unearthed that there was a very scarce
amount of training given in the use of the system and that many of the staff
members preferred using Northgate. BCC may consider discarding CRM and to
remain with Northgate as it will be beneficial in reducing costs and simplify the
data collection process for staff. However maintaining the CRM system BCC may
consider the CRM Database Management training program as show in appendix
32. 28
8.2. This will help educate the staff in using the system and will reduce the
problems that have been occurring.
The main thing that was learnt from Ongo was that all the employees that answer
the phone are trained in all departments, that is a major problem for Birmingham
City Council as they have to pass the call to someone who is trained within that
certain department. According to C, Greenleaf (1998) "viewing employees as a
valuable investment is a necessary step in on-going improvement.." This is
something that Birmingham City Council needs to realise, as this is clearly a big
issue, as all the calls are not fully completed. Birmingham City Council needs to
train all their staff in every department; this would help with the number of calls
that can get resolved on the spot. Furthermore according to W, Rahman & Z, Nas
"when organisations provide training to its employees, it helps them in their career
development...[with their] sense of advancement and skills lead to increased
productivity.." This is what BCC needs to get out of their employees but they can
only do that once they have given them to necessary training. BCC should think of
getting an external expert in to help train the employees to the highest standards.
(See Appendices 9)
Lastly there is a great importance in feedback as according to Beard (2014) ‘it
provides marketers and business owners with insight that they can use to improve
their business and overall customer experience. The BCC’s housing department
as acknowledged before have no Feedback system in place, this has created
barriers for the Council as they don’t know if their current service is good, if the
33. 29
customers are happy with the service and whether there are any improvements to
make. This demonstrates the significance of a feedback system. The BCC could
use the following company Voluntas to help them build a feedback system and
guide them through the effective Feedback Cycle as shown in Figure 4.
. This company has delivered 'insightful and actionable business intelligence'
(Voluntas, 2016) to many businesses including Ongo the award winners for
customer satisfaction as seen on appendix 8.4. The BCC's housing department
can use Voluntas 'Customer Insight' program to help them gain a better look into
the customers need and according make the necessary improvements, this in turn
will create the platform in helping BCC increase customer satisfaction and reduce
demand.
In addition to this the BCC could look into incorporating live chat onto their
website this will allow customers to chat with the council in real-time to ask
34. 30
questions, get advice and 'add a human factor to your website, allowing your
business to tell its story and solve customer issues all at once' (Honigman 2013).
BCC can use LiveHelpNow.net live chat system, as this is the number one rated
live chat system for the last five years as show on appendix 8.5. The live chat
system is cost effective as this offers many features that can aid the council such
as 'Social Insights', where you can connect too tenants through social media,
mobile phone (text and e-mail). They also offer training and free demo on use and
features of the system. So the implementation process will be made simpler.
2.6 Disengaging
Disengagement is the final stage of the consultancy cycle and “refers to the
ending of the consultation or collaboration relationship” (Dougherty and
Dougherty, 2009). It is aimed to evaluate the consultation process by confirming
all expectations have been reached. The timing of disengagement varies
between consultancy projects; Connect Consultancy is currently in the process
of disengaging. In order to maintain a healthy relationship with our client, it was
mutually agreed that this process would not be rushed. The checklist (see below
Figure 5) suggested by Cockman et al, which involves steps to ensure a
successful disengagement process, was used as a guideline.
35. 31
Figure 2 – Checklist(Crowther, 2009)
Implementing this checklist involves assessing the beginning (each stage of the
consultancy cycle) in order to prosperously assess the end (disengagement).
During the entry stage Connect Consultancy discussed the time frame available
with our client, also mentioning how the disengagement stage will occur.
Naturally, a period of reduced involvement occurred during the analysis of data
stage, which was comfortable with. As we are yet to disengage it is difficult to
discuss the process. However, a plan to successfully disengage has been
outlined below. Once this plan is put into action there may be some
disagreement about how the process is handled therefore negotiating and
compromising may take place.
Connect Consultancy's plan to disengage
1. Reduce involvement
36. 32
2. Evaluate: Connect Consultancy will discuss and evaluate the consultation
process alongside our client [Arthur]
3. Post consultation: In order to reduce the gap caused by disengaging,
Connect Consultancy suggest that Birmingham City Council customer
service/housing department should assign different members of staff to
adopt a similar role of a consultant
4. A presentation of our findings will be presented to Arthur and his team.
5. The possibility of publication regarding the findings and recommendations
will be confirmed
6. Follow up: Receive feedback on the consulting process from our client
7. Termination: Verbally express our gratitude, followed up by a brief farewell
email encouraging our client to continue their growth”
To summarise, as the importance of this stage has been identified, a plan has
been devised to ensure that disengaging from our client will occur smoothly.
37. 33
3. Conclusion
The consultancy project we have undertaken with Birmingham City Council
has been insightful in allowing Connect Consultancy to develop our
understanding and knowledge of the nature of consultancy. We have been
able to successfully follow the steps of the consultancy cycle, although
generating ideas wasn’t completed and implementation of these possible
ideas could not begin due to time limitations we were able provide a
professional, efficient service to our client. The task, which has been
presented to our consultancy team, has been both challenging and
intellectually stimulating. From carrying out this report, underpinned with
appropriate evidence, theory and literature, meeting with our client and
gathering our primary and secondary research, we have come up with
appropriate solutions tailored to the clients needs. We believe, BCC must take
appropriate action in order to provide the most efficient service to their tenants
as well as enhancing productivity. Redesigning the website, training all staff
on aspects of the business, the use of social media to enable better
communication with tenants and to inform tenants of information on the go
and need for feedback to improve customer satisfaction have been
highlighted as key solutions for our client. In terms of addressing the concerns
of the customer journey and channel shift/ use of social media for BCC, we at
Connect Consultancy believe if these solutions can be implemented, BCC and
the housing tenants of BCC may see the direct positive results in reducing
demand and improving customer satisfaction as a result.
38. 34
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