Best CRM software for Social Housing Providers
What is a CRM?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. When we talk about a CRM, we’re usually referring to a tool or solution that helps you to better serve your customers through data storage and management.
Do I need a CRM?
Most likely – yes. Most Social Housing providers will need a CRM in order to keep their business running smoothly and provide a standardised, professional level of customer service to their community.
Further to this, from 1st April 2023, The Tenant Satisfaction Measure standards came into effect, meaning housing providers now need to collate, report and publish tenant satisfaction data across a number of areas. Good data housekeeping is essential for this, and housing providers are looking to leverage new or existing technologies to help.
Many Social Housing providers use the in-built functionality that comes with their Housing Management system. In some cases, this might suffice, but it’s likely these solutions won’t help you segment, target and support your customers in the way you need.
Let’s look at some scenarios where a CRM can really help your business.
Are you stuck in a cycle of being reactive, rather than proactive?
A good CRM system will help you identify those who need assistance – and help you act quickly – before a problem escalates. Having a powerful solution to house your data can help you keep track of your social responsibility, so you can ensure no one slips through the net.
Is your customer data spread across multiple systems?
If you record your tenancy information in one system, your customer calls and queries in another, and your maintenance requests in yet another, it can all become difficult to manage.
This scenario is especially challenging for your team, who need to be able to answer customer queries quickly and easily whenever they answer the phone. If they need to log into multiple solutions to find the information they need, the process becomes frustrating for them, and your customers.
Using a CRM will eliminate this problem, especially if you opt for an integrated solution.
Integrated CRM solutions can be plugged into your Social Housing systems, enabling data to flow automatically into one, central, easy-to-read dashboard.
Not only does this make life much easier for your team, it also reduces the risk of errors from duplicate manual data entry.
When it comes to reporting, although a dashboard might sound nice, it needs to be tailored to the user to be truly useful. If your CRM allows you customise the data displayed, your team will get even more benefit from the solution.
So next time a customer phones, no matter which member of your team answers, they’ll have all the information they need to deal with the query quickly and efficiently.
Are you able to deliver your housing service out in the field?
We know that housing officers aren’t sat behind their desk all day. Sometimes your team needs to be out and about meeting with your residents in-person. The last thing your team needs in this scenario is to be caught short without the answers their residents need, or to manually type up all their notes again once they return to the office and their computer.
A great CRM will provide you with mobile capability, so your team can access all the information they need remotely, and update customer files there and then, in real time.
How do you track your officer actions?
With so much to do and so many items to follow up on, it’s easy to overlook a task or miss a deadline for a response. This is especially true when matters are out of our immediate control, if we’re waiting for a response from a colleague so we can get the information we need, or if we need to sift through huge amounts of data to respond to a query.
Using a CRM, contact and case management plays a huge part in enabling your team to monitor where they are with a query or case and ensure a timely response. Having immediate access to key information further assists in responding to actions within your action plans.
How do you monitor customer satisfaction?
Standardising your operational processes ensures that all customers gain access to the services and information they need, and helps you to provide a consistent, high quality service delivery. Feedback can be gathered for every interaction, capturing positive and negative experiences, and allowing you the opportunity to review your services to identify areas to improve.
Do I need a CRM solution designed specifically for Social Housing?
One thing we’re often asked is whether a generalist CRM that’s used across industries will work for Social Housing providers. When weighing up your options, consider the following factors:
How strong is the integration offering?
Never underestimate the difference between a good integration and a weak one. Powerful integrations can save you huge amounts of time, tidy up your data and ultimately, better serve your customers.
If you use a single provider for your Social Housing solutions, their CRM offering will ultimately integrate better with the way you work.
How difficult is it to get started?
A CRM solution that has been designed specifically for your sector will be far easier for you to implement. Instead of spending precious time customising a complex system to meet your needs, it’s likely that a Social Housing CRM will already have all the workflows and dashboards you need to effectively enable your team – straight out of the box.
MRI Customer Central has been designed in conjunction with our clients to ensure it meets the needs of the sector from day one.
Will it keep up with the changing needs of your sector?
By using a CRM solution designed specifically for Social Housing, you’ll be investing in a product that needs to adapt with the sector. At MRI we keep our ears close to the ground, and develop our products based on customer feedback through dedicated platforms and user groups. This way, we ensure our solutions are designed and developed with our client’s needs in mind.
MRI Customer Central
Launched in 2023, MRI’s Customer Central is our new CRM solution for Social Housing providers. Built on our powerful SaaS platform, it’s an out-of-the-box solution that’s ready to meet your organisation’s challenges.
Embedding a CRM solution into your organisation doesn’t need to be a resource draining experience. Book a demo today to hear how simple the implementation process could be for you.
Find out more
See how Beyond Housing has created a connected customer experience with MRI Customer Central. 
The Consumer Standards and Tenancy Satisfaction Measures: Your Guide to Achieving Compliance with Technology
Cutting through the noise, delivering you the essentials of what the Consumer Standards and Tenancy Satisfaction Measures 2023 Regulations mean, and how you can work towards achieving compliance with the right technology tools in place. New regulatio…
