Customer Experience, Efficiency & Compliance

How Guided Home Helps Home Builders Stay Ahead of Changes To The NHBC National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey & HBF Star Ratings

customer journey app for new homes customer survey and HBF ratings

Written by

oliverperry

Published on

September 5, 2024

How Guided Home Helps Home Builders Stay Ahead of Changes To The NHBC National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey, HBF Star Ratings & Consumer Codes

In the competitive world of home building, customer satisfaction is paramount. As the home building industry evolves, so too does the scrutiny on delivering better consumer protections and outcomes. Recent recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are driving changes to the HBF Star Rating and the National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS) – a critical tool for gauging customer satisfaction and home builder performance.

With recent recommendations expanding the scope of the survey to include a broader range of quality and service metrics – which the CMA recommends sharing with consumers and the public – home builders face the challenge of maintaining survey results and HBF Star Ratings during the transition and in the years ahead as growth returns. The key to success lies in adopting the latest innovations and industry best practices, ensuring there is no drop-off in service levels as the home buyer completes the new homes customer journey and is handed off between sales and customer care teams. Customers often feel forgotten and frustrated which impacts satisfaction scores.

Guided Home, a cutting-edge customer journey app, enables home builders to effortlessly enhance the customer experience from sales through to handover, defect management and beyond with no drop off in service levels.

In this post, we’ll explore:

The Implications of CMA Recommendations on the CSS and the HBF Star Ratings
How Guided Home Empowers Builders to Excel Under the New Methodology
Why Builders Need to Act Now

You’ll discover how Guided Home enables home builders to excel under the new standards and heightened scrutiny, securing their position at the forefront of the industry while at the same time improving customer service, customer satisfaction and customer protection.

Greater Transparency and Its Implications

The New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey has been a cornerstone of the UK homebuilding industry since its inception in 2005. It was developed to provide a clear metric of customer satisfaction across the homebuilding process. Builders are rated primarily on whether customers would recommend them to a friend, resulting in the widely recognised HBF Star Rating System.

From 2010 the survey was rebranded the NHBC National New Home Customer Satisfaction Survey. Conducted nationwide, the survey gathers anonymous feedback from the buyers or occupants of new homes regardless of their warranty provider. Responses are collected at 8 weeks placing a spotlight on the home handover and transition from buyer to owner. This period would also include views on the snags and immediate quality issues. Crucially, a 9-month survey means builders have to ensure they are consistently delivering high-quality aftercare service over an extended period of time, and across all sites and regions they operate in.

For home builders who are members of the Home Builders Federation, the results of this survey determine the annual HBF Star Rating.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Housebuilding Report published in 2024 included numerous recommendations to improve the quality of new homes produced and service provided by housebuilders across Great Britain. As an NHQB Accredited Supplier, Guided Home supports the recommendations for a single mandatory consumer code and the recommendation to evolve the New Homes Quality Code.

The Report goes on to recommend “Developing an independent single consumer satisfaction survey and publishing key quality metrics” that “requires housebuilders to participate in the survey, display their key quality metrics to consumers, and share this information with an independent body for public dissemination”.

The HBF and NHQB, with the support of NHBC, have been actively working on improvements to the data currently available to consumers. While much of the information was being collected already, the recommendation that key metrics must be displayed to consumers, and publicly disseminated – potentially for all NHQB activated builders and publicly available – is significant change.

With public display and visibility of key metrics reflecting customer satisfaction with the quality of the home, the service provided during the buying process, and post-completion support; this change presents both a risk and an opportunity for home builders across the UK.

Navigating the Transition From Sales to Home Handover and Aftercare

How a Customer Journey App Elevates Home Builders’ Satisfaction Scores

For many home builders, quickly improving processes and adapting to these changes presents a significant challenge to maintaining results and ratings during the transition – and in the years ahead as volumes increase. Volume home builders face even greater challenges to ensure consistent processes, customer experience and survey results across teams, sites, and regions.

“The changes mean greater visibility on any weaknesses in the customer journey — whether during the sales process, at new home handover, or in managing homeowner defects. This makes it imperative for home builders to adopt new strategies and digital solutions if they are going to succeed in the new world.”

Guided Home is designed from the ground up to help builders navigate this transition smoothly, ensuring there is no drop-off in service, quality, or satisfaction scores across the customer journey. By leveraging Guided Home’s comprehensive platform, builders can quickly adopt the latest industry best practice and innovations, removing typical customer tensions that stem from a lack of fairness, transparency; timely access to key information and updates that result in poor service.

How Guided Home Empowers Builders to Excel Under the New Methodology

Adopting Industry Best Practices with Guided Home

The shift in survey methodology and transparency on the results underscores the importance of adopting industry best practices and the best digital solutions. Too often, house builders have been reluctant to digitise the journey for fear of the spotlight it might put on service level performance. A digital sales and handover solution adds the wow factor and is also a more sustainable solution. The cost and wasted resources that go into a single-use, low-tech, low-value handover do not sit well in tomorrow’s world. Guided Home is at the forefront of these innovations, offering builders a suite of tools that ensure every aspect of the customer journey is managed to the highest standards.

Guided Home’s customer journey app provides builders with a digital roadmap that aligns with the latest industry standards. From sales to aftercare, every step is designed to optimise the customer experience, reducing the risk of dissatisfaction at key touchpoints. This holistic approach ensures that builders effortlessly exceed customer expectations, helping to achieve high performance and ratings under the evolving surveys and standards to deliver better outcomes for their customers, teams, and partners.

Digitising the Sales and New Home Handover to Boost Satisfaction Scores

The sales and new home handover is a critical moment in the customer journey – and on a personal level, it can be emotionally charged – both exciting, stressful, and exhausting! Its impact on satisfaction scores cannot be overstated. Even today, a typical buying journey starts with app-based search via Rightmove, OnTheMarket, or Zoopla before quickly dropping out to a fragmented process with customers receiving sales information via emails, print, phone, and of course in person.

Guided Home’s customer journey app gives home builders the power to share information via their own custom-branded app from pre-reservation onwards putting their customers at the heart of every business process overnight. Sales teams can transition from a paper-based journey to a digital journey with Guided Home. Offline sales forms and documentation can be quickly imported to Guided Home via the mobile app with the homebuyer sat next to you. The latest digital Customer Options & Choices selection and management, buyer journey tracking, and digital forms are all included in Guided’s easy-to-use customer journey app, for a faster, simpler, and more transparent process for your teams and homebuyers. A smooth and well-coordinated journey from sales to handover and the end of the aftercare period leaves a lasting positive impression on the customer, setting the tone for their entire homeownership experience.

The Customer Journey App For Achieving 5 Star HBF Ratings & NHBC Surveys

Ensuring that the customer experience and service level does not drop off as accountability passes between the sales and customer care teams is vital for achieving high satisfaction scores in both the HBF and NHBC new homes customer satisfaction surveys.

Guided Home is designed to support builders through every stage of the customer journey, offering a unified solution that brings together Development, Sales, and Customer Care teams. The platform automates the handover process, providing builders with a structured, digital framework that ensures all necessary steps are completed efficiently and professionally. The platform brings together Development, Sales, and Customer Care teams giving them the tools to streamline information sharing and ensure that every interaction with the customer is clear, consistent, and positive. From the moment a buyer commits to purchasing a home, Guided Home facilitates transparent information sharing and communication, helping to manage expectations and avoid misunderstandings and delays that lead to dissatisfaction.

The platform provides a digital channel and real-time information sharing between the home builder and the customer. Builders can update home handover information in response to customer queries, product substitutions, or inaccurate and late information from delivery partners in seconds. The buyer has convenience and transparency with easy access to the information and documents about the buying journey, home handover, and defects in one easy-to-use app. This seamless attention to detail not only enhances the customer’s experience but also boosts satisfaction survey scores as customers feel supported throughout the process. By ensuring a flawless handover and a consistent, positive service before and afterward, builders can significantly boost their chances of receiving a higher star rating with their own handover solution and customer journey app.

Proactive Defect Management for Home Builders Using Guided Home

Effective homeowner defect management is another key area highlighted by the new survey methodology and transparency. Defects, while sometimes unavoidable, can significantly impact customer satisfaction if not handled correctly. Builders need a system that allows them to quickly capture homeowner defects and proactively keep them updated as issues are resolved, maintaining a positive relationship with the customer even when problems arise.

With these changes imminent, home builders, small and large – can no longer afford to avoid digitising the customer journey for fear of highlighting poor defect performance or service. The spotlight and transparency are coming. Builders who integrate effective digital solutions and best practices into their operations now are more likely to achieve higher satisfaction scores, as they demonstrate a commitment to quality and customer care.

Managing Homeowner Defects with Guided Home’s Customer Journey App

Guided Home provides proactive defect management for home builders, with a seamless defect management solution as part of the digital customer journey. As an NHQB Accredited Supplier, Guided Home’s customer journey app includes an Inspection and Defect solution, used by Sales and Customer Care teams to complete native NHQC inspection checklists digitally. Home builders can proactively share already identified open defects with homeowners to demonstrate proactive quality controls and avoid duplicate defects being logged by homeowners.

The customer journey app allows homeowners to complete their own inspections and report defects directly through the platform; as well as request and receive updates and the latest status changes in real time.

Effective management of homeowner defects is crucial for achieving high ratings in both the HBF and NHBC surveys. Defects can be managed to resolution on Guided Home – or they can be automatically passed to the strategic systems already in use onsite such as Procore Punchlist or Trimble ViewPoint Fieldview. Crucially, these strategic system integrations allow builders to quickly launch their branded customer journey app with homeowner defect capture – without forcing a change on internal teams and contractors using an existing defect resolution tool. This level of organisation and transparency helps builders resolve defects quickly, and keep customers informed and updated without any additional effort required – reducing customer frustrations with delays and lack of communication, and improving satisfaction scores in the survey’s post-completion sections.

By digitising the buying journey, home handover, and homeowner defect capture with one cost-effective and easy-to-use customer journey app, Guided Home not only improves the quality of aftercare but also enhances transparency across the journey – a key factor in achieving high survey scores. This proactive approach is crucial for addressing potential issues before the critical 9-month survey period, ensuring that customer satisfaction remains high long after the sale is completed.

Ensuring Consistent Service from Sales to Aftercare

One of the biggest challenges builders face is maintaining a high level of service throughout the entire customer journey, from the initial sale to aftercare. The new survey methodology and transparency place greater emphasis on this sustained performance, making it essential for builders to avoid any drop-off in service quality after the sale is completed.

Guided Home addresses this challenge by providing a single, integrated plug-and-play customer journey app that supports the process from start to finish. The app ensures that customers are at the heart of every business process and customer care remains a priority even after the handover, with real-time updates and information sharing that keep customers informed and satisfied to the end of the relationship – be that the warranty period; 100% staircasing, or sale and future handovers. Guided Home supports all tenures on one platform, which provides significant benefits for home builders, affordable homes partnerships, developing housing associations, and BTR developers delivering new homes and apartments for private sale, shared ownership, and build-to-rent.

Why Builders Need to Act Now

The changes to the NHBC National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey and HBF Star Rating make it clear that builders must adapt to stay ahead. The additional transparency coming on quality and service metrics means there will be nowhere to hide. Failing to embrace a digital home handover and customer journey solution will increase operational burdens on teams and lower customer satisfaction scores, which could damage a home builder’s reputation and affect future sales. Guided Home offers a comprehensive solution to help builders navigate these changes and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction.

Future-Proofing Your Customer Satisfaction Strategy

By implementing Guided Home’s customer journey solution, builders can ensure they have the foundational systems and processes in place to not only meet but exceed expectations in the new world of transparency and accountability. The platform’s ability to streamline information sharing across the journey, improve customer self-serve, manage defects proactively, and maintain consistently high levels of aftercare service with minimal cost and effort positions builders to excel in the evolving landscape.

Staying Ahead of the Curve with Guided Home

The evolution of the HBF Star Ratings and National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey, and the move to mandating the NHQB as a single code represents both a risk and an opportunity for home builders. As the survey’s scope expands to include more transparency on comprehensive measures of quality and service, builders must digitize and adapt to these changes or risk seeing their satisfaction scores decline. However, with the right tools and strategies, it’s possible not only to maintain high ratings but to improve them.

Guided Home is the ideal partner for builders of all sizes looking to stay ahead of the curve. Guided Home’s platform provides the tools necessary to enhance every stage of the customer journey, from initial sale to post-completion aftercare and beyond, for both private sales and shared ownership homes. By leveraging Guided Home, builders can improve their survey results, maintain high customer satisfaction, and secure a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

For builders committed to excellence, the transition is an opportunity to showcase their dedication to quality and customer care. With Guided Home, you can confidently navigate this transition, ensuring that your satisfaction scores remain high during the changeover and in the years to come.

Ready to future-proof your customer satisfaction strategy? Schedule a discovery call and product demo with Guided Home today to see how we can help you stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry. Partner with Guided Home to minimize costs and risks while unlocking the full benefits of digitizing your home handover, defect management, and customer journey.

Guide your Customers Home With Guided Home. https://www.guidedhome.co/