A win in the customer survey Nöjd Studbo Live 2023, a nomination for Star of the Year and the best grade in Sweden regarding fault reports. AF Bostäder continues its tradition of garnering good reviews, due to goal-driven management, action plans, frequent communication with the students and an organisation in which everyone has the customers’ best interests in mind.
In May, AF Bostäder won Nöjd Studbo Live 2023 for large student housing companies. Nöjd Studbo Live is a customer survey conducted regularly, ten times per year, by the Origo Group.
“All our tenants get the chance to express their opinions on everything from their own accommodation to service, cleaning, building maintenance, security and sustainability,” says Mats Olsson, Property Manager at AF Bostäder. “The results then permeate all our work on customer satisfaction, and form the basis for continuous improvements, property development and our long-term aim to be Sweden’s best student housing company.”
In 2023, AF Bostäder, increased its SKI rating to 76 and was given a Net Promoter Score of 63 (compared with a sector average of 38). The company also gained high grades for aspects such as security, cycle parking, student interaction, website, information, cleaning of stairwells and upkeep of outdoor environments.
“The key to the excellent results is the considerable customer focus in all processes within the company,” says Mats Olsson. “But another factor is that caretakers and other parts of the company work actively according to goal-driven management on specific issues. This could concern how the customers feel about their bathroom, the state of the outdoor environment, upkeep of laundry rooms, which project is to be prioritised, events, service and how we interact with customers.”
The caretakers make their own decisions on which issues they want to prioritise and try to improve for the customers. They draw up targets, action plans and budgets together with their housing area manager. In the Nöjd Studbo system, they can then follow the students’ feedback month by month and see the effect different initiatives have. It is often simple means and a little extra attention that generate the major results.
“All our staff do a fantastic job in meeting the students’ needs, but we must also mention our customers, who have taken the time to respond to the survey and given feedback, as without them we would never have succeeded so well,” says Mats Olsson. “We have an unusually high response rate – almost 60%. This is partly due to the fact that we give away a rent-free month to one of the respondents every time we conduct the survey, and partly because we remind them regularly in various ways about the survey.”
“However, the most important thing is that the customer’s see that their answers lead to results. That is why we are very thorough about ensuring that all those who submit comments and state their name are contacted personally within a few days by the relevant staff member at AF Bostäder. This shows that we take their opinions and suggestions seriously,” says Mats Olsson.
Latest update June 24, 2024