Overview
Across the community housing sector, there is an increasing expectation to deliver more customer centred services. Providers are balancing growing regulatory expectations, rising tenant complexity, and demand for more responsive and transparent communication.
In this environment, many organisations are looking for practical ways to embed customer centricity into everyday behaviours, moving beyond policy into lived experience.
For many providers, the challenge is not defining good service, but ensuring it is delivered consistently across teams, roles, and channels. Achieving this requires clear service standards, shared understanding, and the capability to translate organisational values into observable actions.
A structured and practical approach
Junction Australia partnered with CSBA to design and implement a tailored Service Excellence framework focused on consistency across all customer interactions. While developed for Junction Australia, the approach reflects a model that can be adapted by other community housing providers seeking to strengthen service capability and alignment.
The engagement followed a structured three phase approach comprising a Team Leader Discovery Workshop, Service Standards Design, and CX Training and Embedment Workshops. This ensured the framework was informed by leaders, frontline staff, and customer representatives, including insights from Junction’s LECAT group and staff members from a cultural lens.
Defining what good looks like
The work resulted in a clear set of Service Excellence standards built around five core principles:
- Connect with care
- Tune in and adapt
- Make it easy
- Be transparent and honest
- Clarify next steps and follow up
Each principle is supported by practical service commitments that guide behaviour across phone, email, SMS/Test, and face to face interactions. This provides a shared framework for communicating, responding, and following through in a consistent and values aligned way.
Building capability and confidence
A key focus of the engagement was capability uplift. Through targeted training and embedment workshops, staff built the confidence to apply the standards in day to day interactions. The sessions focused on practical strategies and real scenarios, supporting teams to move from theory into action.
Beyond guidance, the framework also supports ongoing coaching, performance conversations, and continuous improvement, enabling a shift from reactive service delivery to a more deliberate and consistent customer experience approach.
Early impact and outcomes
While still in the early stages of implementation, Junction Australia is seeing improvements in customer satisfaction, stronger team alignment, and more consistent service delivery across touchpoints.
As Sonia Sheppard, Executive Manager, Housing & Place explains:
