img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

How Stride Treglown has been improving its customer experience

Words:
Rachel Bell

Practice director Rachel Bell on how the firm used a customer experience consultant to help it engage more effectively with its clients

Stride Treglown’s grade II* listed Bristol headquarters, refurbished by the practice in 2018.
Stride Treglown’s grade II* listed Bristol headquarters, refurbished by the practice in 2018.

Stride Treglown has collected feedback for years, but we felt that there was an opportunity to engage more effectively with clients – including consultants, contractors and building users – to improve how we work and the places we create. 

We considered different approaches taken by businesses we know. One operated an in-house team while another used a third party, which we felt elicited more open discussion and honesty. A law firm referred us to Insight 6, a customer experience consultant, which helped us to develop our Engage programme. Eighteen months on from our initial pilot, it is part of everyday life, embedded in the workflow of all projects.

Our customer experience consultant conducts detailed surveys on select projects, including those that are challenging. We want the negative feedback – and have had some

Client listening takes several forms. We send out short questionnaires and schedule check-in calls at key moments, such as six weeks after appointment. One aim is to identify small aggravations early so they don’t get worse. Insight 6 conducts more detailed surveys on select projects, including those that are challenging. We want the negative feedback – and have had some – though most is positive. It’s revealed useful things we can quickly address, such as pressures within certain teams or inconsistencies between them. A ‘secret shopper’ exercise investigated whether clients receive a friendly, consistent welcome. 

Playing this back internally is so important. Insight 6 helps us run studio reviews and CPDs on the importance of the client relationship and ways of reaching out – including how to have difficult conversations. This helps to embed the ideas in the culture of the business. We are 350 people across nine studios but all practices could learn from looking at the customer focus found in other sectors, from professional services to retail.

Latest

The Urchin Café was conceived and built as a sculpture for use as a café by Matthew Sanderson. It sits beside a 19th century gothic mansion, home to the Plas-Glyn-y-Weddw arts centre, close to Wales’ Llanbedrog beach. The sculptor teamed up with Mark Wray Architects and structural engineer Fold to realise the scheme

Sculpture and café are combined in the work of sculptor, engineer and architect

Exhibition reveals how political messages and militaristic or nationalistic images and patterns bring propaganda to a domestic level on clothes and fabrics

Exhibition shows the subtext in textiles

How do great architecture clients think? As the RIBA Client of the Year 2023 Award shortlist is announced, we get an insight into what the individuals behind these award-winning buildings wanted from their architects

As the shortlist is announced, we get an insight into how great architecture clients think

Want to design a Chelmsford housing development, pitch for work on a south Wales regeneration programme or refurbish a listed museum? These are the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

Latest: £55m affordable housing project, Essex

Approved Document O is up and running. Mark Taylor looks at the pros and cons of routes to compliance and what it means for apartment and house designs

How Approved Document O will cut overheating in house and apartment design