Colleagues from across The Calico Group have taken part in the third and final Customer Strategy Workshop, continuing the work to refresh how services are designed and how customers are supported.
The session began with open reflection where colleagues shared how their thinking has developed throughout the process. This led into honest discussion about whether systems and services genuinely work for customers, or whether customers are sometimes expected to adapt to the way services are set up.
Building on previous sessions, colleagues reflected on how the current Customer Strategy is framed. There was strong agreement that some of the language feels over‑aspirational and too corporate, particularly phrases such as ‘best life’. Instead, there was a shared desire for simpler, clearer language and a more joined‑up set of principles which feel realistic, relatable, and grounded in everyday experience.
Key themes which emerged were trust and emotional experience; colleagues discussed how trust is often where customer experience is won or lost, and how closely customer experience is linked to colleague experience. During this part, colleagues talked about their own experiences with both negative and positive customer service, and how that shaped their thinking.
The idea of ‘bridges, not walls’ featured strongly, with discussion around helping people move forward, access the right support, and navigate systems that can often feel complex. This also led into conversations about what Calico’s ‘more than housing’ offer really means and how it can be defined more clearly.
Group work focused on emerging ideas including supporting the whole person through more joined‑up services, reducing anxiety and distress, and making support easier to access. Colleagues talked about meeting people where they are, offering different access routes including digital and face‑to‑face, recognising lived experience, and working alongside customers so they feel ownership of their own journey and decisions.
The workshop also explored what it feels like for customers to access and navigate services, particularly when they may already be feeling anxious or excluded.
The next step is direct customer consultation, planned for May and early June, which will include a local event in Burnley to bring local people together to share their experiences and perspectives. Insights from this alongside the workshops will continue to shape a clearer, more human Customer Strategy with a focus on support which is both meaningful and respectful.
