CR&S Report 2009 - Stockland

RESPONDING TO OUR CUSTOMERS– COMMERCIAL PROPERTYOur Commercial Property customers includecommercial, industrial and retail tenants, aswell as shoppers in our retail centres.To identify what is important for our retailersand tenants we conducted customersatisfaction research and used the resultsto develop our Insights and CustomerEngagement plan for FY10.Tenant engagementEngaging with our tenants means wecan better understand their needs andidentify areas for improvement. In FY09, weconducted an extensive review to assessefficiencies of the core service interactionswith the Stockland Service Centre andassociated stakeholders. The review focusedon three areas which included the keyreactive maintenance process, contractormanagement and invoicing. These areashave now been refined and improved whichwill result in a more personalised service toour customers and efficient managementand payment of our contractors.One of the key areas where we canprovide value and guidance to our officeand industrial tenants is in the area ofenvironmental sustainability. We have theopportunity to help our customers improvetheir environmental performance and thisconstitutes an important part of our overallcommitment to the environment.Project RapportProject Rapport is a client relationshipstrategy that aims to achieve greaterengagement of all key stakeholders inmanaging key Commercial Property tenants.The project was initiated in the context ofour relationship with our largest office tenant,Optus, and over FY09 has been presentedto key government tenants as an opportunityto foster better relationships.This year, our office tenants told us that theway we respond to their daily operationalissues is of great importance. In response tothis we have reviewed our service model andstreamlined internal processes to ensure ourservice process is proactive and responsive.In addition, we have undertaken extensivecustomer service training with our employeesto ensure they have the tools to identify andrespond to the needs of our customers.Engaging with our retailers onenvironmental sustainabilityWe launched a green tenant fit-out guidein 2007 to provide guidance to our retailtenants. Building on this work, we areseeking broader engagement with retailerson environmental sustainability.We have partnered with the Departmentof Environment and Climate Change NSW(DECC) to promote a business programcalled Sustainability Advantage. The programis designed to help our retail tenantsunderstand sustainability and add businessvalue and it will be launched in the secondquarter of FY10. Participants will havethe opportunity to improve their businessthrough innovation, lower costs, improvedproductivity and enhanced reputation as asupplier and employer of choice.Rating customers’ experience in ourshopping centresWe aim to provide convenient and accessibleshopping centres that meet local communityneeds. To better understand and improveour customers’ experience we launchedthe Customer Excellence Programme andCustomer Feedback Solutions in FY09.The Customer Excellence Program involvesmystery shoppers rating our centres on allaspects of the shopping experience includingsignage, customer service, cleanliness offacilities, employee presentation and visibilityand availability of service professionals. Wealso ask the mystery shoppers to tell us whatthey would like to see improved. All mysteryshoppers are local customers and arerecruited by an external company.The Customer Excellence Programbenchmarks our centres and every quarterwe have seen an average 7 per centimprovement in how our customers haverated us.In addition, every branded Stockland centrenow has Customer Feedback Solutions.These are visible and accessible touch padslocated throughout our centres enablingcustomers to rate our performance. Thetouch pads include questions on car parks,the cleanliness of our centres and the rangeof shops. Our centre teams use this feedbackto identify areas for improvement. Forexample, Stockland Wetherill Park in southwest Sydney used the touch pad informationto identify the time in the day when it wasperceived that our cleaning standardsdropped and worked with cleaners tomaintain standards throughout the day.Raising awareness of access issuesIn FY09 we have been working to improveaccessibility for people with disabilities. Tohelp raise awareness of access issues facedby people with a disability in our shoppingcentres, we participated in International Dayof People with Disability on 3rd December2008. On this day, we hosted awarenessevents at some of our shopping centres inWetherill Park, New South Wales, The Pines,Victoria and Townsville, Queensland.We also participated in the InternationalDay of People with Disability in 2007 at ourForster shopping centre. Our experiencesfrom this day led us to make some changesto the centre, including re-surfacing theconcrete in the southern precinct to make itless slippery in wet weather. We also installeda lay-back for easier access to the car park.Organisations joined us for these eventsincluded Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, The SpasticCentre, local council organisations andlocal radio presenters. Tracy Barrell, anambassador for International Day of Peoplewith Disability and the face of the 2008Don’t DIS My ABILITY Campaign, attendedthe Stockland Wetherill Park event and spokeabout the access challenges faced as a triplecongenital amputee when shopping.Employees who influence the design,development and management of ourshopping centres participated in the day.Participants were given tasks to completein either in a wheelchair or wearing goggles,to simulate vision impairments. A personwith a disability guided each group andexplained the challenges they face. Ourteams learned about the importance of lightcontrast and the difference this can maketo the experience of a person with a visionimpairment. They also learned about whereto best place the centre directories andcustomer care desks to make them easier forcustomers to locate and access. The eventshelped increase understanding of the accessdifficulties some of our customers face andhave led to specific changes, such as areview of directional signage placement atour Townsville Shopping Centre.Stockland Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report 30 June 2009 35