As a digital consultancy, Crimson knows tech is only part of the solution, that’s why it’s always keen to establish a relationship with clients to really talk about their needs – and deliver a solution together
For many of us, not just those in the housing sector, it’s doubtless a familiar paradox: Technology can pretty much do everything these days, but that just makes it all the harder to identify the right solution for our needs.
That’s where a tech-savvy friend comes in; someone with the knowledge and experience, the supporting spirit, and the fresh eye necessary to help untangle the knots of possibility. In the case of social landlords, that’s Crimson.
Readers may already be familiar with the digital consultancy. It has a long association with the sector, and made its name supporting landlords with customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, but that’s only a portion of its capabilities.
As you might expect, it’s kept abreast of – and grown with – the shifting and evolving landscape of technology, always with an eye to how the innovations can help clients build the right systems to fulfil their operations and purpose.
“We know the challenges. We know the pace. We know what they’re doing,” says account director, Ciara McMillan.
Bridging worlds
Indeed, she should. McMillan comes from a housing background herself, having worked in the sector for some 15 years, before – as she puts it – “coming across to the technology side” six years ago, when she joined Crimson.
As such, McMillan – who also continues to serve as a housing association board member – knows only too well the challenges, the hurdles, and the confusing plethora of tech choices the sector often has to contend with.
For Crimson, she provides that valuable housing insight, augmenting the organisation’s existing understanding gleaned from its long years working with the sector.
“In a world where we’ve got customer expectations, immense regulatory pressures, and the pot isn’t getting any bigger in terms of money, we [housing providers] have to look at how we can do the best for our customers with what we have,” McMillan said.
“Part of that is around efficiencies – it’s looking at where we can become more efficient and more effective – but it’s also about meeting some of the new customer demands, such as an ability to report repairs 24/7. Crimson can help housing associations navigate all of those pressures, and all of the technology that’s out there, to identify the best ones to help them meet those outcomes.”
As she goes on to point out: “[Housing providers] know their customers and what they need. What they don’t know – because that isn’t their core business – is technology, integration, and data.”
Expert partner
That’s where Crimson comes in. The company is a Microsoft partner, signifying its expertise in three of the tech giant’s key cloud technologies that underpin so much of today’s automated, increasingly AI-powered business world; namely Azure, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform, which it uses to help clients build bespoke low code/no code business solutions.
“We offer tailored digital transformation propositions,” says chief technology officer Oliver Sinclair. “We combine our deep housing sector knowledge with our vast and broad experience of Microsoft technology to maximise business value for our customers’ projects and programmes.
“Microsoft provide us with the wonderful technology that we use, the customers provide the direction and understanding of what their strategy is, and together we build solutions.”
McMillan adds: “It’s really about the technology supporting the digital experience with [clients’] customers, but also the back office as well, where some of these tools can help them. Data, for example, where that can really help them understand trends, and make sure they’re focusing on the right improvements.”
The consultancy works with housing associations such as Peabody, Anchor Hanover, and Accent, to drop a few names. Crimson deploys the use of data insights and automation to empower areas of a social landlord’s operations in key areas, such as:
- 24/7 tenant support
- Reduced void turnaround times
- Personalised customer service and communications
- Faster complaints resolution
- Reduced no access visits
- And overall boost tenant satisfaction scores
Their recent Housing Association case studies can be found here.
As you’d probably expect, these days, given its proliferation, helping clients master the capabilities of AI is a major theme for the Crimson team. Given its association with Microsoft, as well as its own in-house technical expertise, it’s well-placed to help housing providers make sense of what can work best for them.
“Housing people don’t have to worry about reading the reams and reams of technology articles or AI articles, or being up with the latest and greatest developments; they can come and talk to us,” says Sinclair.
“We’re heavily invested in where our customers’ needs are, going further. The vast majority of people are still on what we call the traditional digital transformation journeys, going from paper-based manual processes into the digital world. But once they have got there, where do they go next, where do they find the next improvement?
“That’s where we’ve really been working – at the forefront of technology elements to work out what this revolution means for housing associations and home builders. What part of their business processes are going to be ripe for Agentic improvements, hyper-automation, or using the generative AI toolkit – that we have a lot of experience in – to explore how we embed that into processes.”
AI’s Growing Role in Housing Associations
It’s good to talk
Like any industry, the housing sector is looking to find the right tech solutions to carry out its bread and butter work, but there’s always the ‘added value’ element to contend with, and new challenges peering over the horizon; second guessing the future isn’t easy.
Another reason, then, why companies like Crimson are such a critical ally and a valuable source of expertise. But it doesn’t start with tech.
As both McMillan and Sinclair emphasise, it’s Crimson’s combination of deep-rooted tech-savvy and housing knowledge that are crucial to its ability to deliver for clients. Most of all, however – the key that unlocks the potential – is conversation.
Talking really is the secret of success, both agree; ultimately, it’s where the goals and the hurdles are identified, solutions proposed, and mutual understanding fostered. But it’s also about knowing how and where to change. Digital transformation isn’t just a process or a tech solution, after all; there’s the human element to contend with, too.
As Sinclair points out, the technology side is effectively the easy part. People being people, bringing them along with the process of change is where the difficulties lurk. Discussion oils those potential friction points; another reason why conversation is all-important ‘software’.
“We know there’s very much a technical change element to digital transformation, but there’s also a culture aspect,” Sinclair says. “There’s a people change and a process change, and those things have to complement each other.”
McMillan adds: “We know the sector is having conversations around data, AI, digital, and all that, and we want to be part of that. Let us be in the conversation at that strategy level because we can give honest, transparent advice and information. We’ve been in lots of conversations with housing associations, and they’ve turned into really fruitful relationships.”
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Main image: Oliver Sinclair, chief technology office, Crimson
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