Voicescape expand behavioural insights team to meet increased demand

Social Landlords in the UK are increasing their use of Voicescape’s behavioural science team to improve tenant engagement.  

Behavioural science seeks to understand human behaviour and identify why people act the way they do.  It is scientific in its approach and therefore can provides very clear direction on how to positively influence behaviour.   

Voicescapes behavioural science team have delivered dozens of projects for social landlords over the last 5 years. Focused on income collection, the Voicescape projects have identified simple methods that see a significant increase in tenants prioritising rent payments. The projects point have focussed on developing more targeted and tailored approaches to yield the most returns. Taking this approach has also delivered delivers a reduction in the administrative costs associated with income collection in many cases. 

Chris Walker, who has an MSc in Cognitive and Decision Sciences, joined Voicescape in September to meet the growing demand for these services. He will be working alongside Steven Johnson, Voicescape chief behavioural officer and Geoff Siggens, data scientist.  Chris has worked on several projects that use practical findings from behavioural science to develop evidence-based solutions that address key challenges. 

Best of Voicescape Behavioural Science 

• 24% increase in tenant engagement with social landlords following the redesign of written communications
• 71% of tenants increasing the amount they pay back after receiving a thank you message for keeping up repayment agreements.  
• 9% increase in payment rates by adding one extra sentence to a letter 

John Doyle, managing director at Voicescape said 

“I am delighted that Chris is joining us. The additional capacity enables us to support more social landlords with valuable insights that support their operations. It puts us in a very strong position as we look to scale our work in the UK.” 

Chris Walker, incoming behavioural consultant said:  

“I am thrilled to join Voicescape to work with social landlords at such an important time in the sectors history. I am passionate about simplifying organisational processes to ensure that people with complex lives get access to the support that can most benefit them.”

Steven Johnson, chief behavioural officer said 

“Behavioural science has repeatedly proven that small ‘nudge’ changes can make a big difference to people’s lives.  Expanding our team gives us the opportunity to bring our strong business values and service delivery to match the increasing demands and high expectations of our clients.”