Consumer insight & organisational performance

Strategy

Ashwin has recently completed a project to assist Which? in its thinking on consumers of public services.  Drawing upon his experience as a director of Passenger Focus, the consumer watchdog for rail and bus passengers, and having worked in a range of public services, he sketched the major trends since World War II, and analysed choice in public services and the question of whether there is a trade-off to be made between consumers of public services and the delivery of public policy objectives.

Insight

Ashwin has used consumer research to identify organisational and industry priorities in a variety of contexts.  At Passenger Focus, he used the National Passenger Survey to benchmark train companies, developing new ways of using the information to secure increased investment in customer improvements by train companies. 

In recent years, he has commissioned studies where passenger satisfaction data has been combined with operational data from the rail industry to provide insight into consumer views of operational performance. 

Delivery

At the homelessness charity Broadway, Ashwin is Chair of the board’s Services and Performance sub-committee and Customer Service Excellence Champion.  In these roles, he uses a mixture of client satisfaction data and quality audits to benchmark performance across the organisation’s services, and to ensure that examples of client dissatisfaction are tackled and excellence is celebrated.

At Passenger Focus, Ashwin was responsible for the organisation's complaints resolution service where the organisation sought to secure redress for passengers dissatisfied with a train company's handling of their complaint.

"Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer."

Adam Smith