Customer-focused approaches to innovation in housebuilding

Customer focus has become a catch phrase not only in the service industry but also in the housebuilding industry. Furthermore, UK speculative housebuilders have increasingly been searching for ways to be more customer focused. This study, through an analysis of the concept of customer satisfaction in the service industry, identifies three key aspects in customer focus that may be applied to the housebuilding industry: good service, customized house design on top of quality products, and good information flows between customers and the housebuilder and within the company. This paper explores how these key issues are dealt with in UK speculative housebuilding in two empirical studies to search for ways forward.