House Expert operating model launched last year proves a success: SATO to hire dozens more House Experts

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Last December, SATO launched a new maintenance model where its own building superintendents – SATO House Experts – took on some of the duties of SATO’s maintenance partners. Piloted in the Helsinki districts of Ruoholahti and Jätkäsaari and the Espoo district of Soukka, the model is now being expanded to SATOHomes across central Helsinki and in other parts of Espoo.

The recruitment of new House Experts is a part of SATO’s Customer First development programme that aims to foster customer satisfaction and fine-tune SATO’s service processes to respond to customers’ needs even better. In spring 2020, SATO hired eleven new Service Managers who started working at their respective home buildings this autumn.

Owing to the positive experiences obtained with the House Expert operating model launched in December 2019 in the Soukka district of Espoo and in two central Helsinki districts, SATO has now decided on a stepwise expansion of the model.

“This autumn, we will roll out the model throughout central Helsinki and in the Espoo districts of Karakallio, Laajalahti, Leppävaara, Lintuvaara and Vermonniitty,” says Antti Aarnio, EVP, Rental Housing Business at SATO Corporation.

SATO is looking to add nine new House Experts in the current year. The coming year will see the further expansion of the model and all told, SATO expects to hire nearly sixty House Experts. The current five House Experts in the Helsinki metropolitan area will be joined by a further fifty or so, with a few House Experts also based in Tampere and Turku. Key characteristics sought in the recruitment include not only maintenance expertise and technical skills but also a service-minded attitude, communication skills and a desire to learn and grow as a professional.

House Experts are there when you need them

The duties of SATO House Experts include taking care of defect reports concerning SATO’s homes and properties, performing minor repairs in homes and in HVAC and plumbing equipment, inspecting homes when people move out and showing homes to potential residents. House Experts work in close cooperation with property maintenance companies and guide their activities. Maintenance companies remain responsible for tasks such as being on call on weekends and evenings, doing outdoor work that involves the use of machinery and cleaning the staircases and corridors.

SATO’s customers are at the heart of SATO’s strategy, and the company wants to develop homes with increasingly better services for its customers.

“We strive to be there for our customers and to provide them with the best possible service. Maintenance workers come into contact with customers on a daily basis, so it’s only natural that when our customer needs a leaking tap fixed, it’s a SATO employee who’s called in to help,” Antti Aarnio says.

The presence and contributions of the SATO House Experts have been positively reflected in SATO’s customer satisfaction surveys.

“Having a House Expert at the building improves comfort and enjoyment of the home. Our customers have given positive feedback especially on our faster response times in carrying out minor repairs and addressing any problems and disturbances,” Antti Aarnio observes.

Media enquiries:

SATO Corporation, Antti Aarnio, Executive VP, antti.aarnio@sato.fi, phone +358 40 164 7052

SATO is one of Finland's leading rental housing providers. SATO aims to offer a comprehensive choice of rental housing and an excellent customer experience. At year-end 2019, SATO owned over 26 000 apartments in Finland's largest growth centres and in St Petersburg.

We promote sustainable development and initiative through our operations and work in open interaction with our stakeholders to generate added value. We operate profitably and with a long-term view. We increase the value of our housing stock through investments, divestments and repairs.

SATO Group's net sales in 2019 were EUR 296 million, operating profit EUR 726 million and profit before taxes EUR 671 million. The value of SATO's investment assets is roughly EUR 4,7 billion.