We undertook a development project for the National Chamber of Agriculture, with the goal of enhancing the performance and effectiveness of its Call Centre. We achieved this by supporting the installation of a new Call Centre technology, setting up the parameters of SAP CRM, and creating a methodology for measuring individual and team-based performance.
What we built
The engagement combined technology, process, and people-change components:
- Introduction of a new Call Centre technology platform
- Parameterisation of the SAP CRM system to support Call Centre operations
- Development of an individual and group performance measurement methodology
- Introduction of a performance appraisal and motivation system
Results
We measure our impact across three dimensions, using December as the comparison month in both years — the peak period for the Chamber, which receives roughly twice its usual call volume in December, making it the most meaningful benchmark.
Service level and efficiency. With the same headcount, the service level increased by 33%, driven by a 21% improvement in efficiency. Fewer operators can now answer the same number of calls at a higher service level.
Operator performance. The total productive time of operators — the sum of talk time and availability time when calls were arriving or could have arrived — increased by 13%. This underlies the efficiency gain above.
Average transaction cost. Costs are measured against the quarter preceding our engagement and the two subsequent quarters. While continuously maintaining the 80% service level required by the specification, we reduced the average transaction cost by more than 32%.
Summary
By combining technology introduction, CRM configuration, and a performance management system, we developed a Call Centre operation for the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture that simultaneously reduced costs and improved service quality — demonstrating that these goals are not in conflict when the underlying system is well designed.