Reducing costs and increasing efficiency through improving the management of outsourced call centre suppliers
SAP is the third largest software company in the world, and the market leader in business systems software. Founded in 1972 and a public company since 1988, SAP is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE. With headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, SAP also has regional centres around the world.
SAP deliver fully integrated business solutions, designed to help manage every aspect of a company’s performance – everything from HR to finance, production to distribution. MySAP.com allows people to harness the power of the internet to work smarter, better and faster by optimising supply chains, managing strategic relationships, reducing time to market, sharing virtual information and increasing productivity and shareholder value.
In the UK operation, a variety of customer contact activity was being outsourced, including inbound and outbound telemarketing and the switchboard function, to one main agency and others on an ad-hoc basis. SAP were looking to improve the management of these activities in order to gain increased efficiency and return on investment.
CCL were asked to lead this project which resulted in the following:
- Competitive quotes were obtained for ad-hoc work, reducing costs by 30%. A review of invoices highlighted overcharging by one agency of at least £60,000 in a three-month period.
- Written briefs were designed and performance criteria established for the outsourced suppliers. Industry benchmarks were used to measure productivity.
- After working with one of the existing agencies to improve performance, it was agreed that the contract should be terminated. Advice was given on contract terms and implications to minimise SAP’s liability, potentially saving £820,000.
- A process was designed and managed for the selection of a new outsourcing partner for the Marketing Hotline, and advice was given about how to evaluate various organisations. An effective contract was established with a new supplier, leading to a double of the number of qualified leads being generated.
- An audit and review of productivity was undertaken for SAP’s Information Centre. Available options were then validated, including an assessment of the contractual implications and risk. CCL then provided expertise to bring this department in-house, along with reducing the team size from 15 to 4 operators and saving £670,000 p.a.