Bureau ICE

Bureau ICE co-creates and develops products and services for education, government and other parties. They do this with great pleasure, energy and an open mind. For 30 years. Since 2014, Bureau ICE has been developing the IEP Final Test: one of the final tests that primary schools can choose for their group of 8 pupils. The final test approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Four years ago, the IEP Final Test was taken by 250 schools in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, this number has grown to 2200 schools.

The challenge

With the increase in the number of participating schools, the number of emails and phone calls with questions also increased enormously. Where it started in 2014 with only a few calls from schools with a question, the telephone at Bureau ICE is now red hot. Janneke Helsloot (Product Manager Primary Education IEP) realized in 2017 that it was no longer feasible to process the calls internally. In the search for a solution to handle all telephone questions in the right way, she received the tip from a colleague to talk to SalesQ.

The collaboration between Bureau ICE and SalesQ

"IEP stands like a house. Most importantly, when we outsource customer service, the service for the schools remains the same. That they don't notice the transition from internal to external customer service." After several conversations with Pepijn Beerman (Managing Partner, SalesQ) at the beginning of 2018, in which a lot of mutual coordination took place, Helsloot decided to enter into the partnership. A close cooperation follows. Nevertheless, in the beginning the doubt was sometimes still present. "You can put anything on paper, but in the end you have to share the same passion. In order to achieve this, it is of great importance to work together, on the way to the common goal."

The success

Helsloot is now happy with the decision to outsource customer service. "Because we now leave matters that are further away from us to experts, we can focus on what we are good at. Our core business." Bureau ICE has three different peak moments in the months of April to July. "The moment the test is delivered by the courier, the moment the test is taken and the moment the results are received. SalesQ has absorbed the enormous load at these moments well. Even in the event of unexpected peak moments, timely anticipation was made. As a result, I didn't have to say 'no' to schools. This gave a calm feeling," says Helsloot.

A smooth transition

The switch from internal to external customer service went smoothly. "We started training the agents on time. They need a lot of knowledge of, for example, schools and education. Not a simple check-off list. This way we made the transition as smooth as possible. The success factor for that, I think, has been the quick switching. SalesQ was very flexible and whether or not we were present, the lines remained short." Looking back on the past few months, Helsloot is left with a satisfied feeling. "It feels good that we end this year in a positive and good way in the knowledge that you have done it as a team," says Helsloot. "This year we were able to help 2200 schools with all the questions they have. We often received positive feedback: 'Thank you for responding quickly'. We managed to do that nicely."

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