The challenge
Managing millions of communications a year to more than 4 million existing participants became increasingly complex
Preventing errors in communication, for example incorrect prize or participation information.
The result
Employees spend on average 50% less time on operational tasks and review rounds and can focus on improvement projects
The scalability of the system supported growth of 5 million prize communications without extra staff.
Optimising communication
One of the biggest challenges the Postcode Lottery faced in 2020 was the complex management of its large-scale customer communication about prizes and participation. The organisation sent hundreds of thousands of letters and emails every month.
A solution was needed to:
- Manage the growing number of communications
- Reduce the risk of errors
- Limit dependence on external parties
- Improve time-consuming revision processes
- Make data exchange more secure
As Erik Meininger explained: “Before we had CustomerConnect, our communication process was quite error-prone and took us a lot of time. We work with sensitive information about prizes won. That’s why a more reliable system was far from a luxury for us.”
Short lines, and learning to speak each other’s language
The implementation took place during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, which brought extra challenges at first. Despite these circumstances, the collaboration between the teams was very effective, mainly thanks to direct communication.
The Postcode Lottery team also found the collaboration positive: "I found that very pleasant because the lines were so short. We were very clear with each other about our needs. If something wasn’t going well, we just said so and looked together at how we could improve it."
A major challenge during the process was bridging the gap between technical and operational perspectives: “You notice that at a moment like that you have to learn to speak each other’s language. Then intensive collaboration works really well, and that is where we laid a solid foundation for the long-term collaboration that continues to this day.”
Efficient growth to peak months of more than 2M communications
"With CustomerConnect, we have taken a huge step forward in our communication process," says Erik Meininger.
Where the team used to depend on external parties and needed up to five correction rounds, they now have full control themselves.
This efficiency gain is immediately visible in the figures. The revision process has been cut from five rounds to two, while volume has scaled up to peaks of more than 2 million communications a month. With every monthly draw, 800,000 letters and emails about prizes won are now processed in one go without effort, as part of an impressive 20 to 25 million contact moments a year.
"The most striking result is the huge increase in communication variants," says Suzanne van der Heide. "Where we could previously only handle 6 different designs, we now manage 10 to 20 variants with ease." And all with the same team; an achievement that would have been unthinkable without Harmony’s CustomerConnect.
The system has not only increased efficiency but also added flexibility. "If we had carried on the old way, the process would have become more and more unmanageable," Erik explains. "Now we are future-proof and ready for further growth."
Looking ahead, the team sees new opportunities in marketing automation. "CustomerConnect is a success story for us," Erik concludes. "We now have a solid foundation for all service communication and are ready to take the next step towards an even more integrated communication landscape."
Harmony has a really good service. We have good, pleasant dialogues and they are also there for us in product development.
The European market leader in social lotteries
The Postcode Lottery Group is active in five European countries with lotteries that together have raised more than €14.5 billion for charities since 1989. This makes the Postcode Lottery Group one of the world’s largest private charitable donors.
In the Netherlands, the group operates the Nationale Postcode Loterij and VriendenLoterij, with a combined annual turnover of 1.2 billion euros, of which at least 40% goes to charities.
