Situation: When I stepped into the Ops/Transformation Director role, client complaints were rising and churn was high – especially within a key client cohort. I quickly identified the root cause: excessive After Call Work. Because we were billed per minute, ACW was inflating client bills and damaging trust. A lot of that wrap time wasn’t genuinely required – it was being driven by unclear expectations, inconsistent behaviours, and a lack of understanding of the commercial impact.

Task: I was accountable for reducing ACW within six months, stabilising the account, and reducing complaints and churn – without harming service levels or creating “speed at any cost” behaviours.

Action: I introduced tiered, soft targets for ACW based on skill tier and call complexity – simple call types had lower targets, complex work had more allowance. I deliberately kept them “soft” because exceptions matter and customer experience comes first. I then ran a clear communication push with team leads and the full contact centre: why this mattered, how it affected operational cost, client billing, trust, and churn. To embed the change, team leads monitored ACW and reported weekly stats for accountability. Quality built ACW appropriateness into call listening so we protected standards. Where agents were outside targets, we provided support to determine whether it was behavioural or capability-based – and coached accordingly.

Result: Within six weeks we reduced average ACW from 70 seconds to 30 seconds — cutting it by more than half. Overall complaints dropped from ~200/month to <40/month, and billing complaints reduced by 70%. Churn reduced from ~4% to ~2% within four months. Because efficiency improved, we reduced staffing through natural attrition from 130 to 98 FTE without impacting SLA — abandoned calls stayed at ~1%.

• Contact Centre
• Leadership Coaching

• Business Services