The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) is the UK’s largest membership organisation for private landlords, supporting over 110,000 members. With customer support at the core of its service, NRLA handles thousands of member queries each year, ranging from legal advice to account support. But behind the scenes, their contact centre was operating with a patchwork of disjointed systems that made delivering consistent, high-quality service a growing challenge.
By moving to Puzzel’s cloud-based contact centre solution, NRLA unified their channels, empowered the team with greater agility, and created a seamless omnichannel experience for members—delivering measurable improvements in both service quality and efficiency.
The challenge: A disjointed tech stack causing delays and dissatisfaction
Before switching to Puzzel, NRLA’s contact centre was running on an on-premises setup with different tools for calls, emails, chat and online queries. With no integration and little visibility across channels, agents were siloed, response times were slow, and the member experience suffered.
As a result, response times suffered: emails took an average of 35 hours to respond to, and call abandonment was higher than target. Moreover, the lack of agility hindered NRLA from scaling and adapting to members’ evolving needs.
Moving to Puzzel’s unified, cloud-native CX platform
Recognising the urgent need for change, NRLA launched a comprehensive selection process. Led by Dan Allen, Deputy Director for Member Support, the team gathered internal feedback, defined solution requirements, and conducted an extensive RFP process.
After reviewing multiple vendors, Puzzel stood out. Dan says: “We chose Puzzel not only for their technology but equally for their people, culture, and forward-thinking vision. Everyone we spoke to was passionate, committed, and genuinely excited about their direction. It gave us real confidence that we were choosing a true partner.”
With Puzzel, NRLA rolled out a fully integrated, omnichannel solution—encompassing voice, email, chat, social, Workforce Management, and Case Management—along with Conversational Intelligence.
Key features that made the difference
- True ‘channel of choice’ and omnichannel service: Members now receive consistent support whether they choose voice, email, chat, or social media, without needing to repeat themselves.
- Intelligent multi-skill routing: Real-time visibility and flexible skills management allow agents to support multiple channels, boosting productivity and responsiveness.
- Deeper customer insight with Conversational Intelligence: AI-powered insights help NRLA monitor performance, coach more effectively, and improve retention—without manual call audits.
- Improved planning with Workforce Management: What was once managed through spreadsheets is now handled with the easy-to-use solution, freeing up time for team leaders.
Before Puzzel, we simply couldn’t deliver a real channel of choice. Now, we can—and that’s had an immediate impact on productivity, capacity, and the overall member experience
The results: Faster responses, reduced call volumes, and higher member satisfaction
Since moving to Puzzel, NRLA has achieved dramatic improvements across the board:
- 86% faster email responses – Response times dropped significantly, from an average of 35 hours down to just 5 hours.
- 35% increase in chat usage and 15% increase in email enquiries – Faster, more reliable service via chat and email encouraged more members to use digital channels—reducing pressure on the phones and helping members get the support they need, in the way that suits them best.
- 9% reduction in call volumes – As members shifted naturally to digital channels, agents were freed to handle more complex queries.
- 35% reduction in call wait times – Average call wait reduced from 55 seconds to just 36 seconds, with a 6% improvement in overall call answer rates.
- Operational efficiency gains – Despite onboarding an additional 3,000 new service calls, NRLA reduced their staffing requirement by 3.5 full-time equivalents (FTE), demonstrating significant efficiency gains through multi-skilling and omnichannel routing.
Dan summarises the impact: “Our operational efficiency and member satisfaction have genuinely been transformed. Wait times are down, we’re answering emails and chats much faster, and negative feedback about delays has practically disappeared.”
He also highlights the value of multi-skill capabilities: “Puzzel’s omnichannel functionality and multi-skill capabilities have genuinely increased our productivity, giving us more capacity to deliver better member service.”
Looking ahead: Scaling with AI, without losing the human touch
NRLA continues to expand their partnership with Puzzel, actively integrating advanced AI-powered tools such as Virtual Agents to refine interactions and improve service delivery.
“We’re excited about AI, but not AI for its own sake,” says Dan. “With Puzzel, it’s about improving the human-led service we offer, not replacing it. It’s about giving our members the choice and freedom to engage however suits them best, whether self-service through AI or direct human support.”
And while technology was key, Dan is clear on what truly sets Puzzel apart: “The software and technology are excellent, but the differentiator for us has been Puzzel’s people. We genuinely feel they’re invested in our success. That’s what makes this a real partnership.”
