Neckermann Hungary Ltd. – Boosting Productivity and Customer Experience with Salesforce

Neckermann Hungary Ltd., a leading travel agency in Hungary, implemented the Salesforce CRM system to enhance productivity, improve customer experience, and gain a competitive edge over its rivals. The multi-country project began in 2014, with Attention overseeing implementation not only in Hungary but also in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Optimizing Sales and Customer Service with a Unified System

More than half of Neckermann Hungary’s travel bookings come from its own sales operations, while independent travel agencies contribute the remaining share. The company sought a flexible platform that could streamline customer service within its branch network, integrating both CRM and mid-office functionalities. This included administrative tasks like travel contract management and payment processing. Moreover, it needed to connect seamlessly with 17 external systems, including front-office operations, accounting, SAP, and call center infrastructure.

The primary business objective was to enhance productivity and efficiency through a solution that enabled real-time monitoring, quality control, and continuous process improvement.

“When I first encountered Salesforce in a presentation, my initial thought was that it’s a system where you put someone in, and results come out,” recalls Dr. János Szvoboda, CEO of Neckermann Hungary. That moment marked the end of their search for a CRM platform.

According to him, Salesforce also helps companies reduce reliance on human factors.

“We have more than 20 offices across the country. Without this system, we would have no idea what’s happening in Nyíregyháza while we’re having this conversation—we could only hope for good results.”

With Salesforce, they not only gain visibility into individual tasks and progress but also significantly improve onboarding for new employees, which had previously been a major challenge due to high staff turnover.

“It used to take a long time for new hires to reach a productive level. Now, from day one, this system helps them work efficiently, earn better, and integrate more smoothly. And that, I believe, is the most important thing.”

 

Expanding CRM to Cover the Entire Customer Journey

Initially, the CRM system was introduced for mid-office functionalities. However, over time, the focus shifted toward covering the entire customer journey.

“Today’s customers don’t just walk into an office to book their trips; they research in multiple ways—through websites, phone calls, and emails. That’s why we created a decentralized contact system where our branch network also serves as a contact center,” Szvoboda explains.

When a customer calls, Salesforce instantly identifies them and displays their profile, allowing agents to provide personalized service.

To further enhance customer experience, Neckermann implemented Marketing Cloud to enable highly targeted and personalized email marketing.

“Rather than bombarding customers with messages, we focus on sending relevant content, which leads to significantly better conversion rates.”

 

Community Solutions and AI-Driven Insights

Several community-driven solutions have further improved customer engagement and operational efficiency:

• B2C Customer Portal: Customers can track bookings, submit inquiries, and make payments, essentially offering a 24/7 online customer service platform.
• B2B Partner Portal : A dedicated space for agents and resellers to manage interactions and transactions online.
• Salesforce Einstein: A business intelligence (BI) system that provides quick, customizable access to key data, including reports, analytics, and visualizations.

“All of these contribute to higher productivity and automation, reducing the need for manual work. At the same time, they cater to the communication preferences of younger generations, giving us a competitive edge.” – Szvoboda adds.

Data-Driven Marketing for Maximum Impact

Attention introduced Marketing Cloud in 2016, primarily focusing on data-driven email marketing. This allowed Neckermann to segment audiences efficiently, ensuring that the right message reaches the right people.

As Ágnes Diószegi, Marketing Director, explains:

“If we have a trip departing from Debrecen, we won’t flood people in Sopron with offers. Instead, we’ll target only those in the Debrecen area. Likewise, if someone has already booked a trip early in the season, they won’t receive irrelevant new offers.”

The Marketing Cloud platform enables:

• Highly targeted newsletters (e.g., families receive family-friendly offers, couples get romantic getaways, and frequent Greece travelers receive Greece-related deals).
• Detailed analytics on which newsletter sections receive the most engagement.
• Easy personalization (customer data from Salesforce CRM can be used to generate individual discount codes at scale).
• Reliable email deliverability, even to Hungarian domains like Freemail and Citromail.

“The possibilities are endless. We’re already using A/B testing to optimize subject lines and improve engagement. However, with Attention’s support, we aim to refine this even further—delivering the right content, at the right time, through the right channel.”

Diószegi also highlights future plans, such as dynamic newsletters, where only certain sections change based on customer preferences, making each email feel uniquely tailored.

A Multi-Country Implementation with Long-Term Benefits

Since the need for a CRM system extended beyond Hungary, Neckermann’s Czech and Polish branches also joined the project. As a result, Attention implemented Salesforce across all three countries.

“The entire project—from planning to execution—took about a year and a half. It lasted a bit longer than expected because we had to build three separate financial systems into Salesforce, each complying with different regulatory requirements,” Szvoboda explains.

Despite the challenges, he believes it was the right decision. One of Salesforce’s key strengths is its adaptability:

“Business processes evolve, and with Salesforce, we can quickly adjust the system to match those changes.”

His final takeaway?

“At the end of the day, this is a money-making tool. No matter how much the subscription, development, and maintenance cost, the financial benefits far outweigh them.”

Over the past few years, revenue per employee has grown significantly, and ongoing developments aim to increase revenue further with the same or even fewer staff.