Case Study
Energiefonds Drenthe: about 3–4 hours per application to about 18 minutes
Energiefonds Drenthe (EFD) finances energy-saving projects across the province of Drenthe. They offer six types of energy loans ranging from 5.000 to 150.000 EUR, many with staged payout flows that include reservations, optional advances, and final payouts. They typically finance up to 70 percent of project cost.
After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, natural gas prices skyrocketed in the Netherlands. As a result, the demand for energy loans more than doubled for over a year. EFD's team worked hard to maintain short turnaround times, but the surge pushed employees close to burnout. Mistakes increased and the process became harder to manage.
Before
When the old process couldn't keep up
EFD relied on an online form that submitted applications by email to the back office. Each application triggered a long sequence of manual tasks:
- Information and documents collected through email
- Documents stored in shared mailboxes
- GDPR risks due to email‑based processing
- A single handler responsible for each application
- Four‑eyes checks done manually for contracts, advances, and payouts
- Contracts often manually adjusted based on loan specifications
- Identity validation done through video calls
- Proof of subsidy and specific required declarations uploaded inconsistently
- Many fields on the intake form only applied sometimes, creating confusion
- Every deviation required manual back‑and‑forth
When volume doubled, this process became unsustainable.
Old processing times
The total time a case handler actually spent working on this application. Such as writing emails, reviewing documents, or archiving documents.
60+ minutes
Reservation - from application to signed contract
~60 minutes
Advance - from applicant request to payment
~60 minutes
Payout — from applicant request to payment
~60 minutes
Booking - updating financial administration
Why they chose it
The turning point
We already had a working relationship with EFD, initially around modernizing their website form. The existing form asked too many questions, and some fields were only relevant in specific situations. Applicants also struggled with printing and signing certain declarations before uploading them again.
EFD needed a system that:
- Asked only relevant questions
- Asked everything upfront
- Eliminated back‑and‑forth
- Collected documents consistently
- Automated identity validation
- Removed manual contract adjustments
- Offered certainty at each step
The applicant completes the application: one question at a time, everything up front. See the application.
After
Where EFD stands today
The applicant now completes the application: all details and documents up front. The platform validates completeness, applies EFD’s rules, and automates every step that does not require human judgment.What changed
- The applicant completes the application
- Required documents sit in the flow
- Your team only acts when judgement is needed
- Every action is on a timeline
- About 3–4 hours per application to about 18 minutes
New processing times
The total time a case handler actually spent working on this application. Such as writing emails, reviewing documents, or archiving documents.
~10 minutes
Reservation - from application to signed contract
~8 minutes
Advance - from applicant request to payment
~8 minutes
Payout - from applicant request to payment
1 Second
Booking - updating financial administration
Crunching the numbers
About 3–4 hours per application became about 18 minutes
Handler touch time after EFD went live, by step: about 782 hours saved.
Guido Hoek, fund manager:
"SmallTicketSolutions reduced our handling time and relieved so much operational stress. The difference is truly night and day, we only wish we had made the switch sooner."
Start with one programme.
30 minutes on who completes the application today, and whether this can sit in front of your existing systems.
