Garden centre group Blue Diamond partners with Critizr for customer relationship drive

Leading UK garden centre group Blue Diamond, announced on 31st August their new partnership with Customer Interaction Management specialists Critizr, to drive an improved customer experience across its fast-growing portfolio of outlets. 

Blue Diamond operates 37 garden centres in England and the Channel Islands and is the second-largest garden centre group in the UK, renowned for the high quality and design of its award-winning retail environments and restaurants. 

The business has implemented the Critizr Connection platform in each centre to give regional teams the feedback and insights they need to take action and quickly make improvements on behalf of customers. It also offers management a complete view of the customer across the Group for the first time. 

Encouraging early results have seen Blue Diamond’s average monthly customer relationship score rise to 4.28 out of 5 (June 2021), with a higher-than-average NPS score also recorded. 

Peter Gibbons, Group Operations at Blue Diamond Group, said he is delighted with results from using the Critizr Connection platform so far: ‘I had been looking for a next-level tool to help us secure an intelligent, 360° view of customer interactions, all in one place, which is an imperative across both the retail and hospitality sides of our business. We found that with Critizr.  

‘Implementing the Critizr Connection platform has completely transformed our business. We have moved from having a single store view of the customer to being able to look at customer issues in a more holistic, ‘bigger picture’ way. We’ve moved from dealing with customers in a reactive way to taking control and being proactive, taking action to improve the customer experience at every level of the business. Using it reminds us every day that, without our customers, we are nothing, and their needs must come first. 

‘Most importantly, we are finding the platform easy to use. The dashboards and group views are fascinating and give us all the data we need at our fingertips. All our store managers are now daily Critizr Connection users, making in-store changes almost immediately from the insights it provides. It’s interesting to see that the centres which have embraced the platform the most are the ones that are at the top of the customer satisfaction leaderboards, which shows how well Critizr Connection is working!’

Raakesh Savji Parmar, Critizr’s Senior Strategy and Sales Director, added: ‘The Blue Diamond Group is one of the UK’s most dynamic retail businesses with an impressive track record in creating high-quality customer experiences across its centres. We are thrilled to see the tangible impact that the Critizr platform is already having on the business, and we’re very much looking forward to working with their team to drive further positive change for their stores and customers in the future.’Critizr Connection is Europe’s leading Customer Interaction Management platform.  Founded by Critizr in 2012 and used today by over 80 of Europe’s most prominent companies across 27 countries, it is transforming how businesses interact with their customers, take action, resolve issues and create stronger relationships across multiple channels. 30,000 professionals use Critizr Connection every day to make sure that every customer matters and to support the digital transformation of their businesses.

About Critizr Connection

Critizr Connection is Europe’s leading Customer Interaction Management Platform. Founded by Critizr in 2012, thousands of retail professionals working in over 80 of Europe’s most prominent companies now use it daily to drive customer obsession across the whole business.

In a world where feedback is now a commodity, Critizr Connection offers a next-generation solution to build the conversations and emotional connections that modern customers demand. It brings local staff closer to local customers, giving them access to the voice of their own customers, so they can engage with them, uncover insights and take action on the issues that matter most. This is technology designed to be easily used and integrated by frontline staff: the people who serve customers and are uniquely placed to deliver a seamless customer journey and exceptional retail experience.

Critizr Connection’s easy to use single interface portal works by alerting managers to new customer feedback, ratings and enquiries for their store in real-time, from an extensive range of web, mobile and social channels. Before taking rapid steps on their customers’ behalf, they can quickly respond and chat to find answers, fix problems, or make store-wide improvements.

As a result, staff are transformed into powerful customer champions in their own outlet. Customers and communities feel personally valued. Stronger, more lasting and loyal relationships are formed. And improving the store’s customer experience becomes a measurable daily habit for all staff.  The portal also allows central teams to access data and powerful insights from across their network to understand CX performance and identify trends. The same interface gives staff the tools to protect and promote their brand’s online reputation, share positive reviews, respond publicly to feedback, and rank their performance against competitors. 

Critizr’s solution has a proven track record in increasing local store performance. With this comes a wide range of measurable business benefits: increased footfall and sales, improved customer loyalty and brand reputation, and reduced customer churn. This is how Critizr is transforming the way businesses like Carrefour, Monoprix, Total and many others are now able to deliver a best-in-class customer experience and win market share – from the shop floor up. It reflects Critizr co-founder Nicolas Hammer’s vision that true customer obsession can’t happen from the top down; it has to be adopted company-wide by every team and staff member across the business. 

Easy to scale and use, even for companies with hundreds of local branches, the Critizr platform is embedded in over 30,000 stores in France alone. In a 2020 survey of over 2000 store managers, 76% confirmed they use Critizr Connection daily to interact with customers. 

With six years of successful growth behind them, Critizr now has a fast-growing team of over 100 CX experts on board, with offices in Paris, Lille and London. The business is currently rolling out an ambitious expansion plan following a €15 million funding round to support and grow its stable clients in the retail, banking, travel, entertainment and hospitality sectors.