Franchise Zone Director, Carrefour Belgium, shares how Goodays strengthened their CX

When Carrefour Belgium was looking for a customer experience management platform, they knew they needed one which would engage and excite their vast networks of franchisees.

After a successful pilot in September 2020, the solution was rolled out to all Carrefour Belgium integrated stores in Q1 2021 and then to all Franchises (which make up 92% of their network) by Q3 2021.

We spoke with Franchisee Zone Director Stijn Put about how the Goodays platform has elevated the customer experience within Franchises. 

How did the implementation of the Goodays platform among Franchisees go? 

As with any introduction of a digital tool, there are some initial challenges before implementation, for example, computers being outdated, connections failing, etc. This was no different now, but overall the implementation with Goodays has gone very smoothly. 

We also had to consider a very varied target audience, franchisees who are very digitally inclined but then also others who need to be more in touch with the digital world. 

However, most of the franchisees had one thing in common: they were quickly convinced of the possibilities and opportunities of the tool.

 97% of all Carrefour Belgium stores now use Goodays 

82% of stores have at least two active user accounts

89% Average Reply rate

4.63 / 5  Average Reply quality

Can you talk about the training Franchisee's received on how to use the platform? 

We first chose to train our operational colleagues who are on the road every day to visit franchisees. This is through E-learnings and training by three in-house specialists. Then, via this ‘train the trainer’ approach, we rolled out the training to our franchisees. This was a feat because we wanted to give each store personalised support and keep the roll-out period as short as possible. 

In addition to this personal guidance, each store also had access to the E-learnings and a helpdesk that was available both by phone and email. Because the tool is very intuitive, we were able to activate almost 90% of our shops in less than three months.

Were there any initial challenges, and how were these overcome? 

When you launch a tool like this, you always have to deal with a change process. Many franchisees were frightened by the amount of negative feedback and the time it would take them to respond to each feedback. Because we first introduced the tool to our integrated shops, we already had a lot of knowledge and figures to counter this. We did not set the objectives too high in the initial phase to keep the introduction low-threshold.

As time went on and franchisees became more and more familiar with the tool, we fine-tuned it and motivated everyone to respond more often, faster and more precisely.

The quality of the responses was also a challenge in the initial phase. This is also where we gradually provided training and shared Best Practices to inspire franchisees.

How did the Franchise store managers adopt this tool? Was this surprising? 

We were actually surprised by how quickly franchisees became familiar with the Goodays platform and how much positive feedback we got from them. It was obviously an advantage to be among the first retailers in Belgium to launch this tool. In fact, 89% of Franchisees achieved a response time of under 41 hours. 

What are the biggest benefits you've seen from Franchisee's using the platform? 

The biggest advantage is that you give customers who wouldn't normally speak to you about their shopping experience the opportunity to do so in a quick, efficient way. This has allowed shops to react quickly to make adjustments to keep customers happy. 

Also, stores have never received so many compliments before - something that gives a boost to every team member.

What are some of the positive results you've seen since implementing the Goodays platform?

We see our customer relationship score rising, something that is very positive. We are also seeing a lot of local actions following customer feedback.

Goodays is definitely recommended. It is an efficient and approachable way to engage with your customers and respond when they have a negative shopping experience. As a shop, it gives you the opportunity to put something right with these customers.

In addition, as a large retailer, it also gives you insights into general trends that would otherwise remain under the radar.

Click below to download the full Carrefour Belgium Case Study: