Garden centre group Blue Diamond has announced a new partnership with Customer Interaction Management specialists Critizr, to drive an improved customer experience across its fast-growing portfolio of outlets.
Blue Diamond, which operates 37 garden centres in the South of England and the Channel Islands, 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.”
