What happens when the nation's largest bookseller realises its traditional ways need a refresh? For Standaard Boekhandel Group, with 133 stores across Flanders and 39 across Wallonia, the answer was to turn disruption into opportunity and raise the bar for customer experience (CX) in Belgian retail.
Improving customer experience isn't a one-time effort, it's a continuous journey. Standaard Boekhandel Group is committed to taking meaningful steps forward every day, cutting first reply times by roughly 90% within the first month of partnering with Premium Plus and Zendesk.
Results at a glance
First reply time cut from 2-3 days to 7 hours: Roughly a 90% reduction, achieved within the first month of implementing Zendesk with Premium Plus.
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) above 80%: Up by more than 10% since the rollout, according to Standaard Boekhandel Group's own reporting.
Service level agreement (SLA) above 90%: The vast majority of tickets now meet target response and resolution times.
One-touch resolution above 70%: Most customer queries are now resolved in a single interaction.
Challenge: A need to uplift customer experience to modern standards and beyond
Standaard Boekhandel Group faced a turning point. As their business grew, so did their CX challenges:
- Long response times (up to 2–3 days for a first reply)
- Fragmented communication between teams and with customers
- Outdated tools and manual processes
- Siloed internal and customer support, making consistency difficult
- Limited reporting, focused on outdated metrics like time to full resolution rather than metrics that truly reflected customer experience and agent efficiency.
“In the past, we used KPIs to measure how we performed as a company. Premium Plus gave us insights on how to measure what really mattered: how customers experienced our company and service.”
Stef Blokerye, CX Manager at Standaard Boekhandel Group
Solution: Partnering for success
Recognising these pain points, the leadership knew it was time for change. They needed a solution that would not only modernise customer support but also empower employees across every department.
That's when Standaard Boekhandel Group turned to Premium Plus, a partner with a reputation for not just implementing CX and employee experience (EX) software, but transforming the entire experience. Premium Plus introduced Zendesk, a flexible platform designed to connect people, processes, and data, delivering the seamless service both customers and employees deserved.
What set Premium Plus apart?
- Discovery workshops to understand unique needs.
- Step-by-step rollout tailored to Standaard Boekhandel’s business.
- Focus on the entire journey. Not just technology, but people and processes.
Responsiveness to custom requests
Premium Plus provided true partnership and flexibility, acting immediately on custom requests. As Stef put it:
“It’s incredible to have a partner who can build what you ask for, but even more, truly thinks along with you and leverages deep technological expertise to configure even the most custom out-of-the-box solutions.”
Bringing experience from other companies
The team didn't just bring technical skills. They brought insights from other businesses and industries, ensuring Standaard Boekhandel Group benefited from proven best practices across Zendesk implementations. Stef explained:
"Premium Plus has experience with different kinds of companies. They've seen multiple Zendesk configurations. So they don't just sell the product, they sell the experience."
The value in being challenged and the trust established
Premium Plus was chosen not only for their expertise but for their willingness to challenge the status quo.
“What makes a project like this rewarding is knowing we’re not just making a sale. We’re building a relationship based on trust and shared goals. Our aim was to deliver solutions that would keep supporting Standaard Boekhandel’s evolving needs long after the initial rollout.”
Yannick Van de Voorde, Account Executive at Premium Plus
Solution in action: Transforming customer experience from A to Z
It started with listening. Premium Plus ran discovery workshops with Standaard Boekhandel Group’s teams, diving deep into their unique challenges, needs, and workflows. Rather than a one-size-fits-all roll-out, the project became a journey, tailored to the organisation’s culture and business goals.
With Premium Plus’s guidance, Standaard Boekhandel Group achieved:
1. Unified customer support
Customer interactions are brought together in one place, centralising communication and connecting channels that previously operated in isolation.
2. Custom workflows and automations
Routine tasks are streamlined through tailored workflows and automation, reducing manual effort and speeding up case handling.
3. Custom dashboards and actionable analytics
Legacy reporting is replaced with real-time, insight-rich dashboards that make performance easier to monitor and improve. These insights include:
- First reply time
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT)
- AI engagement
- Ticket deflection
- Agent performance
4. Multilingual support with instant translation
Agents can support customers in both Dutch and French, with real-time translation tools removing language barriers and speeding up responses.
5. AI-powered agents and Agent Copilot
Routine queries are handled by intelligent AI agents and Agent Copilot, reducing manual workload and ensuring customers get fast, consistent answers.
Maximising Zendesk Copilot’s value
Premium Plus started by showing Standaard Boekhandel Group what Zendesk Copilot could do, then suggested rolling it out gradually rather than all at once, so agents could get used to the new system.
Here’s how we made Zendesk Copilot work:
- Step-by-step rollout. Starting with the most common and high-impact case: questions about order delivery times.
- Smart process setup. Agent Copilot was configured so that if a customer forgot to provide an order number, it would automatically ask for it, meaning agents always had the details they needed without extra back-and-forth.
- Technical support. Premium Plus handled the technical side, setting up basic API calls and automating actions in Zendesk, cutting down on repetitive clicking and typing for agents.
With Agent Copilot now handling routine questions and collecting missing details automatically, agents could stop worrying about small tasks and focus on bigger, more valuable work. When a delivery issue came up, agents no longer had to instantly cancel and refund the order, they had time to look for alternative products and offer creative solutions, keeping more orders alive and helping Standaard Boekhandel Group maintain or even increase their revenue.
“Premium Plus isn’t just an implementation partner. They’re an experience partner. They don’t just implement Zendesk, they’re adding another layer on top of the Zendesk tool. The tool itself is great, but they get you into the driver's seat the way you want it.”
Stef Blokerye, CX Manager at Standaard Boekhandel Group
Results: Measurable impact and real change
Results after the first month with Zendesk and Premium Plus
|
CSAT 80%+ |
First reply time 7x faster |
SLA 90%+ |
One-touch tickets 70%+ |
That's a first reply time cut by roughly 90%, from as long as three days down to seven hours.
Ticket numbers decreased for the first time, even as the business continued to grow. As Stef explains:
“For the first time in years, our ticket number is going down. And the biggest reason for that is the deflection rate on our website, our FAQ, and the chatbot.”
With routine questions handled through these channels, agents are freed from repetitive work and can now focus on building genuine customer relationships and solving complex, high-value cases.
What customers are saying
Customers noticed the difference. With much faster response times and more personal service, satisfaction scores rose significantly.
“We’re getting more and more insights about how pleased customers really are with our service… The customer satisfaction rating has increased by more than 10%.”
Stef Blokerye, CX Manager at Standaard Boekhandel Group
How agents experienced the change
Agents felt empowered and supported by the new customer experience software. They could focus on meaningful, complex problems instead of repetitive tasks, and the new reporting and tools reduced their stress and increased their motivation.
Standaard Boekhandel’s agents now have the freedom and the tools to do what they do best: help their customers and add real value to the business.
“We worked with Standaard Boekhandel Group to set up Zendesk, taught the team how to keep the instance up to date and healthy, and helped Stef become their Zendesk champion. They were eager to move things forward, took real ownership of the project and the tool, and were easy — and great fun — to work with.”
Anton Verhelst, CX Consultant at Premium Plus
Coming in 2026: Elevating employee experience
Why employee experience matters
In a busy retail environment, every employee needs fast, reliable support to do their best work. Standaard Boekhandel Group saw that improving internal service was key to retaining talent, boosting morale, and ultimately delivering better customer outcomes:
- Fast, reliable internal support = happier, more effective staff
- Better employee experience (EX) = better CX
Why Premium Plus and Zendesk for employee experience
Having seen the success of Zendesk in customer support, Standaard Boekhandel Group once again partnered with Premium Plus for their expertise and personal approach. The goal: to unify all internal requests, including IT, HR, finance, facilities, product management, and marketing, on a single, flexible employee experience platform, planned for launch in 2026.
The ongoing EX transformation
The journey to unify the internal service desk is underway. Zendesk for Employee Service will be rolled out across key departments like IT, Facilities, Marketing, and Logistics. Premium Plus continues to guide the process, ensuring the employee experience solution matches Standaard Boekhandel Group's evolving needs.
New employees are expected to experience smoother onboarding and faster support, helping to build a positive and productive culture.
Looking ahead: Continuous improvement and future plans
Standaard Boekhandel Group is not stopping here. Plans are in place to:
- Expand AI and automation to streamline even more workflows
- Leverage Premium Plus’s strategic advice to keep adapting and growing with the business
- Continue enhancing reporting and analytics to guide every stage of their transformation
"We see Premium Plus as our long-term CX and EX partner. Together, we're building a culture where everyone, customers and employees, gets the support they need, when they need it."
Stef Blokerye, CX Manager at Standaard Boekhandel Group
If you want to hear more about how Premium Plus is as a partner, you can contact Stef Blokerye on LinkedIn.
Conclusion: Ready for your own CX and EX transformation?
Standaard Boekhandel's story is proof that true transformation is about people, not just technology. With Premium Plus and Zendesk: fragmented processes became seamless support, customers and employees are empowered, and reporting and measurement drive smarter decisions that keep improving every day.