It’s that time of the year again, the Christmas decorations have been put up, the Christmas market is in full swing outside our office and we’re all looking forward to a well earned break in a few days. But not before we took a moment to sit down with Quentin Paquot and Laurent Mélon, respectively CEO and CTO of Qualifio, to reflect on the past year and to look forward to the adventures and challenges ahead in 2022.
Flexibility and innovation
We thought 2020 had been a tough year, but unbelievably 2021 has been a very close competitor! The sanitary situation did not improve as many had hoped and we still find ourselves in the depths of yet more restrictions and outbreaks.
Quentin reflected on the fact that getting used to the new normal of Covid has forced many companies to reevaluate how their teams work together and how they interact with their customers, and that has been true for Qualifio. We have had to adapt to not being in the same room most of the time and not being able to meet our prospects and customers face to face, and this has led to innovative solutions and increased flexibility in our case. Allowing each of our team members to find a balance between their private life and their work throughout this difficult period has been a priority this year.
“At Qualifio, this set of circumstances has meant that, more than ever, we have placed our customer support at the heart of everything we do. We’re no longer able to go out and meet our customers so this year we brought two Customer Support Experts on board, Noémie and Sidney. Together they have brought us consistency and excellence in our handling of customers’ concerns and issues.”
– Quentin Paquot – CEO, Qualifio
Engagement – a key trend for 2021
This year we’ve seen the confirmation of last year’s trend that brands and media companies are trying to turn this crisis into an opportunity and are increasingly looking for new ways to engage with their audiences. The number of campaigns created on our platform exploded from 2019 to 2020 and we’ve seen another increase this year.
“2021 has been a busy year for the Qualifio Studio. To give you an idea, in 2020 we created 324 studio projects, and in 2021 we’ve worked on 520 projects! Thanks to our great team and our two new recruits, Anaïs and Camille, we’ve managed to conquer all our challenges this year. We’re now ready to start 2022 with a bang. We’re going to expand the studio and continue to take on new challenges, to meet our customers’ needs. ”
– Chloé Fieux – Head of Studio, Qualifio
Our biggest challenge
From a product standpoint, this year hasn’t been without its challenges for our R&D team either, Laurent mentioned. In June we faced the biggest technical problem we’ve ever had: a data breach.
This kind of “leaked data” is announced on a daily basis in all industries and sectors but of course, being at the heart of it was a painful moment.
As hard as it was at the time, Laurent and Quentin are both incredibly proud of the way everyone managed the situation and we have all grown and learned a lot from it. Security has always been a top priority for us, as our customers trust us to handle their data, and this incident has made it even more so now.
The support we received from our customers was incredible, and both Quentin and Laurent truly believe that this event has ultimately made us stronger and more credible.
Life at Qualifio
Qualifio has been through a milestone transition this year, with leadership being handed over from the co-founders to a younger CEO/CTO duo. In his new role, Quentin says he’s looking forward to working with a great bunch of people and guiding the company in our next adventures.
“On July 1st of this year, Quentin became the CEO of Qualifio and I have stepped down from my role as CEO but I will remain active in the company as Chairman of the Board. I am delighted and excited by this move, as Quentin not only has all the skills and values to be a great leader but is also widely recognised and respected by our team, our customers and our shareholders.”
– Olivier Simonis – Co-founder & Chairman of the Board, Qualifio
But it doesn’t stop there, as the Management Team has been reinforced by promoting 3 new young talents, including 2 women in a team which was up until now male only.
It’s been an exciting end to the year! In the last couple of weeks, we’ve launched a completely redesigned website (make sure you check it out!) and released our new platform: Qualifio Loyalty.
“We’re finishing 2021 with the major announcement of a new product. Qualifio Loyalty takes us to another level with regards to data collection and engagement management. Our vision of “We grow passionate communities” is getting closer, and this is just the beginning.”
– Antonio Molina Cubero – CMO, Qualifio
You can read more about our decision to release a second product here. We’re incredibly excited after over 18 months of development to be able to add it to our offering and it is a huge milestone, for the whole company and for our customers.
We’ve hired a lot of new people especially in the product and IT teams to manage the technical development of Qualifio Loyalty and we’re really excited about the coming months as we launch the platform into the world. The possibilities are endless now that we have two complimentary products and we’re looking forward to seeing the highly creative and inspiring campaigns that our customers are going to create with them.
“This new product offers a lot of new opportunities in R&D, Sales & Marketing, so if you are looking for a job in the MarTech sector we are convinced Qualifio is the place to be.”
– Laurent Mélon – CTO, Qualifio
A few numbers
Numbers are always a good way of telling a story, so here are a few key ones from 2021 at Qualifio:
- 4 Qualifio babies were born
- We hired 24 new recruits
- Over 13,000 users logged in to Qualifio Engage
- The members of our Strava club did over 2,500 activities and covered over 29,000 kilometers
- We onboarded over 60 new companies
- We’ve reached 2 new continents with new customers in the USA and Australia
“2021, what a year! A new CEO and management team but our values and the people remain. We are convinced that recruitment and the continued development of people remains at the centre of what we do, as ultimately we rely on people. 2022 will be full of ambition and challenge for our passionate teams.”
– Aurélien Berhin – Head of HR & Administration, Qualifio
What’s next?
In 2022 we are committed to continue pushing and challenging ourselves, whilst learning and growing with our customers.
“Our teams are growing and are hungry for more so I’m excited about what next year will bring!”
– Quentin Paquot – CEO, Qualifio
Thank you for the ongoing trust you put in Qualifio, we can’t wait to show you what’s next – we’re going to be making some noise in 2022!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. We look forward to seeing you next year ?
