“We want to be number one. That is our goal,” says Erik Ilestad, Category and Purchasing Director at the Norwegian company Byggmakker. “That is why we have chosen to work with Maze – that is how we will be the best!”

Byggmakker has worked with Maze since 2013, and this partnership has contributed to both increased profitability and increased customer satisfaction.

“Maze is now an important management tool for us,” says Erik Ilestad, “and if we had not started working with Maze, we definitely would not be in the position we are today. In the past we were mostly guessing. Now we know for sure what is going on in all of our stores and that is the difference.”

Byggmakker is one of Norway’s largest companies in the construction materials industry

With 78 stores and department stores across Norway and sales aimed at both private individuals and professional craftsmen, Byggmakker has a turnover of more than NOK 5 billion per year. They are owned by the Finnish company Kesko, which is the Nordic’s largest construction materials group.

All managers at Byggmakker receive customer feedback every day through the Maze app and the results are discussed at all levels of the company. Department store managers and other management figures go and read the customer feedback daily and discuss the results with the employees.

“We discuss what we have done well and what we can improve,” says Erik. “It can be about anything from additional sales, service at the checkout or how accommodating we are when interacting with customers. Our customers are also pleasantly surprised to be asked for feedback. It has helped make them more loyal to the brand and act as ambassadors for us.”

“Happy customers leads to more customers.” Recommendations to friends work like marketing in this area just as in other industries.

We are so happy to be working with Maze!


Byggmakker ranks highly when it comes to customer recommendations. Last year, 82% of their customers answered that they would recommend Byggmakker to a friend or acquaintance.

“Even during the pandemic this has proved to be very important,” says Erik. “When our stores were closing, we could, for example, get immediate feedback on the various proposals and other measures that we set out.”

Erik also explains that employees now expect this recurring customer feedback.
“It has created a training culture at our stores,” he says. “We love competing and embrace rankings.”

Before Byggmakker started using Maze, they were working with mystery shoppers.
“It worked for a while, but it soon became clear. Maze forces us to be more on our toes,” Erik explains.

Our development has been completely unbelievable


On-going feedback and careful analysis of customer interactions gives Byggmakker insight into which areas of customer interaction drive the most loyal customers, and since the staff are able to follow their day-to-day progress, it ensures long-term positive development.

If Byggmakker’s customers are members of the customer club, they are sent a questionnaire by text or email after their purchase.

The answers show what the customer thought about their visit and how they think the chain compares to its competitors. Byggmakker now also follows the development of its “ambassador level” directly in the app, that is, how customers will end up talking about the company to other potential customers.

The system makes it easy for managers and management to set out focus areas, determine training activities and keep the staff’s everyday training going.

Tips and advice can be shared directly through the app. What Byggmakker works with every day in stores, which was previously based on impressions, has been concretized. They can now immediately see what implementation in store looks like!

“Our development has been completely unbelievable,” Erik concludes. “We are so happy to be working with Maze!”