Antwerp startup Meet Roger, which helps companies with their internal communication, is now ready to scale globally. Cedric Vercauteren, CEO of the digital platform, explains its story below.
What is the story behind Meet Roger ? How, and when did it start ?
In a nutshell, it is an internal communication platform for companies.
One morning in April 2016, frustrated by my work at the time, I thought : why not create a tool that would improve communication within the company ? And that’s how Meet Roger got started.
We wanted to unify all internal communication channels into one centralized dashboard for companies. We designed it as a useful tool for employers, so they can quickly touch base with all their employees, whether they are in the office, on the work floor, on the move or at home.
How does it work, in practice?
Once the deal is signed, we organize a series of workshops to prepare the company to use the platform. Once they know the ins and out, the platform goes live and each employee automatically receives a notification, so that they can register via the channel of their choice.
From that point on, internal communicators can start informing, connecting and engaging their entire workforce via Meet Roger.
What pain point did you want to solve ?
Meet Roger offers a new and smart way to effectively communicate and engage employees via a multimodal platform. The platform works best for companies with a diverse and fragmented workforce of blue-collar and white-collar workers. It provides workers with easy access to company information, while cutting off the clutter of irrelevant messages and keeping all employees on the same page. Thanks to the extensive segmentation possibilities, employers can carefully target their audience and tailor their messages, which drastically increases the reading motivation.
Our communication platform is also designed to accommodate all types of employees.
For example, a desk employee prefers to use emails, a worker might be more comfortable with SMS or WhatsApp messages and others may want to use the smartphone app or the desktop app. It’s all possible, each employee can choose the channel of his or her choice when registering. It all leads to the same information hub.
In addition, Meet Roger helps companies to develop an internal communication strategy that really works. The platform captures all the data and gives a global overview of the reading behavior and engagement rate of its human capital on a daily basis via the Roger Engagement Dashboard.
Finally, through feedback forms, pulls surveys, polls, and other features, it also offers a comprehensive overview of employee satisfaction and areas they want to improve.
How did Covid-19 impact your work ? Did you see a surge in customer interest?
Yes indeed. Unlike other companies, that period offered many possibilities and opened many doors for us. I’m pleased to say that with our platform, we have been able to help several companies get through these difficult times by streamlining their communication flows to get vital information quickly and effectively to each employee. In addition, not only has the number of our customers increased, we have also attracted the attention of more potential clients.
How do you envision the future of work ?
I would like to see a future where flexibility, empathy and listening are the new key words. During the crisis, we saw a more human side in everyone and people adapted to all kinds of constraints. So I hope that this flexibility will be a model that paves the way for our future interactions. Regarding the workplace specifically, I hope employers will adopt this new open, human and transparent approach.
And, speaking of the future, what are the next steps for Meet Roger ? I read in your December press release that you were ready to scale globally ?
As I said before, the future looks promising. We currently have customers in 24 countries, are active in 12 markets and our platform is available in 9 languages. So now we are ready to continue our path in scaling up globally. Soon Meet Roger will be available worldwide!
To conclude, what message would you like to pass on to our members, @ProptechLab ?
From a personal perspective, I would say it’s important to look at the bright side and to enjoy the small things.
As a businessman, I would say that now is the time to really step up your tech strategy. So for startups, that means it’s time to launch your digital solution!
For more information on the digital platform, visit the startup’s website here.
Liuba Diederich