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Trade

Finland - In-moment customer feedback insights benefitting New Zealand

EU-NZ trade agreement helps HappyOrNot to increase its turnover due to the elimination of duties.

Country or region
New Zealand
Trade topics
Exporters' stories
EU exporter
Finland

HappyOrNot and the original 4 Smileys offer an easy way to engage customers and track the pulse of their service experience through relevant, in-moment feedback for optimised customer experience and operations.

Key facts

Founded in: 2009

Headquarters: Tampere, Finland

Employees: 100+

Annual turnover: approximately EUR 9 million

HappyOrNot and International trade

It was early 1990s when the founder, Heikki Väänänen, was at the end of yet another really disappointing service experience at a local computer store. Leaving the store disgruntled, he wondered how many other customers would never come back.

13 years later, after connecting with his friend and co-founder Ville Levaniemi, this basic idea of how customers can rate the service they received immediately and how businesses can take advantage of that feedback immediately has now grown into HappyOrNot. After over 1,5 billion Smiley-hits for 4,000 brands across 135 countries, things may seem to have become a little more complicated, but the basic principle remains as simple as it ever was: Are you Happy or Not?

How is HappyOrNot involved in trading with countries outside of the EU in general?

The primary focus market is the US where the foundations of the company are solidified by prioritising the marketing and sales activities. Secondary markets are the UK, Germany, France, and the rest of Western Europe, and with a large global reseller/partner network their solution is today used by companies in over 135 countries. They have been present in the New Zealand market for over 8 years through their valued partner Push My Button.

How the EU-New Zealand trade agreement helps

The EU-NZ trade agreement helps HappyOrNot to increase its turnover due to the elimination of duties, it makes the company more competitive in the market and it speeds up export procedures due to less administrative paperwork. The company has approved exporter status for its Smiley Terminal products, as they are of EU origin and so gain preferential treatment when needed, such as no separate documentation requirements.

We at HappyOrNot have strived to become a global leader in customer experience feedback analytics. Currently we have customers in more than 100 countries. It’s important that business operations are smooth and thus we value greatly the EU-NZ free-trade agreement. We are looking forward to expanding our presence in NZ with our valued partner Push My Button.

Miika Mäkitalo,
CEO, HappyOrNot