How a Montreal chatbot provider is using CRM to drive revenue

Heyday co-founders Steve Desjarlais, left, and Étienne Mérineau stand in the company's Montreal office on Sept. 30, 2020. When COVID-19 hit, forcing people to stay home, Heyday AI knew its chatbot technology would be vital for retailers that could no longer converse with their customers in person. But the Montreal-based company also knew landing new clients would be a challenge given the cancellation of big tech events where it often drums up business face-to-face. "A lot of [those] sales ... bank on relationships, and therefore you need to meet in person," says Étienne Mérineau, who co-founded Heyday in 2017 with Steve Desjarlais, David Bordeleau and Hugues Rousseau. Heyday uses artificial intelligence to help retailers communicate with customers on websites and across various apps and programs such as Facebook Messenger and Google Maps.