Retention Partners runs Dutch employee and customer research with adaptive AI conversations and on-site activation, ending in a prioritised advisory report.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated November 12, 2026
Retention Partners is a Dutch research and advisory service for organisations in the Netherlands that want to understand why employees and customers stay, hesitate or leave. Instead of a fixed questionnaire, each participant goes through an adaptive AI conversation in Dutch, where the next question depends on the previous answer, using interactive formats such as swipe cards, choice cards, ranking and scale questions.
Every project starts with personal activation: a consultant visits the workplace to explain why the research is happening, how results will be used and how anonymity is protected, before invitations go out. AI is then used to spot patterns across all respondents, and the outcome is an advisory report with prioritised recommendations, each with an owner and expected impact.
The same approach covers five employee services (from Onboarding Scan to Exit Scan), five customer services (from customer onboarding to churn research) and two reputation services linked to Glassdoor, Indeed, Kununu, Trustpilot and Google Reviews.
Key Features
Adaptive AI conversation — Replaces a fixed questionnaire with a conversation where each follow-up question depends on the previous answer, so a critical answer leads to a different line of questioning than a positive one.
Personal activation on location — A consultant visits the workplace before the research to explain why it is happening, how results are used and why every opinion matters, aimed at higher response and more honest answers.
Interactive question formats — Swipe cards, priority choice cards, ranking and scale questions keep the conversation short and engaging; the demo conversations take under a minute.
Sector-specific question sets — Main and follow-up questions are rewritten per sector and assignment, with worked examples for healthcare, construction, hospitality, finance, tech, logistics, retail, education, manufacturing, business services, cleaning and childcare.
AI pattern recognition — After the conversations, AI identifies recurring themes, where signals concentrate (for example in one team) and which factors weigh most, analysed at pattern level rather than individual profiling.
Advisory report with prioritised actions — Concrete recommendations per theme with priority, owner and expected impact, plus a management report with scores, patterns and trends per team or segment.
Implementation support and re-measurement — Help with the first implementation steps, followed by an evaluation measurement to compare results and turn retention into a recurring cycle.
Onboarding Scan — Measures whether new hires really settle in, at moments such as day 30 and day 90 or across the first six months, to surface early warning signs while there is still time to act.
Satisfaction and engagement research — Separate employee satisfaction (MTO) and engagement studies, with engagement measuring energy, initiative and connection as an earlier signal than satisfaction or turnover.
Retention research and Exit Scan — Weighs ten retention factors, including leadership, workload, recognition and development, per team in one conversation; the Exit Scan, run separately from the line manager, captures why people really left.
Customer lifecycle research — Customer onboarding scan, satisfaction research, journey research with NPS in context, retention research and churn research covering both lost customers and at-risk active customers, including B2B key accounts.
Employer and review reputation intelligence — Links internal experience to external scores on Glassdoor, Indeed, Kununu, Trustpilot and Google Reviews, with an improvement plan and a neutral, platform-compliant review invitation.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Adaptive AI conversations instead of fixed surveys, designed to counter survey fatigue
On-site personal activation before each study to raise response and trust
Covers both employee and customer research with one consistent method
Delivers prioritised recommendations with owners and expected impact, not just average scores
Transparent explanation of where AI is and is not used, with anonymity explained upfront
Free calculators for turnover cost, eNPS and NPS to size the problem first
Cons
No public pricing; every project requires a custom quote
Service-led consultancy rather than self-serve software, so you cannot run surveys yourself
Built for the Dutch market; the site and research are in Dutch and on-site activation covers the Netherlands
No named clients, case studies or reviews on the site yet
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Retention Partners do?
It researches why employees and customers stay, hesitate or leave, using personal activation on location and an adaptive AI conversation instead of a standard questionnaire, and turns the results into a concrete advisory report rather than an average score.
How is it different from a traditional employee survey?
Two things: a consultant activates participants in person before the research instead of sending a cold email, and the AI conversation asks follow-up questions based on each previous answer instead of giving everyone the same fixed list.
Is the research anonymous?
Yes. Retention Partners treats anonymity as a precondition for honest answers and explains it upfront during personal activation. Analysis is done at pattern level, not to profile individuals.
How long does a research project take?
A full project, from intro meeting to advisory report and implementation, is designed to take 6 to 10 weeks depending on organisation size, followed by an evaluation measurement.
How much does Retention Partners cost?
There are no public prices. The cost depends on organisation size, method, number of measurement moments, customisation and implementation support, and is set in a custom quote.
Does it cover customer research as well as employee research?
Yes. Employee and customer research are two equal tracks using the same approach, with five services each, plus two reputation services for employer and customer reviews.
Does the AI run the whole process?
No. Activation is always done by people, the AI adapts questions during the conversation and helps find patterns afterwards, and recommendations are reviewed by people before they reach the advisory report.
Which organisations and sectors does it serve?
Organisations across the Netherlands, on location. The site gives sector examples including healthcare, construction, hospitality, financial services, tech, logistics, retail, education, manufacturing, business services, cleaning and childcare, and says other sectors are possible.