Airbucks

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO & CTO of Concordus Applications, which is a system integrator that’s predominantly into software product development for channel-focused solutions in the telecommunications arena. One of our products is a marketplace that is utilized by partners and sales agents to sell telecommunications services. We also have the world’s first blockchain-powered platform for commissions and loyalty payments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Airbucks?

Our biggest challenge was effectively communicating with our channel partners and incentivizing them to continue their business with us, since they have lots of other choices and can work with any other service provider. It’s imperative that we achieve some loyalty with them through personalization, which is where Airbucks comes in.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Airbucks has helped develop interfaces for the campaigns and programs that we’re using to grow our channel partner community. We started with a workshop, during which the team brainstormed with us to understand the problems we were grappling with. They also did some quantitative and qualitative research to get a glimpse of our market and competitors. After that first phase, they documented all their findings and proceeded to have a second workshop where they presented their requirements for our approval.  

During the design phase, they came up with some prototypes and wireframes to showcase what the campaigns would look like. There was a lot of back and forth before they went into the development phase. The screens and solutions were built and we finally went into the delivery, testing, and execution stage. Airbucks was responsible for the entire end-to-end process of designing the UI as well as the middleware of our programs.

The mobile app serves as the real touchpoint for most of our users, although there is a web version of it. It is available for Android and iOS, but the iOS version is only available to our channel partners. We grant them access by whitelisting their IDs.

What is the team composition?.

I mostly work with two people, but we’ve interacted with around 4–5 members. Our main point of contact is Vaibhav (Co-Founder & Business Head) who acts as a design leader, and  Manmeet (Founder & Creative Head)who takes care of overall program management.

How did you come to work with Airbucks?

We went through a pseudo-RFP phase and have gone through a lot of companies who were in this space. We got them to jump on an introductory call where we explained what we’re trying to achieve and had them present their pitches. 

We got to know of Airbucks through another partner that has worked with them. When we got in touch with the team, they were, by leaps and bounds, the best fit for us. They took the time to understand our business, carefully came up with designs that aligned with our needs, and had the right price point, so we decided to utilize them as our partner for the long-term.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested roughly $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We went into the RFP phase around August 2018, but the project started in earnest in 2019. The project is still ongoing since there are lots of enhancements being made and Airbucks is developing a new app  for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

One hard metric that we have is based on the number of new customers that we sign up, since this indicates how well the application is performing. In the first few months, we were signing up customers at three times the normal rate. Our channel partners have also doubled during that time. 

Users have the ability to give feedback within the app, and we’ve received very positive remarks. Ninety-nine percent of comments were overwhelmingly good, with some having suggestions for improvement. 

How did Airbucks perform from a project management standpoint?

Our experience and relationship with them has been really good. The Airbucks team is very responsive and works with our timezone, going out of their way to make things happen for us. They even report on weekends and clock in for extended hours especially when we’re close to a deadline. They’re flexible and are essentially an extension of our team.

We use Trello and our own in-house project management tool. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The number one thing is their ability to understand our business. Airbucks invested their own unpaid time to grasp the industry, the market, and our products so that they would have an idea about the channel before they even started working with us. There was a lot of effort put into knowing our space, customers, partners, and systems. it really differentiated them from other providers and allowed them to come up to speed very quickly, which is why we’ve been with them for three years now.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having a US-based person would help. Though they work long hours just to be able to match our time zone, it would be better to have someone local. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to explain the problem statement to Airbucks. Give them all your insights and allow them to understand your space and your needs. You will see the real benefit of that engagement emerge if you invest in good quality time upfront.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief of staff for a space-tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Airbucks?

We needed Airbucks’ help to build and redesign our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Airbucks redesigned our website on Ruby on Rails from scratch. They created the home page, a careers page, and the blogs that were on the website. They also did some UX/UI work and helped us with the structure of the site. We gave them basic references we found on Pinterest and a couple of other websites. We had some sort of a style guide, but it wasn’t fixed per se.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the two founders.

How did you come to work with Airbucks?

I had met them previously, and we had brainstormed some potential ideas.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $1,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Airbucks’ process was really good. We kept changing the messaging on our website because we believe in taking feedback from the market. We kept that website for about 3–4 months, and now we’re doing a revamp again. 

How did Airbucks perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through Slack. They had a good, structured approach. At the beginning of the project, they set deadlines, and we followed those. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We really liked the process Airbucks followed, as well as their illustrations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind.

Any advice for potential customers?

Airbucks is dedicated and their process is really good. They stick to the deadlines and see things through. Try out their illustrations because their illustrator is good.