Wundertec

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the global brand department for a German-based spirit company. We produce liquors, and I oversee the emerging markets regarding brand education and sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wundertec?

We had several sales and brand ambassadors, especially in emerging markets. We had to give them clear guidance in their daily work. To achieve that, we engaged Wundertec to develop a CRM tool.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wundertec developed an app for us a couple of years ago. They’ve mainly worked on on-trade services, namely the workflows of our brand ambassadors. Now, we’ve asked them to set up the off-trade segment, which is quite a new challenge for them. Our brand ambassadors and salespersons will be able to use the on-trade and off-trade functionalities, which are totally different compared to one another.

They’re developing a digital system that we call our “brand ambassador management tool”, our CRM system where many brand ambassadors can manage their customers. They’re building the system, expanding its processes, and maintaining the servers on a daily basis. They’ll also provide us with a desktop version and an app and set up new stuff in there.

We sometimes ask them for recommendations on how we could further develop the tool, but that’s general or mainstream knowledge of what’s going on in the CRM business — the trends and state-of-the-art technologies. They need to know that, but we’re not outsourcing them to research it.

They’ve recommended geotagging for the mobile app, as well as using the desktop version for onboarding and deep analysis. We’ve given them our user personas and workflows, and their task is to make a system that can support these. Wundertec’s strength is on the programming and design side. They’re doing the UI design for the mobile and desktop versions, implementing the branding elements that we provide.

In summary, Wundertec’s primary function is to develop a well-running system that is solid and easy to use. The people who will use it have other things to do than concentrate on it, and the system should help them every day. On the other hand, they aren’t involved in strategic thinking or conceptualization. They don’t have enough experience in our trade to set up KPIs and what needs to be done.

With Wundertec, we don’t buy a ready-made system, which is an opportunity on one side but an issue on the other — there’s so much transactional thinking that goes into it. The system keeps on developing, and there aren’t other companies utilizing this knowledge, as far as I know. Therefore, we’re pushing them to create a good CRM. It’s a lot of work, and it keeps going.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Daniel (Co-Founder & CTO) and have a core team of about four people, split between designers and back- and frontend developers. Daniel’s main job is to look after the customer and the concept’s implementation.

How did you come to work with Wundertec?

Our local office in Mexico City started working with them in 2015. I took over in 2018 to take the platform from a regional to a global level. The system was there, but I saw much more potential for developing it. We started building it up, making more things possible in the system.

Wundertec was really on board with the system, and they understood what our company needed to work with customers and brand ambassadors. They had experience working with them, and that was a big opportunity. Also, they were pretty flexible — if we wanted something done a certain way, they were willing to do it.

Moreover, they weren’t a massive global company with set systems. Wundetec offered their services within maintenance costs, which was handy for calculating our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

The yearly cost is between €30,000–€60,000 (approximately $34,000–$68,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

I took over in October 2018, and we started development on a global basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been working with them for seven years now, and we enjoy the collaboration. Unfortunately, we don’t have any statistics; we just have the evaluations of our brand ambassadors. However, that speaks more to the system’s management capabilities, not its development.

Wundertec is a small and flexible team, which is the main advantage of working with them. Also, it’s all been within budget so far, but the timeframe has been extended. The deliverables are always okay, but we’ve had to give extra input from our side.

Most user feedback has been good, but we’ve had issues. Since it’s a complex system, people need time to learn it. We’ve had problems with some functionalities in 2021. Not everything is okay all the time, but that’s true for any development project.

How did Wundertec perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at tracking tasks but not so good at managing timeframes. We have weekly one-hour meetings between our two teams and a supervisor from the user side. Additionally, we communicate via email and Slack.

We don’t use specific project management tools. We mainly keep Excel sheets with the current plan and what needs to be done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a small company, and the team is really flexible in terms of development. However, they’re more regional-thinking than global-thinking. Wundertec is a strong-based Mexican company focusing on Central America and the US. Since they’re a local team, the cost is lower.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve in terms of conceptual work, UX, and timing. When we have an issue, instead of going directly to them, we have to think of what needs to be done and then give the development task to them. In that sense, they could improve their transactional thinking and proactive advice.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If the client knows exactly what they want and what the UX should look like, they need to make a precise plan of what needs to be set up. We gave Wundertec that, and they were able to build a working system.