A golden rule we have at Pointbreak

A golden rule we have at Pointbreak.

Never release on a Friday ... until you do ...

On April 23rd, as the Belgian government announced that shops will be able to open again on the 11th of May, we had a call with Koen Wilssens and the Runners' lab - Belgium team to discuss how and what we can do to help reopen all 4 shops. Quickly we defined 4 key objectives:

?? Avoid endless queuing for customers at all costs.

?? Making sure all health and safety rules get respected.

?? Getting an insight into staff planning.

?? Funnel and streamline all incoming requests in one centralized system.

In no time our team came up with a plan to build an MVP appointment platform. Making sure customers could schedule a visit at a moment and shop that suits them best. In less than 14 days we went from idea to launched product. A custom appointment module:

?? Fully integrated with their data management platform for a single sign-on solution across all platforms.

?? And admin to manage availabilities for each store and service.

?? An easy way for customers to let Runners' lab know what service and advice they like to book.

?? An easy way for customers to cancel or reschedule to eliminate no-shows.

?? A handy add-on to schedule lunchtimes for staff during those busy times.

So last Thursday we were on schedule to launch the platform until we encountered some issues while testing. The team worked around the clock to solve the issues but the weekend was getting closer.

Friday 6 PM we still weren't able to fix all issues and improvements we had in mind. We had two options. Either we postpone the launch until Monday or we take the bet and try to fix everything with the chance of making the disappointment even bigger. After a short internal call, we decided to go all in and make sure we could launch asap. At 1 PM Saturday night, all boxes were checked and ready to roll. So technically we did not release on a Friday.+

Was it worth the effort? 100% YES.

?? In less than 48 hours +2500 (and counting) appointments were made.

?? Two of the four shops are 100% booked for the coming 3 weeks.

?? Countless insights and new ideas to build an improved version.

?? A structured system that will increase efficiency and overall turnover.

?? An MVP product build in less than 14 days.

Incredible to see what you can do if you get the full trust of your clients. Teamwork really makes the dream work.

Koen Wilssens - CEO Runners' Lab: Last week the finish line was in sight to launch our appointment platform. We had a clear deadline and Pointbreak went the extra mile to deliver on their promise. Without this great partnership we wouldn't be able to generate the 2500 appointments of last weekend. Together we have won this sprint ???♀???

If you have any feedback or ideas about the platform, please don't hesitate to comment. Because of the high volume of retailers and companies who are requesting a similar system, it can take a while to get a response from our side. But we commit to replying within 12 hours.