A team status on Thursday to find out where work stands. A client report on Friday with the questions we need answered to move forward. And a follow-up call on Monday to clarify everything. Our project manager Michal Horák spoke at Czech Online Expo 2024 about how to set up effective communication between team and client to maximize value for both sides. The key ideas from his talk are covered in this article.

How We Manage Projects: Michal Horák on Building Bridges Between Team and Client

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Robin Janásek

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Michal Horák

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Proof & Reason

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Don't want to wait? Call&nbsp;<a href="tel:+420604122182">+420 604 122 182</a> \nor email <a href="mailto:tomas.izak@proofreason.com">tomas.izak@proofreason.com</a>

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Optimisation? Redesign? \nSimpler system for&nbsp;partners? \nDigital&nbsp;transformation?

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Our clients’ projects are regularly evaluated by expert juries

B2B companies that have undergone customer experience transformation have seen
 revenue growth of 10–15% and a reduction in service costs of 10–20%.

We also engage on an ongoing basis in charitable and non-profit projects in our community.

We support charitable projects

Don't want to wait? Call&nbsp;<a href="tel:+420604122182">+420 604 122 182</a> 
or email <a href="mailto:tomas.izak@proofreason.com">tomas.izak@proofreason.com</a>

Want to meet us in person?

At the introductory meeting we’ll go through everything, think about what could be done, and tell you honestly whether and how we can help

Don’t want to wait? Call +420 604 122 182
or write to tomas.izak@proofreason.com

Tell me about your situation

82 most common customer experience problems, 12 selected Czech e-shops. Unique local CX data. Download the study for free and see how we approach research.

400 hours of research with Czech e-shop customers

We guide you through the entire project from the first meeting to long-term development. You will always know what comes next, how much each phase will cost and why we are doing it this way.

A partner who understands your industry

We make changes thoughtfully, step by step, based on knowledge of your world. Even the best website or customer care won’t guarantee your business success on its own. We always go one step further. We find out what you really need, what the company and management goals are, how your business, market and competition work.

We know your reality

We are analysts, researchers, designers, marketers, developers and project managers. Top specialists in our fields, with reach beyond them. We build on data and research. We give clients the insights to make key decisions.

Customer Experience that drives revenue | Proof & Reason

At the start we define a concrete goal and success metrics. Retention, conversion, or sales efficiency. We continuously evaluate whether we’re on track. This way we avoid negative surprises at the end of the project.

We don’t promise the impossible

Shipping costs or payment complications. These are the main reasons people abandon their shopping cart on e-shops

“I type bioethanol and light bulbs come up.” A new study describes 82 problems of 12 major Czech e-shops.

The biggest mistakes of Czech e-shops. These 16 missteps will guarantee you lose customers

Before you invest in anything, we validate it with real customers. We uncover potential, identify risks and continuously test. This way we avoid dead ends and achieve faster return on investment.

Decisions validated by data, not gut feeling

We start with what you need to change. More enquiries, higher conversion, more efficient sales. Only then do we design how to achieve it. What are the results? For example, Top-obaly’s e-shop grows year-on-year by 40%. Or Nazuby.cz recouped its investment in a full redesign within 8 months.

A clear goal, a measurable result. Not a redesign for its own sake

We connect research, data, strategy, CX, UX design and development. We bring certainty to your strategic decisions and make sure everything runs as it should. Long-term and without vendor lock-in.

We give you confidence for strategic decisions

Who will reliably guide you through a digital project from the initial brief to its ongoing development. Meet some of them:

After the project you will better understand your customers, be able to work with data and evaluate feedback. You will take away not just the result, but also competencies that will stay with you.

Your team grows with us

Meet more of our researchers, designers, analysts, developers and project managers in person

30+ strategists and experts in research, CX, UX design, development and project management

Thanks to the research and testing, we already knew what Alfred would stand for.

To walk that commitment to innovation and sustainability with steady steps, we sat down with the client over the research results.

In the end we agreed on 4 values that Alfred will never stray from. The unique value proposition was born.

By helping everyone make full use of renewable energy through smart management.

And why Alfred? Armed with a full package of values, vision, mission and research results, we approached leading brand consultant Karel Novotný, who within a matter of days came up with exactly the right name. A name that expresses everything we wanted to say about the brand in a single word.

It was clear that Alfred needed his own face. A mascot. The research also showed that most competitors have nothing of the sort, making it not only a way to bring Alfred closer to people, but also to brilliantly differentiate him on the market.

And we still had to give Alfred a proper coat.

Through a careful analysis of competitors and market trends, we found the direction we definitely didn’t want to take. There were already plenty of sterile, technocratic energy brands out there, as well as recycled greens.

Fortunately, Alfred is completely different on the inside, so he can be different on the outside too.

Here too the research helped. It turned out that in the solar energy market, only 3 companies use yellow. And only as an accent colour at that. For Alfred, yellow was therefore the obvious choice. It stands out brilliantly, relates beautifully to the core of his business, and thanks to it you will never mistake Alfred for anyone else on the market.

We added an equally striking indigo, which competitors don’t use at all. For emphasis. And to make Alfred’s lightning butterfly visible at first glance.

The name has to fit like a suit

When creating Alfred’s visual identity, we were mixing research, creative proposals and strategic planning on one metaphorical palette. Despite the high pressure and pace of work, we managed to dress Alfred in a way that is unique and unmistakably recognisable, but above all carries the brand’s message and values.

Also thanks to the work that the Proof & Reason team put into Alfred, we are now the only ones who can guarantee your plant is properly configured, running optimally, and that nothing and no one is overloading it. So it will last significantly longer.

What does that all mean in practice? Users know through Alfred that their plant is healthy, efficient and they don’t have to worry about anything they don’t want to worry about. Installation companies have all their notifications and data in one place in real time, are immediately alerted to critical faults, and can resolve what’s fixable directly in the app.

A brand with plenty of juice

Alfred must be able to serve absolutely anyone.

Clarity and simplicity.

Alfred provides assurance that the plant is running as well as it possibly can.

Plant health care.

Behind Alfred stands a company people trust. It is transparent and open.

Trust and stability.

Alfred helps you save money and live more responsibly towards the planet.

Responsibility and sustainability.

A world where all renewable energy sources are smart.

Before we could figure out how to sell the app, we needed to think it through more carefully – so it would sell better. We agreed that first we needed to clarify the target audiences, understand customer needs and concerns, and find out what competing solutions were doing wrong.

What started as marketing consultations turned into customer research and competitive analysis. Only then could we move on to brand strategy, visual identity and building the landing page. So even though we were under time pressure, it was clear we couldn’t skip the deeper insight work.

Why it needed more than just a communication campaign

And then? Just the landing page, which we were able to simply switch on thanks to the solid strategy work already done.

Built on the proven, data-backed framework The Six-Point Punch. And with the new visual identity. You can’t miss Alfred, you recognise him at first glance, and he comes across as both solid and friendly.

And that’s where our brand launch work ended. We handed Alfred over to the Kaleidoo agency, which is responsible for long-term communications. From us he received an analysis of the market, qualitative and quantitative customer research, a carefully defined brand including its values, and a marketing strategy.

It was months of intense, high-voltage work that would have taken at least twice as long without overtime and the complete focus of the entire team. We also helped select acquisition channels, set pricing and resolve dozens of smaller details that don’t fit into a case study. But we believe the results speak for themselves.

We continue to improve the CX of the monitoring centre for installation companies. And for the rest of Alfred, we now just keep a watchful eye from a distance. We wish him plenty of energy for his continued service. We believe we gave him the best possible start.

Safe travels, Alfred!

Some brands launch by briefing a designer, buying ads, sending a press release and calling it done. When solar energy specialists from SOLSOL came to us wanting to launch a new app for home power plants, we knew it could be done so much better. And that even with the tight deadline we were given, we could do it without cutting corners.

How research gave Alfred’s app launch a new energy boost

Some brands launch by briefing a designer, buying ads, sending a press release and calling it done. We do things differently. Read the case study.

How research gave Alfred’s app launch a new energy boost | Proof & Reason

Through careful customer research and competitive analysis, we were able to prepare, in a short time, a strong strategy built on unique values and a distinctive visual identity.

Research and analysis

We helped Alfred find a face and a voice. Based on data from the research and collaboration with other specialists, the app came to life in the right shades as well as the right values.

Brand definition

Even under pressure we delivered everything from acquisition channels to pricing to values and USP. And with a product impact: thanks to testing, Alfred offers features that competitors lack.

Marketing strategy

With the new identity we built a landing page that can effortlessly reach new customers and sell Alfred’s key benefits at first glance.

Performance landing page

“Making full use of the potential” meant above all managing energy flows so that owners wouldn’t lose money when electricity prices were low. But SOLSOL also wanted to reach installation companies that set up and oversee the plants. These companies needed something quite different – mainly a clear view of technical details. The result was essentially two apps under one roof.

And that was to become Alfred. Smart and healthy management for solar power plants.

It was immediately clear to us that to successfully launch something this complex, a communication strategy alone would not be enough.

Because Alfred was meant to serve solar power plant owners – of whom there are over 160,000 – we conducted a broad, quantitative study. But we also had to go deeper with qualitative interviews with experts from installation companies, because they needed something entirely different from the app. And it was clear that only by finding the right overlap between the demands of both groups could Alfred work well for everyone.

Which was essential for its successful launch.

If we had skipped the research, we would never have known how to target the subsequent communication or which features to focus on. With it, we had clarity: we’re looking for something simple that displays information intelligently in real time and helps people optimise their energy consumption – including through better battery health monitoring.

New energy from research and competitive analysis

At first there was no Alfred. There was just SOLSOL, one of the fastest-growing solar energy providers in Europe. And their idea for a new app. No name, no identity, no clearly defined target audiences, no fully thought-out features.

We wanted to bring a new app to market for installation companies and owners of solar power plants, so that everyone could make full use of the potential of renewable energy. We knew it wasn’t just about the technical side, but also about overall design, UX and marketing strategy. That’s why we chose Proof & Reason, an agency focused on the complete customer experience and able to approach the challenge from multiple angles.

What Alfred is and how it was preparing to enter the market

For the part of the app aimed at plant owners, we used the research findings primarily for the go-to-market strategy and a successful Alfred launch. For the installation company side, we went all-in to deliver the best possible user experience to Alfred’s future clients. Step by step, and with the research as our guide, we designed a fully fledged monitoring centre capable of tracking plant status in a far smarter way.

Through iterative testing – where we refined the app prototype multiple times and walked through it directly with future users each time – we also added a task management system. So with a tap in the app, a technician currently on-site can be assigned to fix an inverter right there and then.

Then we could start thinking about how to make all of this work together when launching Alfred to market.

Companies using standard monitoring software are overwhelmed by trivial notifications. Among tens of thousands of messages it’s easy to miss the 2% of truly critical issues that need immediate attention. That’s exactly what the monitoring centre is designed to solve.

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We’ve published a study of CX in Czech e⁠-⁠commerce: 400 hours of customer research

We’ve published a study of CX in Czech e⁠-⁠commerce:
400 hours of customer research