Grapefruit launched Picard, an unique tool dedicated to the generation of leads

After more than a year and a half of concentrated and creative work, the digital consultancy and  user experience agency Grapefruit launched Picard, a very useful and unique tool on the local digital market of generating leads, an alternative to the classic forms, making the transition towards the chatbot type conversations. 

From the first thought and until the available form of this moment, the idea passed through several stages of research and pre-validations with multinational companies in different industries (from banking to auto, telecom and FMCG).

The launch of this Grapefruit product is a dream came true for me. I have just celebrated two years since coming my MIT Bootcamp experience in Boston, the purpose of me being there meaning to learn from the best how to develop a healthy and with real chances of success product. I believed initially, after I came back, that in maximum six months we would already have implemented and launched the product, but following the Disciplined Entrepreneurship methodology steps we realized that it will take a lot more. Therefore, here we are, after two years of research, validations, customized solutions and a lot of work for implementing the prototype, ready to be proud about Picard. The generation of new leads is a challenge for many businesses and we are sure that Picard is one of the success solutions that we can implement into a campaign,” said Georgiana Dragomir, Managing Director Grapefruit.

Therefore, Picard is thought as aframework that has at its basis a system of questions & answers mapped on the flows desired by the clients. Alongside this framework is developed at the same time an artificial intelligence component that results from the exceptions discovered in conversations. At the beginning the conversations are worked manually, thanks to Grapefruit’s vast experience in digital and user experience. The conversations are realized having in mind the consumers’ final objective, keeping the tone-of-voice and the companies’ that are opting for conversational forms personalities.

Having the experience of the personal project, a product dedicated to the UX (user experience) passionate people, being part of the Picard team came as a more than natural step. It’s a real challenge and a soulful delight to work also at Grapefruit’s project, alongside the services offered on  digital & UX. Since the beginning it existed the challenge of finding the balance between the work for services and the one for the product and we believed we found the necessary compromise without affecting the company’s health – it’s a proportioned blend of intrinsic motivation, calculation, devotion and sacrifice. Picard is the result of two years of research, trials and errors, validations, and we are curious of what we will discover in the future, now that we are bringing it into the world. As a UX Designer I’ve come to learn that as ready as one might be the user can anytime surprise you,” also said Alecsandru Grigoriu, Head of Product.

That being said, Grapefruit intends to permanently work at the product, the existing version representing only the first step in the road map the agency hits the road with. The updates will be communicated to the interested parties through private demo, but also through the website and social media.

The Grapefruit team that created Picard is composed of : Alecsandru Grigoriu, Head of Product; Georgiana Dragomir. Managing Director; Flavian Cristea, Digital Strategist; Marius Ursache, Founder & Shareholder.

In 2017, Grapefruit won 71% more pitchs than in 2016, having them bringing eight new clients and taking the total number of clients at 16. 2018 represents a stabilization year for the agency that also predicts a growth of 20% in profit. At the same time, Grapefruit is not only interested in the financial side of the market, but also contributes to the education of the local industry, by organizing each year WIAD – World Information Architecture Day.