MVP Development with Twilio: How We Went the Extra Mile to Craft a Digital Assistant Bot in Only 90 Days

• The client: an ambitious sales consulting firm 

• The brief: disrupting the world of B2B sales

• The challenges: combining high-precision with a human-like interactions

• The solution: exploring new technologies

• The results: transforming the client’s vision into reality 

Got a new product idea? Let's make it real! Our experts will take it from concept to launch-ready MVP in 90 days or less. Your MVP = our mission.

Get in touch. We don't byte!

The client: an ambitious sales consulting firm  

Our client was a sales consulting firm determined to disrupt and simplify the B2B sales process. Their view was that the traditional process had a significant issue: sales reps often have to go through numerous calls and emails to land a single client meeting, while company managers must sift through a sea of emails with offers to identify the truly relevant ones. The solution? Building a digital assistant bot that could bridge this gap, seamlessly matching company managers and sales representatives.

To achieve this, the client reached out to NaNLABS, seeking our expertise in building MVPs for SaaS. They found us online, and then we traveled to the US to meet them face to face, fully immersing ourselves in their vision.

The brief: disrupting the world of B2B sales

This greenfield project was not just about bringing this bold idea to life by building an assistant bot MVP; it was about doing so within a 90-day timeframe. The client envisioned a bot capable of combining the experience of interacting with a human assistant with the high speed and precision results of a machine. 

The company manager would interact with the assistant bot expressing his/her goals and needs in the brief conversation. Then the sales reps could communicate directly with that manager's digital assistant, and after answering a series of questions, the bot could determine if there was a match so they could set a business meeting.

Our digital assistant bot was envisioned to mimic the efficacy of a human assistant, featuring neural responsive voice technology, the ability to match based on detailed goals and interests, and a capacity for seamless, meaningful conversation.

The challenges: combining high-precision with human-like interactions

The NaNLABS MVP development team has over a decade of experience under their belts, but this was not going to be a simple project. This was an R&D project and we had to ensure that user interactions with the bot were as smooth as any human conversation. 

The product was also frontend-heavy, featuring a chatbot interface and an administrative dashboard. On the backend, several authorization/authentication features and access control lists (ACLs) would be required to ensure data security.

And it did not end there. We also faced other important challenges, such as:

• Even though our team had worked with SMS and some Voice Calls features before, we had to research how to create workflows while interpreting users’ inputs in real-time.

• Managing client expectations while adapting to evolving project requirements was an ongoing challenge. We had to clearly explain tech limitations, and find solutions that made sense for the problem they were trying to solve.

• A significant pivot occurred during the final sprint when the client decided to redefine the product based on new benchmarking surveys.

The solution: exploring technologies

In tackling this project, we leveraged several technologies:

Frontend: JavaScript formed the backbone, with React.js for dynamic user interfaces and Apollo GraphQL ensuring seamless front-to-back communication.

Backend: Python was chosen for its versatility, supporting a GraphQL Server with AppSync for user authentication.

Infrastructure: We adopted a Serverless infrastructure-as-code approach, utilizing AWS Amplify, Cognito, and AppSync.

Third-Party Integration: After a thorough research of the different technologies commonly used in the industry, we chose to work with Twilio for handling phone calls and SMS, and offering conversational experience. Twilio is a robust option for those purposes and offers the flexibility we needed for such a complex solution.

The NaNLABS Team Approach

Adopting an Agile approach is key to providing outstanding MVP development services, especially when you're faced with complex solutions and tight schedules. 

Our team's resourcefulness was on full display when we identified and integrated an improved set of voices and a newly released natural language model from Twilio on the spot during a meeting with the client, significantly enhancing product quality.

When facing a delay in onboarding a UX/UI designer, one of our front-end developers stepped up to design the necessary Figma elements, exemplifying our commitment of always going the extra mile. Our project management experience was also instrumental in keeping the project aligned with the client's vision while avoiding scope creep.

"NaNLABS’ project manager did a good job keeping us on track for the deliverables we owed the project." – Sales Consulting Firm Founder

The results: transforming the client’s vision into reality

Applying our deep knowledge of Agile MVP development, we successfully transformed the client's vision into a functional digital assistant bot and allowed them to test their market fit in only 90 days. Our honest and collaborative relationship with the client facilitated the quick conversion of ideas into actionable tasks. And despite technical challenges and scope changes, the NaNLABS team creatively crafted a robust solution that met the client's budget and timing requirements but also exceeded expectations.

Got a new product idea? Let's make it real! Our experts will take it from concept to launch-ready MVP in 90 days or less. Your MVP = our mission.

Get in touch. We don't byte!