You’re in charge. Would you give her the green light?  Please continue reading this post on the Salesforce blog

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I recently presented (slides below) at Conversion World. Sam Hurley; Digital Marketing influencer and Founder of OPTIM-EYEZ, asked me the following eight questions. The interview is still getting regular retweets so I’m providing a link to the interview and the slideshare.

1. Jeffrey, why do you think CRO has become relegated to junior managers as a side project? Has it always been this way?
2. How can those with knowledge of CRO get board members to invest in the practice?
3. Can you give us 3 tactics you’ve found to be effective which actually go against the grain of ‘standard’ CRO?
4. Is there a benchmark conversion rate, or is it all a myth?
5. Which component of CRO do you believe to be the most important and why?
6. What are your favorite tools of the trade?
7. If there was one thing you could change in the industry, what would it be?
8. How do you envisage the future of CRO?

Read the full interview with Sam.

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION:

Why Has CRO Become a Dead-End?

“We [CRO practitioners] are the dirt under the fingernails of the digital industry,” said CEO André Morys of Web Arts in the foreword of a recent ebook by Conversion agency PRWD featuring seventeen well known CRO professionals. He is correct! It’s clear that CRO isn’t perceived as a strategic advantage. It’s seen as a tactic relegated to junior managers and a first-to-cut line item when tightening corporate marketing budgets. If you are attending the Conversion World conference this should disturb you!

Jeffrey Eisenberg and his brother Bryan, are pioneers of conversion rate optimization. Together they co-authored the first two New York Times best-selling books about CRO. In their two decades of experience there have been many professional successes, failures, celebrations and disappointments.

In this tell-all keynote, Jeffrey will reveal the intimate secrets that even insiders rarely get to hear about conversion rate optimization.

During this presentation you will learn:

• why conversion rate, an output metric, can’t be optimized like an input
• why most marketers are still in the dark ages about testing
• why “best practices” are actually impediments to insight
• how conversion rate optimizers hurt themselves when reporting data
• why marketers have settled for way-too-low conversion rates
• and, finally why the C-Suite doesn’t trust or empower CRO practitioners

CRO has a problem. If you want to be part of the solution, don’t miss this presentation.

The post Why CEOs Don’t Care About Conversion Rate Optimization #CRO appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

In case you missed them, the first four posts are:

I. Pre-mortem because it is the antidote to Murphy’s Law 

First we’ll explore the most impactful step of the process, the pre-mortem. Some of our largest conversion wins over the last two decades ever were the result of our clients going through the pre-mortem exercise.  Murphy’s law states that everything that can go wrong usually will and a pre-mortem will help you spot previously invisible problems in your current customer experience as well as plan against future problems. But the pre-mortem step is not for the faint hearted as it may show you things about your precious baby that are not as attractive as you wanted to believe.  The only thing that makes a pre-mortem more powerful is by doing a pre-mortem on a persona by persona and then scenario/ campaign by scenario basis.

II. Reverse chronology because it explains conversions

Assuming you have a product or service worth buying then you and your customers have the same goal.  You want to sell and they want to buy. That’s why when you are planning a customer experience it is always best to start at the end point and work your way backwards to the beginning.  This step requires you to get very specific about how and why every decision and action needs to be taken in the buying journey.  It’s specificity also makes this step important to measuring and optimizing your customer experience when you finally implement it. Your Buyer Legend isn’t fiction so every detail must be accounted for, not only that but you must create persuasive momentum at every step.

III. Persuasive momentum because there’s no such thing as a sales funnel

Your customer isn’t truly in a funnel. There’s no gravity compelling them through your experience like there is in a real funnel. There is only the customer’s motivation and your understanding of that motivation to create persuasive momentum. Persuasive momentum is the progressive decision making process that aligns the customer’s goals with our own business goals. I’ll show you the three step test that will insure your customers’ experiences are always relevant, valuable and compelling.

IV. Personas because their motivations become your action plan

Personas are a common marketing tool, but their value is often misunderstood. Simply put, personas should inform you about exactly what you need to be doing. Personas can be elaborate constructs based on reams of research and data, or they can be constructed quickly with data and information at hand, but as long as they are directionally accurate reflections of a segment of your customer they can be powerful tools that will guide your Buyer Legends processes. I will be discussing how to construct ad-hoc personas as well as help you evaluate and if needed fix your current personas if you have them.

The next two will be published soon:

V. Write a Buyer Legend because the only story that matters is your customers’ story

This is the step when you actually pull out your pots, grab a spatula and fire up your burners.  I will tell you all the ingredients to include so you can have them at the ready. This is the step where all your previous work begins to pay off and when you’re done you will have an action plan that can be distributed, implemented, tested, and optimized.  A Buyer Legend is where the rubber meets the road.

VI. Measurement because if analysts cannot tell the stories and business people cannot measure the stories then the strategy isn’t truly aligned with customers’ needs.

Your Buyer Legend isn’t fiction, it’s not for fun or for entertainment, or even for creative fulfillment.  This is business, and anything important to a businesses success should be measurable and accountable.  Buyer Legends are both and I will give you a primer on measuring, optimizing, rinsing, and repeating.

We hope you enjoy the series and as always, we encourage you to try Buyer Legends for yourself, but if you need help, please let us know.

The post 4th Post – Recipes For Practical Customer Experience Design & Optimization # CRO #UX #CX appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Reminder: Don’t forget to register for #CRODAY on April 9. 2015 here

The post #CRODAY Webinar 4/9/15 – Buyer Legends for CRO with Bryan Eisenberg appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Good evening Bryan,

Just a quick note to say your episode(s) are live in iTunes and on our website.

Why two episodes you ask?

There was so much great content that we had to break it into two individual episodes.

Studies have shown that once a podcast gets over 30 minutes in length, you start losing listeners very quickly.We didn’t want to pick and choose which part of the content to share with our listeners.

The first episode is:    ITJT 011: Bryan Eisenberg – “Buyer Legends.  “The Executive’s Storytelling Guide” & IdealSpot.com

The link to the show notes page and player:    ITJT 011

The second episode is:  ITJT 012:  Bryan Eisenberg “Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing”

The link to the show notes page and player:  ITJT 012

Once again, thank you Bryan for sharing so much great content with our listeners!

Rod Worley

Website:  fourgrainer.com

The post Interview With Bryan Eisenberg – Two Episode Podcast – Buyer Legends & IdealSpot.com appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

If I gave you a recipe some of you would be thrilled and others not so much. You can cook a gourmet meal that will have your taste buds fox trotting. I know that to be true. When it comes to food there are alternative ways to acquire a great meal. However, when cooking up great customer experiences there are no alternatives. If you want customers to to tell the only story that matters, why they love your company, you’ll have to learn how.

Have you ever followed a recipe only to find that you aren’t ready for the third step? I have. The results? Frustration and a poor meal. A few years ago it was takeout or starve, but now, I love to cook. I credit mise en place, that’s French for having having everything in its place as you cook, for my conversion from takeout king to aspiring chef. Mise en place is a small amount of effort expended up front that actually saves me tons of time and guarantees tasty dishes.

The Buyer Legend process is like a recipe for designing great customer experiences. You can use Buyer Legends to define and improve your content marketing, social marketing, search marketing, conversion rate optimization and thereby improve your communications, execution and revenues. You just need to follow the recipe. We’ve published a basic Buyer Legend recipe  but I’ll be adding more detail in this series.

I’ve been training clients and staff in the Eisenbergs’ processes’ for over a decade, Let me show you how to prepare mise en place for the Buyer Legends process.  This is the first in a series of articles that will address each major step of the Buyer Legends process.

Pre-mortem because it is the antidote to Murphy’s Law 

First we’ll explore the most impactful step of the process, the pre-mortem. Some of our largest conversion wins over the last two decades ever were the result of our clients going through the pre-mortem exercise.  Murphy’s law states that everything that can go wrong usually will and a pre-mortem will help you spot previously invisible problems in your current customer experience as well as plan against future problems. But the pre-mortem step is not for the faint hearted as it may show you things about your precious baby that are not as attractive as you wanted to believe.  The only thing that makes a pre-mortem more powerful is by doing a pre-mortem on a persona by persona and then scenario/ campaign by scenario basis. Read the first Buyer Legend Recipe Post here...

Reverse chronology because it explains conversions

Assuming you have a product or service worth buying then you and your customers have the same goal.  You want to sell and they want to buy. That’s why when you are planning a customer experience it is always best to start at the end point and work your way backwards to the beginning.  This step requires you to get very specific about how and why every decision and action needs to be taken in the buying journey.  It’s specificity also makes this step important to measuring and optimizing your customer experience when you finally implement it. Your Buyer Legend isn’t fiction so every detail must be accounted for, not only that but you must create persuasive momentum at every step.

Persuasive momentum because there’s no such thing as a sales funnel

Your customer isn’t truly in a funnel. There’s no gravity compelling them through your experience like there is in a real funnel. There is only the customer’s motivation and your understanding of that motivation to create persuasive momentum. Persuasive momentum is the progressive decision making process that aligns the customer’s goals with our own business goals. I’ll show you the three step test that will insure your customers’ experiences are always relevant, valuable and compelling.

Personas because their motivations become your action plan

Personas are a common marketing tool, but their value is often misunderstood. Simply put, personas should inform you about exactly what you need to be doing. Personas can be elaborate constructs based on reams of research and data, or they can be constructed quickly with data and information at hand, but as long as they are directionally accurate reflections of a segment of your customer they can be powerful tools that will guide your Buyer Legends processes. I will be discussing how to construct ad-hoc personas as well as help you evaluate and if needed fix your current personas if you have them.

Write a Buyer Legend because the only story that matters is your customers’ story

This is the step when you actually pull out your pots, grab a spatula and fire up your burners.  I will tell you all the ingredients to include so you can have them at the ready. This is the step where all your previous work begins to pay off and when youre done you will have an action plan that can be distributed, implemented, tested, and optimized.  A Buyer Legend is where the rubber meets the road.

Measurement because if analysts cannot tell the stories and business people cannot measure the stories then the strategy isn’t truly aligned with customers’ needs.

Your Buyer Legend isn’t fiction, it’s not for fun or for entertainment, or even for creative fulfillment.  This is business, and anything important to a businesses success should be measurable and accountable.  Buyer Legends are both and I will give you a primer on measuring, optimizing, rinsing, and repeating.

The Buyer Legend process orchestrates your best efforts and reconciles them to the needs of your customers so you can create profitable customer experiences.  If you want to become even more legendary at using this process I challenge you to follow this recipe series. I look forward to your feedback, questions, and hearing your success stories.

As always, we encourage you to try Buyer Legends for yourself, but if you need help, please let us know.

The post Recipes For Practical Customer Experience Design & Optimization – Buyer Legends appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

This case study shows:

1. how stories help identify the most important variables to test;
2. how the power of story can bridge intra-company communication gaps;
3. and how stories enable powerful execution that leads to increased revenue.

If you want to get an insight into how Buyer Legends can be used for more impactful testing and also to get buy-in across your company please read this post on LinkedIn Pulse: “Get Buy-In From Skeptics – A Conversion Rate Optimization Case Study”

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The post Get Buy-In From Skeptics – A Conversion Rate Optimization Case Study appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

The post Where do companies and entire industries go to die? appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

So what’s up Apple? As far as I can tell I can only see the reminders in iCal, while I’m on my Mac, but I can’t create or edit reminders.

Bryan and I are avid students of the Apple’s UX magic. We know Apple thinks that often customers can’t tell you what they want until they see it. Nevertheless, did Apple really think I would be abandoning the desktop completely when engaging with a To Do list? I’m sure someone will find a way to make a To Do list work with all my devices, until then I’ll have to stick with Google Tasks; which is a weak To Do list but at least it works the same on all my devices).

Am I the only Apple fanboy who thinks that Apple didn’t really think through all the use cases for a To Do list ?

The post Does Apple Need a Reminder About Reminders? appeared first on Bryan Eisenberg & Jeffrey Eisenberg.

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