“There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I realize it can be tough to justify putting in the time and money for proper statistical testing, such as A/B testing, for your sales team. The problem is that making random changes to templates, documents, and conversations is a practice in futility. It is important to understand why the changes are made and what benefits they can bring when doing so.
A/B testing is often the foundation of statistical testing for a sales team. If you have been in sales, I am sure you have taken part in formal or informal A/B tests.
Informal A/B tests generally cover the sales material below:
- Cold calling scripts: Cold calling scripts are all about trial and error. It is common to test out two different formats of one script on similar prospects. This process finds which has a higher rate of conversions.
- Outbound emails: When it comes to outbound emails, the focus is for the receiver to open, read, and respond to that email. With cold emails, this can take two, three, or even four emails before the Lead opens the email.
- Documents: Internal and External documents are constantly being updated. These could be comparison documents, feature introductions, and many others. Testing out different document formats through A/B testing can help you offer the best information in the easiest way possible.
- Demonstrations: Demonstrations could include giving a short demonstration of your product or giving a PowerPoint covering your company and any other number of topics. These have the largest number of variables involved, but even small controlled variables can have a significant impact. You could modify the information on a slide or choose different points in the presentation to ask questions.
The primary issue with these informal tests is that the results may not be meaningful or reliable in any specific context. To achieve actionable results, you will need to set up proper A/B tests. These tests will follow the correct statistical analysis procedures using the same sales material.
If you are unaware of the steps required to set up and run a proper A/B test, I recommend reading the blog I recently published titled The Basics of A/B Testing.
The results from running a proper A/B test can be used to create the absolute best possible sales material for both you and your sales team. Of course, the results will not be immediate. The process of A/B testing is gradual. You make small changes to see increases in specific statistics such as leads qualified, meetings booked, and many more.
There are numerous benefits for utilizing A/B testing for your sales process, but I have the four I find stand out the most listed below. A few of these are from an article written by Forbes titled, A/B Testing: The Benefits And How To Use It Efficiently.
- Increased Engagement
- Increased Qualified Leads and Meetings booked
- Reduced Email Bounce Rates
- Better Conversations
I cannot recommend formalized A/B testing enough. Interweaving the results of your statistical testing with your practical sales experience and training will often have the best results.
Get started today by creating your own formalized A/B test!
