Introduction

I would like to share my personal story. Recently got my dream job, and everything was right: product- interesting, something new for me, something new on the market, team - from the first interview I knew that I would fit in! My role - exactly what I want to do! The first week I checked our company website- looks great! But I found a few things I wanted to change… Nowadays a website is a key element in the selling process, so must be perfect! According to Hubspot, 71% of decision processes in B2B sales begin with an online search. In 2011 Google come up with Zero Moment of Truth or simply ZMOT, describing the way customers search for information about products before purchase. There is no way to run a business without focusing on that. So, I decided to share my thoughts with my boss and tell him that website he made needed some changes. Quite bold, right? I needed to be smart with that, it could be just my opinion, my thoughts, my experiences. So, what to do… Wait! I’m about to sell a great tool for UX research. How about running a usability test and checking if my theory is right?

Why having a website for B2B sales is crucial?

If you are a salesperson like me, I’m sure that you know how important a website with a clear price model is. First, even if you don’t sell directly from the website, having it is crucial. A survey run by Weebly shows that 56% of those interviewed claim that they wouldn't trust a business without a website. Most decisions in the B2B world start with an online search. That’s why it is so important to have all information on your website and make them easy to understand. You must also remember that there are two types of customers visiting your website: decision-makers and users. Both need different information, and you must consider that. Keep in mind that they decide rather contact you or not based on what they saw on your website. Remember that it is your business's first impression they get. If they don’t like it, don’t find the information they look for or something is not clear, you lose potential buyers, you lose money! If you decided to put a price list on your website, you must make sure that it is easy to understand. You might not have a second chance to explain! Also, you can make your clients upset if they feel deceived. It’s worth mentioning to be aware of all Dark UX methods, especially on landing pages. Their main purpose is to engage to take a particular action but is it a good idea to trick your potential clients? That’s short-sighted self-interest. You might gain some clicks, maybe even purchases but in the end, you will lose customers and you will lose trust, and trust is everything in business!

Think about:

1. Your customers need to know exactly what you offer. Blink test- your visitors will decide in a few seconds if they want to stay and look for more information. 3-5 seconds - that’s the time that people will give you to convince them to stay. Not much, right?
2. Interesting content. Be an expert in your field!
3. Ease of navigation. People are getting irritated quickly if they can’t find something.
4. Clarity. Especially on your price list.
5. Easy way to contact you when they are ready.

Test your website!

Knowing all the benefits of having a well-made company website I had to take action. And that’s how I created my very first usability test. First, I wrote down all points I thought should be changed. Then I talked with our UX Researcher to make sure that there are the right questions (I’m not an expert. Yet!). Turn out that for such a simple page, common sense is enough. The next step was to find the right people to test, luckily, I have a lot of friends among salespeople. Then I asked them to do the unmoderated test. Was so easy! Creating it, even for an amateur like me, was so simple. And then all I had to do was to send a link to the test. Good that salespeople are such talkers, great unmoderated test recipients. Moreover, some of them told me that they need to test their website too! That they are not happy with their company website on so many levels. That’s why I want to share with you that story.

Okay, but coming back to the plot. Finally, I got the results. All my assumptions were right and now I have proof! I went task by task with each participant's records, discovering even more than I assumed. Adding an emotional layer to those records allowed me to focus on the most important parts. Finally, based on analyzing I got I created a presentation with details and then showed my boss. Even though we had UX expertise, we knew the product well, so we assumed that some things are obvious. While there were not for a person seeing it for the first time. That shows that even UX experts need testing! I’m convinced that your boss will understand that his company website needs it too.

So, let's test your website, find what needs to be changed, and do great sales!