MEC Retailer's Research Log

November 23 Clinic Notes

NOTES:

We will be adding notes here. Please refresh this page when instructed to do so.

PPC Ad Copy Test
Ad	Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Original Ad Copy	10.9%
Test Copy 1	3.3%
Test Copy 2	11.6%

Order Form Optimization Micro-Test
Statistic	Original Order Form	Optimized Order Form
Order Pages Displayed	17,598	17,682
Orders	1,056	1,151
Conversion Rate	6.00%	6.51%

1. Optimized CTR from PPC ad copy

2. Optimized CPC by adding keywords, using negative keywords, etc.

3. Optimized landing pages

4. Optimized order forms

5. Increased conversion rate from improved site copy

6. Increased revenue from up-selling or cross-selling

7. Increased revenue from offer price optimization

8. Increased revenue from recovering lost shopping carts

9. Increased conversion rate from credibility indicators (customer ratings, awards, etc.)

Compounded Incremental Gains
Improvements (1 per month)	Percent Gain	Monthly Profit	Change in Net Profit
(0. Initial State)	N/A	$15,000	0%
1. Improved PPC Ad Copy	5% (CTR)	$19,500	30%
2. Optimized CPC on Paid Search	5% (CTR)	$19,999	3%
3. Optimized Landing Pages	5% (Conversion)	$30,249	51%
4. Optimized Order Form	5% (Conversion)	$35,761	18%
5. Improved Site Copy	5% (Conversion)	$41,549	16%
6. Up-Selling and/or Cross-Selling	5% (Sales)	$47,627	15%
7. Offer Price Optimization	5% (Sales)	$49,988	5%
8. Abandoned Cart Recovery	5% (Sales)	$56,487	13%
9. Credibility Indicators	5% (Sales)	$63,312	12%

Leveraging vs. Leveraging AND Compounding
Metric	Increase in Monthly Profit
Sum of Monthly Net Profit (9 Months)	163%
Compounded Profit	322%

URLs:

1. Become an MEC Research Partner

2. Spreadsheet Tool (right click - save to hard drive)

3. PPC Ad Copy Tested

4. Order Forms Tested

5. Conversion Rate Optimization

6. A/B Split Testing

BIO:

MEC Analyst Biographies

November 9 Clinic Notes

NOTES:

We will be adding notes here. Please refresh this page when instructed to do so.

Inbound Customer Service Micro-Test - Success Rates
Rep.	Calls	Site 1 (Saves)	Site 2 (Saves)	Site 3 (Trial)	Site 3 (Up-Sell)	Total	Success Rate
1	222	20	3	3	3	29	13%
2	214	18	10	2	1	31	14%
3	105	9	1	3	1	14	13%
4	49	8	3	1	0	12	24%
5	72	2	4	1	1	8	11%
Total	662	57	21	10	6	94	14%

The terms of the contest were as follows:

- Site 1 saves were worth 4 points each.

- Site 2 saves were worth 2 points each.

- Site 3 "trial" up-sells were worth 1 point each.

- Site 3 "full" up-sells were worth 3 points each.

Inbound Customer Service Micro-Test - Points Earned
Rep.	Calls	Site 1 (Saves)	Site 2 (Saves)	Site 3 (Trial)	Site 3 (Up-Sell)	Total
1	222	80	6	3	9	98
2	214	72	20	2	3	97
3	105	36	2	3	3	44
4	49	32	6	1	0	39
5	72	8	8	1	3	20

Projected Revenue from Micro-Test
Total Estimated Revenue	$2341
Total Calls	662
Revenue Per Call	$3.54
Revenue Projected Over One Year	$121,732

Projected Profit Impact Per Hour Per Agent
Average Calls Per Hour Per Agent	1.5
Revenue Per Call	$3.54
Per Hour Revenue and Profit
Revenue Per Hour Per Agent	$5.31
Effective Hourly Rate	$0
Profit Per Hour	$5.31
Per Year Revenue and Profit
Revenue Per Year Per Agent	$11,044
Additional Expenditure Per Year	$0
Profit Per Year Per Agent	$11,044

Projected Profit Impact Per Hour Per Agent
Average Calls Per Hour Per Agent	15
Revenue Per Call	$3.54
Per Hour Revenue and Profit
Revenue Per Hour Per Agent	$53.10
Effective Hourly Rate	$0
Profit Per Hour	$53.10
Per Year Revenue and Profit
Revenue Per Year Per Agent	$110,048
Additional Expenditure Per Year	$0
Profit Per Year Per Agent	$110,048

1. The primary factors that will determine the profitability of your operation are labor cost, profit on saves and up-sells, average calls per hour, and so on.

   To help you calculate the potential profitability of your customer service efforts, we have created a spreadsheet that lets you plug in the numbers and measure your success:

   http://www.meclabs.com/MEC_Cust-Svc_Analysis_Tool.xls

2. Incentivize your agents. We have already mentioned contests, but you may also want to consider using actual commissions. This may allow you to pay your agents a lower hourly wage while actually encouraging them to make more money. A well-crafted commission structure is a win-win situation for employers and employees.

3. Make incentives fair to everyone. If some reps are unable to field as many calls, base any contests on percentage of saves and up-sells instead of sheer volume. In addition, pay contest incentives frequently (perhaps even daily), so everyone feels like they have a good chance of winning.

4. If your team is big enough that they require a customer service manager, the manager should be given incentives as well, based on the performance of the entire team.

5. Small, non-intrusive bells can be used to build the energy in the room as saves and up-sells occur.

6. Give your customers a reason not to cancel. Incentives here will be unique to each business, but may include discounts, additional products or services, and other value-added elements.

7. Use compelling up-sells. Don't expect your agents to be able to sell many additional products if the offers themselves aren't attractive and well-targeted to your existing customer base.

8. Any "scripts" used for customer service saves and up-sells should continue to be refined and optimized over time. (Ideally, your agents will learn these well and not sound like they are reading.)

9. Customer information should automatically be transferred from one product to another to allow for easy and quick up-sells.

10. Make the (toll-free) customer service phone number very prominent on your website and email messages. This will encourage customers to call you and not to make credit card charge-backs.

11. Furthermore, your call center could handle additional capacity, and workflow could possibly be streamlined by removing or decreasing the email support system, which can be simultaneously tedious and less capable of making saves and up-sells.

URLs:

1. Become an MEC Research Partner

2. Download the MEC Customer Service Analysis Spreadsheet (Right Click - Save to Hard Drive)

3. MEC Analyst Bios