Interview with Ben Labay, Research Director at Conversion XL

Jo Juliana Turnbull
Ben Labay, Research Director at Conversion XL speaks to SEO Jo Blogs about his presentation at Digital Elite on Mobile Optimization, using voice of Customer Data.

How did you start working at Conversion XL?

“Well I came from the field of Biology and Conservation Science, working for the University of Texas in Austin Texas. 
During this time I was friends with Peep Laja, founder of CXL. He had a need for experimental design, industry types of studies not with clients, but across industries to find patterns. We asked questions around user perceptions, how users process data? We used our own eye tracking and bio metrics lab. Conversion Institute – the training part of Conversion XL. These are some of the research studies we have done:

How can you ensure you are asking people the right questions?

Make sure you understand what culture you are in. A little bit of localisation besides translations is needed.  Start with a goal, you have a goal about uncovering some aspect of user perceptions. The questions have to focus on the goal, it is easy to get side tracked. Otherwise, with the questions themselves in surveys, do not lead too much. You do not want to say “how good your experience was today“. You do not want to ask users what features they would like in the future, people don’t know the future. At the same time you do not want to ask about their experience in the past. They may not remember everything accurately.
Conversion XL Team

How can you ensure that people asking you the right question?

You need to have context, you need the background Provide level setting, how you go there, eg discovery intent, they may have seen an ad to the landing page before the survey is shown.

Can you share some methods on qualitative research?

There are methods specific to goals. In terms of conversion rates, there are different types of conversion heuristics (rules of thumb). You can play with scarcity, urgency, motivation.  Motivation is the most powerful. First time new buyers, VIPs. Segmenting out what you ask to whom is important. Asking consumers why they bought a product eg top 3 reasons that made you purchased makes the consumers work a little bit. Voice of customer data to influence value proposition and benefits, why to buy from this site instead of another one.

How would you recommend someone with a passion in research starts a career in digital research? (They may want to change careers or they be finishing university and looking to begin their career).

The ConversionXL Institute, there are some mini degree courses that would provide a solid footing, they are a lot easier to bite off than at uni. It comes with a community as well. Joining the Facebook groups, the networking side of things is important. Skill is important, so training yourself, see what goes into working in optimisation. Focus on your strengths as the foundation and tap in there and say where you can add value.
ConversionXL has offices in Talin Estonia, Hungary Budapest, Austin  in the US, and one in London. We also offer internships.

Can you expand on Conversion XL’s playbook for gathering voice of customer perceptions? How would you start getting this data?

The playbook is attempting to tackle user perceptions.
We have four goals, trying to uncover user perceptions, motivations, user friction and user anxiety (fears, uncertainties, and doubts: FUDS).
1) User perception
Trying to understand and benchmark the user’s perceptions of brand/site loyalty, credibility, appearance, usability, clarity.
2) Motivation, we have a specific set of questions for that, trying to see what the con. Our most targeted segment is very recent first time buyers. We ask a set of questions what the motivation was and how they frame it. This can be done via email or post purchase (right after they buy is key).
3) The next area is friction and this is user testing. User testing can do in person, moderated, remote. We usually do unmoderated remote, have ~10 users, ask these users to do the tasks on a website. We look where they are tripping up. We are looking to see where they are tripping up as walking through the site. NOT asking about their perceptions or opinions…thats what standardized surveys are for.
4) FUDS – fears, uncertainly, doubts
Is there something preventing you from making a purchase today? This is our favorite question to ask with an intercept poll in places of the site that show signs of customer dropoff from analytics.”
Thank you Ben for your time. We are looking forward to seeing you at Digital Elite Day, June 6th. Buy your tickets before they sell out.

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