So far, I’ve been relatively happy about most of the tough decisions I made when I wrote the original spec for VisiOlo.
Having been through a lot of development projects and having seen the damage that ’scope creep’ can cause, I was very careful about what features to put into the first iteration.
I tried to focus on the absolutely required features. This really boiled down to features that collect data because if you don’t have the right basic data from the start, there is no value to the tool.
Most of the really valuable features — the analysis features — were purposely pended to future versions. And a lot of the basic user experience features took a back seat too. These are tough decisions to make, because we, as marketers can always envision a wonderful product.
But I think they were the right decisions. With any big project, the KEY first step is to get to a working prototype. After that the next KEY step is to get users working with the tool.
We were able to accomplish both of these KEY objectives in a relatively short period of time. So, that I’m very happy about.
But one of the features that I (and all other active users) have sorely missed is the ability to group VisiOlo elements by sales system — a way to tie related pages, goals, and links together into logical groups.
Because what happens when you start using VisiOlo is you start getting a pretty extensive collection of ‘data points.’ Your inventory of Pages, Gals, and Links becomes a little difficult to manage.
We’ve always intended to solve that problem with a feature we call “Systems.” The Systems feature allows organizes Pages, Links, and Goals all under the ‘umbrella’ of a System.
Today, we are rolling out the foundation for Systems.
Add/Edit System Dialogue
So, for instance, if you have a sales process for selling your ebook, it might start with a squeeze page then a special offer for your eBook. All of the Pages in that process, the Goals identified with that process and the Links driving traffic into that process can now be grouped into a single System.
Systems provide two key benefits.
Users will be able to filter by system. So instead of looking at a table of Page statistics, users can filter by System and see only the handful of pages that relate to that specific sales process.
Users will be able to *compare* statistics from one system against another system. This has the potential to be a very powerful feature.
Honestly, I’ve never been able to do it before, but I’m excited about the possibility of doing what I’ve come to think of as “meta testing.” Instead of, say, split testing one page against another, wouldn’t it be cool to test one *process* against another?
I’ve never really had hard data, but I’ve developed an intuitive impression that the biggest and fastest improvements that can be made in a business is to improve the sales process.
In other words, what you do in the sales process — the steps your prospect takes on the way to becoming a customer — is a lot more important than how you do it.
In the offline world, if you have a great sales process, you can hire a wide range of sales talent. With the right sales process, an average sales person can achieve stellar results. And Top Guns can generate a tremendous amount of revenue.
Some sales people deliver the product message flawlessly, and some sales people kind of stumble along. With the right sales process, both kinds of sales people will bring in profitable revenue.
In the online world. We focus a lot on split testing of single pages. A/B testing can definitely bring about huge increases in results.
But that’s like testing one sales person against another as a way to drive top-line revenue.
I’d like to be able to test different processes. It is something that is all but impossible in the offline world because of the complexity of tracking results.
Because the way my sales funnel is shaping up for 2009, I’ll have a single major goal — to get as many happy users of VisiOlo as possible.
But how people get to that goal will vary.
Some will go directly to the VisiOlo home page as a result of an affiliate referral or my other traffic generation approaches.
Some will buy one of my products and will come to VisiOlo via special “back end” offers.
Some will be blog readers who decide to give VisiOlo a try.
All of these processes share the same goal.
Wouldn’t it be cool to know which process was most profitable?
Wouldn’t it be cool to know which process brings the best results?
Well, today we take the next step toward making that possible.
VisiOlo users will, tomorrow, see a new feature. They will be able to add Systems and to begin associating their Pages, Links, and Goals with those systems.
Then, we will start rolling out enhancements that use Systems for filtering and analysis.
It’s only part of the full feature that will be released today, but it is the most important foundational element, and the rest of the system will evolve to take advantage of that foundation.
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Very excited about this, Doug! Great point about pitting systems against each other, too.
Thanks Don, it may not look like much right now, but the underlying feature is going to be very useful.