Business.com |
- How to Sell on Facebook Using Shopify
- Should Small Businesses Require Receipt Signatures?
- Emotional Intelligence in Hiring: How to Spot it
- 6 SurveyMonkey Alternatives for Your Small Business
- How to Provide an Honest and Ethical User Experience
- 16 Effective Methods to Make the Most Out of A/B Testing
- 6 Ways to Master the Art of Difficult Conversations
| How to Sell on Facebook Using Shopify Posted: 05 Jul 2019 02:00 PM PDT 
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that has partnered with Facebook to create an easier, streamlined shopping experience. In 2016, the companies announced that Shopify vendors could use Facebook Messenger to sell directly to customers. Pairing your Shopify account and your company's Facebook page can be a cost-effective way to sell your products online without building a store website from scratch. [Read related article: Shopify Review: Best E-commerce Platform for Businesses] How to open a Shopify store on FacebookYou'll have to start by creating a Facebook business page, if you don't already have one, so that you can add a shop section. Next, register with Shopify. You can choose from three plans: Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify. Each plan has a monthly charge and offers an online store, 24/7 support, unlimited products, sales channels and free SSL certificates. Then you'll connect your Shopify and Facebook accounts, add products to your Facebook shop through Shopify, and start selling. Ideally, you'll already have an established business page on Facebook so that you have an audience to sell to; if not, make sure you spread the word about purchasing being available on Facebook wherever you do sell your products. How to sell on Facebook Messenger: Direct salesSelling on Facebook Messenger is as easy as instant messaging. The service works by allowing businesses with a Facebook page to use Shopify's Messenger sales channel to share product catalogs and promote items as they chat with customers on Facebook's messaging app. Representatives can answer questions in real time as customers shop, making this a great way to recommend and link to products, take advantage of upselling opportunities, and provide personalized customer support. When a customer decides to make a purchase, the entire transaction is done right on Messenger, eliminating the step of going to a separate website or payment processor to complete transactions. Facebook also offers the Facebook Shop app, but it does not offer as many benefits and user experience features. Shopify supports the selling of unlimited products and 70-plus payment gateways, order and shipping management, secure checkout, and sales tracking and reporting. Editor's note: Looking for an e-commerce website builder for your business? If you're looking for information to help you choose the one that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to have a variety of vendors contact you with free information:
To start shopping on Facebook Messenger, all customers have to do is start a conversation with a business and click the Shop Now button to launch a product catalog within Messenger and begin browsing. To make a purchase, customers simply have to tap on the Buy button and enter their payment information. Shopify's checkout portal is integrated with Messenger, making this a hassle-free process for customers and sales reps. Another perk of using this service is that it's easy for customers to stay in touch after their purchase. Whether they are looking for a shipping update or want to learn about new products, they can contact Shopify businesses as easily as contacting friends and family on Messenger. Facebook also has built-in promotional tools, such as likes, comments and shares, which can push your products higher on users' news feeds. [Read related article: Facebook Ad Metric Changes: What SMBs Need to Know] These built-in promotional options can be a big benefit to companies that are still trying to get off the ground, because they take off some of the pressure to create a marketing strategy. As long as your ads and products are interesting to your target audience, Facebook's metrics and Shopify's easy user experience will take care of the rest. "[Shopify is] really an all-in-one-stop shop," said Jason Portnoy, founder and CEO of JPORT Media. "Building a store used to take tons of coding and cost more than $10,000, and then Shopify came out and made it super simple." Shoppable Facebook pagesBusinesses looking to showcase their entire product catalog and sell on Facebook also have the option of launching an online store right from their Facebook page. Shopify's Facebook Pages integration lets retailers create a dedicated tab on their business page, making it easy for their followers to shop right from the Facebook app. The service syncs the products available on an existing Shopify-based online store. Business without an e-commerce website have the choice of uploading products from their Shopify dashboard and then launching their Facebook-powered storefront. To use Facebook Messenger for direct sales or create a shoppable Facebook page, you must both be a Shopify subscriber and have a business Facebook page. To learn more about Shopify, check out our Shopify review. To find out more about using Facebook as a small business, check out our guide, "Facebook for Business: Everything You Need to Know." Additional reporting by Sara Angeles. |
| Should Small Businesses Require Receipt Signatures? Posted: 05 Jul 2019 11:30 AM PDT 
For decades, credit card companies relied on receipt signatures to prevent fraud. They required merchants to collect and store customer signatures so that if a transaction was disputed, the merchant could produce a signed receipt proving the customer was physically in the store and personally approved the purchase. Without this proof, merchants were on the hook for losses due to chargebacks. They were also liable if the signature on the receipt didn't match the signature on file or on the card. In 2015, credit card companies began issuing chip cards to consumers and shifted liability for counterfeit fraud occurring at the point of sale to merchants who hadn't yet updated their processing hardware to include EMV-compliant card readers. This laid the groundwork to shift away from signatures, since chip cards and digital wallets have advanced antifraud technologies to authenticate transactions – such as tokenization and biometrics – that make credit card signature requirements obsolete. Last year, the major credit card companies – American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa – finally stopped requiring EMV-compliant merchants to collect signatures for credit and debit card purchases. Large retailers, such as Walmart and Target applauded the decision, noting that removing this step helps them speed up the checkout process and eliminates the requirement to save receipts, and the cost of storing them safely. The credit card networks note that the move to signature-free transactions is optional, so if you still prefer to collect signatures for credit card purchases for your business, you may continue to do so. Here's how no-signature credit card transactions work for each of the big four card networks:
Should your business stop asking customers to sign credit card receipts?Even though large retailers quickly dropped their credit card signature requirements following the card brands' announcements, some merchants are continuing to collect customer signatures on debit and credit card transactions. Before you decide which option makes the most sense for your business, here are a few factors you should consider. 1. Is your business EMV compliant?If you haven't yet updated your credit card readers to EMV-compliant models, you aren't eligible to skip signature verification for Visa and Discover transactions. Visa reports that, as of September 2018, 68% of U.S. storefronts have embraced EMV technology – but that leaves 32% that have yet to upgrade their systems. If you're still holding out, you should speak with your credit card processor about updating your card reader. In addition to enabling you to stop collecting receipt signatures, it significantly lowers your risk of experiencing counterfeit credit card fraud at the point of sale. Despite the lack of a signature requirement for the past year, EMV technology has been highly effective against fraud. Visa reported that, as of September 2018, EMV-compliant merchants have seen counterfeit fraud drop 80% since September 2015. More than 3.1 million merchant locations now accept chip cards, and more than 511 million Visa chip cards are in circulation in the U.S. [Interested in credit card processing for your business? Check out our reviews and top picks.] 2. Does your POS system give you the option of eliminating signature authorization for credit card transactions?If you already have an EMV-compliant credit card terminal or card reader, the next step is to check with your POS system provider to find out if the software has been updated to remove this step from the checkout process. Many POS providers have updated their systems to allow merchants to choose whether or not they want to continue requiring customers to sign for purchases. Some, like Square, give you multiple receipt signature options. You can choose to always require receipt signatures, never require receipt signatures or only require receipt signatures for transactions over $25. Editor's note: Looking for a credit card processor for your business? If you're looking for information to help you choose the one that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to have our sister site, BuyerZone, provide you with information from a variety of vendors for free: 3. Does your business use signatures for proof of approval?If your business uses receipt signatures for other purposes, such as approving a work order, accepting completed work or agreeing to a sales policy (such as "all sales are final"), you may need to keep collecting receipt signatures. Writing for 360 Payments, Lisa Coyle says, "Even if you decide that you are ready to do away with them on your EMV credit card receipts, you may find value in adding a signature requirement to your contract or work order. Signatures are good for much more than authorizing a credit card transaction." Restaurants are also likely to continue requiring receipt signatures to encourage tipping. If, for instance, your business is a sit-down restaurant that doesn't have a pay-at-the-table option that allows patrons to add the tip before using a credit card to pay the bill, it probably doesn't make sense to forgo receipt signatures. It's less awkward to continue asking customers to sign paper receipts that have tip prompts than asking them the tip amount they want added to their bill before you charge their credit cards. 4. Are you nervous about chargebacks or credit card fraud?Some merchants that have chip card readers in place and continue to request signatures have security concerns about forgoing signature verification. These concerns aren't new. When the major credit card networks announced EMV compliance requirements (the October 2015 liability shift), critics worried that the chip-and-sign process was less secure than the chip-and-PIN process used in Europe. "Card networks should have adopted the global standard PIN requirement as part of the U.S. EMV rollout," said Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO of Chargebacks911. "With no signature or PIN required, it's easier for fraudsters to use lost or stolen cards at point-of-sale terminals and harder for retailers to defend against card-present chargebacks." The reason that credit card networks decided not to have a PIN requirement was because they predicted that it would cause too much friction at checkout. They'd witnessed the slow adoption of contactless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and saw how reluctant Americans are to adopt new payment technology and processes – even when they're improvements. Consider the irritation that consumers and merchants expressed when chip card transactions took a few more seconds to complete than swipe transactions. Then imagine the frustration of shoppers who haven't ever used a PIN for credit card transactions – especially those who then forget their new PIN (and the exasperation of the shoppers waiting in line behind them and the cashier who's been helping customers learn the new process all day long for weeks). Mastercard – which has one the most lenient no-signature policies – says that before the no-signature requirement went into effect, more than 80% of in-store Mastercard transactions didn't require a signature; furthermore, removing the signature requirement hasn't negatively impacted security because of its antifraud technology. It has multiple security layers in place, including an early detection system that prevents attacks by proactively alerting issuers when cards and accounts have been exposed to security incidents and data breaches. Likewise, the other card networks also have advanced fraud-protection measures in place. Should you sign your credit cards?Now that receipt signatures are no longer required, you and your customers might be wondering what to do about that signature panel on the back of credit cards. Should it be signed? For now, yes, as most of the card networks still require cardholder credit card signatures and note that the cards aren't valid without them. The exception to this rule is Mastercard. In October 2018, Mastercard announced that it no longer requires the cardholder to sign the signature panel on the back of the card. Further, as of April 2019, card issuers worldwide are no longer required to include a signature panel on Mastercard credit and debit cards. What about the magnetic stripe? Eventually, credit cards may be issued without it, but that isn't likely to be anytime soon. |
| Emotional Intelligence in Hiring: How to Spot it Posted: 05 Jul 2019 10:00 AM PDT 
There are a lot of traits you should be looking for to make a perfect new hire. The candidate's past job experience, IQ and culture fit should all be taken into consideration. However, there is one trait you should be focusing on above all else: emotional intelligence (EQ). In today's work environment, where many employers put a premium on collaboration, hiring employees who are able to understand and control their own emotions, while also identifying what makes those around them tick, is of the utmost importance. Bill Benjamin, a partner at the Institute for Health and Human Potential, said emotional intelligence is by far the most important factor to consider in hiring. "Provided people have the threshold experience, IQ and technical skills needed for the job, EQ either makes or derails a candidate's performance and career," he said. What is emotional intelligence?The term "emotional intelligence" was first unveiled in a paper written by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer. According to the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, the theory was developed while Salovey and Mayer were painting a house together. "Over fresh coats of paint, the two friends and collaborators lamented that theories of intelligence had no systematic place for emotions," says the website. "Using each of their expertise, they articulated a theory that described a new kind of intelligence: the ability to recognize, understand, utilize, and regulate emotions effectively in everyday life." Annie McKee, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and director of the PennCLO Executive Doctoral Program, defines emotional intelligence in the workplace as the ability to understand and manage one's own emotions and understand the emotions and motivations of other people so that they can guide people to work together and work collaboratively on shared goals. "Whenever you put two or more people together, they need to learn how to work together, and emotional intelligence is a huge part of that," McKee said. The importance of emotional intelligence in the workplaceWhen employers are trying to find top performers, research shows they should start by looking at emotional intelligence. Benjamin said research by Harvard University, the Institute for Health and Human Potential, and many others have determined that emotional intelligence counts for twice as much as IQ and technical skills combined in determining who will be a star performer. "It's not that IQ and technical skills aren't important, but they are threshold competencies: You need a certain amount of them to do any job, and once you are over the threshold, getting more IQ and technical skills doesn't significantly improve performance," Benjamin said. "It's often said, 'IQ and technical skills get you the job and EQ gets you the promotion,' or the corollary, 'IQ and technical skills will get you hired and EQ will get you fired.'" A World Economic Forum survey found that emotional intelligence is currently one of the 10 most in-demand skills by employers and that it will remain among the most sought-after skills through at least 2022. "Overall, social skills – such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others – will be in higher demand across industries than narrow technical skills, such as programming or equipment operation and control," the World Economic Forum wrote in The Future of Jobs report. "In essence; technical skills will need to be supplemented with strong social and collaboration skills." McKee believes that as more "dull and dangerous" jobs fall by the wayside in favor of artificial intelligence and machine learning, emotional intelligence skills will be that much more important. She said the jobs that will be left are the things machines can't do. These include jobs that require complex thinking and envisioning the future, which in turn require the understanding one's own values, emotions and thought processes. McKee said these jobs will also necessitate understanding how to work with people who are really different from ourselves and learning how to read people so we can guide them individually and collectively toward something we are all trying to do. While emotional intelligence skills are important for all employees, McKee believes these qualities may be even more critical for those in charge. She said managers and other leaders set the tone for the entire workplace, so first and foremost, they must understand how their own emotions can impact those around them. "If they aren't able to understand their own impact on people, for example, they don't understand when they are having a bad day and when they are stressed out that that is contagious, literally," McKee said. "And then other people will start to have a bad day, and before you know it, everyone is, and no one is thinking as clearly as they need to." Hiring for emotional intelligenceWhile many employers understand the importance of finding employees with high emotional intelligence, how do you actually make this search part of your hiring process? Employers must first commit to looking for employees who are emotionally intelligent, according to McKee. She said employers will often say this is a skill they want, but when the hiring process actually starts, they become laser-focused on the resume and job skills. "The first step is acknowledging openly that emotional intelligence is one of your top criteria for hiring," McKee said. "It is one of the things you are going to recruit on and one of the things you are going to screen candidates on." Once you've made that commitment, you really need to dig in during the interview process to get candidates to explain things they have done in their past that displayed emotional intelligence. One technique McKee suggests is conducting an advanced behavioral interview. She said hiring managers can use this interview technique to identify a behavior – emotional intelligence in this case – that they want in that employee's skill set. "Ask about experiences, last job, where they are going in the future, strengths and weaknesses," McKee said. "They are all useful – you get a sense of their interpersonal style and comfort of having a conversation in a stressful situation and a sense of the fit for the culture." McKee said you also have to dig deeper to see previous examples of their emotional intelligence. Hiring managers can ask job candidates to tell them about a time when they were working on a team and felt they and the team were really successful. "I want to hear about what you did to make that happen," McKee said. "Oftentimes people will say something vague. Push them to really talk about what they do until you get to the point of them telling you things like, 'Well, the team didn't start very well. In fact, we had some conflict. I sat back and tried to understand what the conflict was about, and then one by one, I tried to reach them.'" McKee said that when you get an answer that talks about what people did, thought, and felt about the situation and their own actions, you can get a much better sense for the candidate's emotional intelligence. Benjamin agrees that the best way to determine someone's level of emotional intelligence in hiring is to ask interview questions that put them in stressful situations, which can draw out emotional responses. "This way, you can understand how they have responded to pressure, conflict and difficult emotions in the past, as well as observe how a candidate reacts to emotionally based questions," he said. These are some of the interview questions Benjamin says hiring managers could ask:
For each question, Benjamin said, hiring managers should ask the candidate follow-up questions about what thoughts and feelings they had and what actions they took. If someone is unable to answer a question, Benjamin said, it may be a sign they shy away from tough conversations or have trouble admitting mistakes. He said hiring managers should use the answers to gauge how much self-awareness the candidate has of their thoughts and emotions. If they have trouble describing situations, they may lack emotional awareness. For those who are able to describe specific situations, Benjamin encourages hiring managers to consider whether the actions they took demonstrate the ability to take ownership and personal accountability and to step into pressure situations. "While you need to ensure that people meet the minimum requirements of IQ, experience and technical skills, the bottom line is if you aren't hiring and developing people for emotional intelligence skills, you are not going to be competitive in the future," Benjamin said. |
| 6 SurveyMonkey Alternatives for Your Small Business Posted: 05 Jul 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Surveys are everywhere. Every online purchase wants to be evaluated. Your doctor wants to know how they did on your last visit. Then there are the general-purpose "which do you like best" surveys and the political opinion surveys. If you've ever wanted to create your own survey, you have a multitude of options, the most popular being SurveyMonkey. Some of these survey tools offer extensive integration with applications you may already use, and the range of capabilities can get confusing because each offering has its own strengths and weaknesses. For basic customer service surveys, any one of the following solutions will work. Be sure to think through your intentions and how you expect to use the results before you commit too much time to any one of them. Each of these tools offers a free version, or at least a free trial, so you can familiarize yourself with its basics. One of them, QSM, breaks from the pack by being free with a very capable set of tools – as long as you have a WordPress site to host it. Here's our rundown on our six favorite SurveyMonkey alternatives. Zoho SurveyZoho Survey is part of Zoho's suite of applications, so its integrations with the Zoho spreadsheet and CRM applications extend its utility. Like many survey applications, Zoho Survey offers a free version that is limited to 10 questions and 100 answers but offers an unlimited number of surveys. Paid versions start at $20 per month, but for $25 per month, the Pro version adds capabilities that any serious survey maker will want, such as exporting results and integrating with Tableau. Formatting is simple enough with drag-and-drop question placement, and there are more than 25 question formats to choose from. The application offers real-time reports and multiple forms of analysis to discover trends and dig into results. Zoho Survey is capable, easy to use and ideal for users already committed to the Zoho suite of software. SurveySparrowSurveySparrow offers a no-cost version of its survey platform that's limited to three surveys of 10 questions and 100 responses per month as a way for you to learn and evaluate its capabilities. Its paid versions have more functionality, including logic, skipping, piping and webhooks to integrate with external systems. The Premium version allows unlimited responses and questions for $49 per month, but users who want to customize the design with custom CSS will need the Enterprise version for $199 per month. SurveySparrow's paid versions also include email responses and highly customizable visuals to enhance the user experience. Integration is available through webhooks, SurveySparrow's API and Zapier's extensive integration library, which offers connections with CRMs, HMRs and more. SoGoSurveySoGoSurvey's free tier offers unlimited surveys with unlimited questions, but only 200 responses per year, which makes it good for learning about the system's capabilities but not for serious use. Paid versions expand the capabilities with options like skip logic, randomized questions, custom invitation emails, and extended question types in the company's Pro plan for $40 per month. Various survey templates, prebuilt questions and different question types make SoGoSurvey quick and easy to set up, execute, and eventually report on. Export and integration is a strong point of the system's paid versions, which include direct export to SoGoSurvey1, Microsoft Access, SPSS, XML and Zapier. QuestionProQuestionPro's free tier offers unlimited surveys, each with up to 10 questions, but is limited to 100 responses per month. The Professional version offers skip logic and piping as well as theme customization for $15 per month. Serious use starts with its Corporate version for $75 per month, which adds integration capabilities with SPSS and API, along with an advanced selection of question types. QuestionPro offers a variety of templates to help you start designing your surveys based on QuestionPro's experience. A special iPad app and multimedia support are only available at the Corporate tier, as are branching logic and customizable survey themes. GetFeedbackGetFeedback specifically targets customer service feedback, but that doesn't preclude users from creating surveys to collect other information. The free 14-day trial version is available for all subscription tiers, starting at $50 per month for the Professional plan, which includes 1,000 responses per month, branching logic and basic reports. The Advanced version, available for $150 per month, ups the responses to 1,500 per month and removes the GetFeedback branding from your surveys. The Corporate level expands capabilities with API integration and advanced analytics, and GetFeedback offers integration with Salesforce at its top level. To get pricing for either the Corporate or Salesforce tier, you must consult a GetFeedback sales associate. Quiz and Survey Master for WordPress (QSM)Quiz and Survey Master is a WordPress plugin, making it a viable option for businesses with WordPress websites. The plugin is free, so your company could set up a WordPress site exclusively for hosting QSM. QSM allows an unlimited number of surveys and responses, and it can email users and admins upon completion of a survey. It's limited to 10 question types and doesn't include skip logic, though. QSM offers a series of add-ons starting at $10 each, also available as a bundle for $98 per year. In addition to skip logic, there are add-ons to remove QMS branding, add landing pages, run reports and export results. Integrations are available for Mailchimp, Slack, AWeber, MailPoet and Zapier for even more connections. |
| How to Provide an Honest and Ethical User Experience Posted: 05 Jul 2019 07:00 AM PDT  There's a twist here, though. We're starting to see common user experience tactics coming under fire for being manipulative. Think about the infinite social media feeds that drive users to scroll and scroll until hours have slipped by. Or relentless upgrade and upsell messages on applications. Millions are bombarded with these issues daily. A 2018 Pew Research Center study found that a quarter of Americans said they are online "almost constantly", with 43 percent going online several times each day. The Netflix show "Black Mirror" recently addressed the issue of social media addiction elegantly in the episode "Smithereens." User experience designers have done their jobs so well that it's starting to become a societal problem. So the question now becomes how can we balance good product design with ethics because they seem to be increasingly at odds. The design teams of businesses large and small need to begin holding themselves accountable. Here's how: 1. Don't exploit your users' fear of missing out.User experience design can be manipulative as long as it truly benefits the user. A gamified weight loss app, for instance, could encourage users to live a healthier lifestyle. That's a good form of manipulation. On the other hand, many apps aim to exploit users' fear of missing out, which is a tried-and-true marketing tactic, but it's not necessarily ethical when you're in a user's pocket and able to leverage friends and family as collateral. The design choices made at these companies contribute to the isolation users feel on certain social platforms. A study conducted by psychologists at Nottingham Trent University found that the fear of missing out was the most significant contributing factor for people developing social media addiction. Instead of using negative consequences to motivate users, such as making them feel bad when they don't perform a task or join a group, design teams should focus on positive reinforcement instead. This can be done in simple messaging or in the form of small animations and celebrations that encourage users to complete desired behaviors. Fear is a powerful motivator, but using it as a design tool makes you more of a dictator than a benevolent leader. Especially at small companies, the easiest thing to design for is often fear. But you will build a stronger, more ethical company if you focus on empowerment instead. 2. Don't design products that are harmful to users' health.Apps and sites — especially social ones — often exploit people's inherent desire to belong and guilt them into posting. The numbers back this up, too: using Facebook could actually decrease your overall well-being. This is especially true for mental health. A study published in January links depression in teen girls in part to the many hours they spend using social media. The "Millennium Cohort Study" found that depression in girls was linked to interactions with social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. Negatively impacting users' health doesn't indicate successful design, it suggests one that capitalizes on negative tendencies and lowers self-esteem. Businesses deploying apps shouldn't just track success metrics that show how much engagement they are getting. Looking at just these numbers encourages pumping clicks and the zombie-like addict behavior we see all too often. Don't forget the qualitative data as well. Find out how you are bringing joy and value to people's lives and making them feel better about themselves. Too much focus on the quantitative instead of the qualitative leads to exploitative behavior. Talking to your users is an incredibly important part of the early stages of product design because it allows you to build empathy. 3. Don't show prejudice in your designs.Designers are trained to build things that make people feel comfortable, but the best designers know when ethics demand a closer look. Have you ever stopped to wonder why all our voice assistants appear to be female, for instance? Many design professionals suggest that users prefer female voices even though the data doesn't support that claim. One Indiana University study found that while users preferred women's voices when talking about love and relationships, they preferred men's voices if they were getting advice on how to fix a computer. Another common argument is that female voices are easier to understand, but the evidence is still lacking. When software takes on a human representation (such as Siri, whose very name means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory"), think about whether the design is perpetuating existing stereotypes or fighting against them. By educating yourself about common biases, you might uncover some stereotypes that you have been perpetuating unknowingly. This small bit of education will allow your team members to evaluate the design choices they are making. Please don't go change every instance your design uses human representation to gender-neutral robots. Informing yourself and, by extension, your design can elevate the ethics of the product you are building. Encourage your team, no matter how small, to take time to understand the biases they might carry as well. 4. Don't trick people to increase profits.In design, pop-ups asking for consent or an agreement of some kind almost universally use dark patterns that are contrasted with brightly colored "agree and continue" buttons. When faced with reading the fine print, humans naturally look for the quickest way out. Designers make it easy for them to agree without reading by illuminating the button they want users to click. We've all been there and done that. This psychological tendency can be used against consumers, though. During a recent Ticketmaster purchase, I was robbed of $10. A visual design cue for ticket insurance was modeled after the standardized "complete your order" button. By the time I clicked it, there was no way for me to cancel the insurance purchase. It was immediately clear that this design was created to be an intentionally confusing way to drive profits. This isn't an isolated incident. When UX specialist Sigma looked at retail brands, it found that various companies use quite a few shady methods to increase revenue, such as using bright colors on answers the seller wants you to click but leaving the "no thanks" buttons unshaded. Besides this, companies simply have an incentive to keep users glued to their screens. Endlessly scrolling feeds show more ads to users, which means companies earn more while leeching users' time. Trickery and deceit have become common in UX design. In his book "Evil by Design," Chris Nodder organizes examples of design by exploiting each of the seven deadly sins. While sketching out workflows and creating interfaces, designers need to be honest with consumers by not intentionally confusing them and using their design training to make the appropriate choices clear. Businesses' design teams need to stop focusing solely on profit and engagement metrics, as it could require crossing ethical lines that could do harm to your users and your business's long-term reputation. Not only could it result in bad publicity, but, more importantly, it's also unethical. There are so many other ways to build loyal customers. Designs should enrich users' lives instead of detracting from them. |
| 16 Effective Methods to Make the Most Out of A/B Testing Posted: 05 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT  There are many ways to go about A/B testing and many elements that you can test for. So what kinds of approaches do you need to remember in order to make the most of the testing process? To help you understand the best ways to conduct A/B testing, members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) share what strategies they find most valuable. 1. Begin with a hypothesisTo make the most of A/B testing, I always start with a hypothesis. I generate a hypothesis based on a regular analysis of my site to spot potential problems. I also use qualitative polling, surveys and usability tests to better understand what customers are actually struggling with. Once I've compiled the issues, I prioritize them and then decide what solutions should be tested. - Shu Saito, Fact Retriever 2. Have success markersIt's important to test one variable at a time, but with a reasonable measure of success. You won't completely solve the problem by changing one variable. Figure out how much improvement is a success for the variable you're testing. For each variable, depending on its importance, shift your measure of success accordingly and then test. Decide based on the results which version is performing the best. - Abeer Raza, TekRevol 3. Do researchBefore we implement any A/B testing on our site, we like to research sites that are similar to ours or companies that have tried the same testing metrics we want to use. This additional research helps us determine and prioritize our A/B tests so that we are not going down a path that has already been explored and yielded lackluster results. - David Henzel, LTVPlus 4. Use an all-encompassing approachThe best comprehensive method for A/B testing is to clearly understand the demographic you're trying to reach, create specific goals for your tests and come up with an accurate and on point hypothesis to test. Then, analyze the results and put them into action. This works because it's basically all-encompassing. - Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance 5. Test for mobileNever forget to run A/B tests for mobile components of your website, campaign or landing page. Many users will scour your content via their mobile phones or other devices, so it's important to make sure that those are always optimized for mobile. Otherwise, it could cost you conversions, subscribers and customers. - Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights 6. Use Google OptimizeOut of all the paid solutions for conduction A/B testing, I find Google Optimize to be the best. It is free and already integrated into your Google Analytics. There is little to no learning curve to set up your tests, and you can measure your A/B tests using your current analytics goals. It is the best tool because you get a complete picture of the results to make the best decision. - Brian Greenberg, True Blue Life Insurance 7. Give it time to get complete resultsMarketers love looking at data from just a couple of days and assuming they have the answer regarding split tests. The truth is that you need much more time to ensure you're looking at complete results. We like to let our A/B tests run for months sometimes so we can better gauge what our customer base wants from our product or service. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner 8. Segment your resultsMany times the mistake is made of looking at A/B test data and calling it in favor of the winning arm without digging deeper. When we look at test data, we segment it by other attributes or events. For example, we've found some test arms win on desktop, but lose on mobile. Take the time to segment the data to pull out additional insights and maximize conversion rates. - Colton Gardner, Neighbor 9. Use visuals and insightsWhile data is incredibly useful, it can be misleading at times, too. Whenever we're running A/B tests, we use a heatmap such as Crazy Egg and insights from people with some familiarity with our industry, which we source using Upwork or UserTesting. This eliminates a lot of the inherent biases we naturally have and provides useful insights for us to optimize our landing pages. - Brandon Pindulic, OpGen Media 10. Remain unbiasedThe purpose of A/B testing is to find what happens with an average, neutral user. If you create the test with a bias, you're likely to skew the results by creating an option that overly points the user toward your preferred outcome, instead of finding a completely unbiased and truthful outcome. Be sure that you're not designing your study to find the answer that you want, but rather what works. - Anthony Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings 11. Follow the 45/45/10 ruleFor web A/B testing, there's a myriad of people with disabled cookies, slow connections and other technical details that will skew your results with a traditional 50/50 test. You want to run 10 percent of the original page, 45 percent to test A and 45 percent to test B. The people who cannot load the test will automatically be shown the original copy (10 percent segment) and your data will be more accurate. - Karl Kangur, MRR Media 12. Don't be afraid of complexityWhen running A/B tests with anything like landing pages or ads, I originally ran sequential tests, only varying one factor at a time (i.e. color, font, placement of a web button), but quickly realized multivariant testing is more accurate. By adding complexity, you can understand how the combination of factors works together to drive the preferred option. Start slow, then build up to multivariant. - Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc. 13. Test Both Variations at OnceWhen A/B testing, if you run the first variation during the first couple weeks of the month and the second variation during the last two weeks of the month, those are both different times and will give you different results. The month, the day of the week, the time all matters. So, make sure you're testing both variations simultaneously to get accurate results. - John Turner, SeedProd LLC 14. Start with a clear ideaIt's important to start with a good control version of your ad or landing page, then create multiple new variations to test against that. These variations have to perform better than the baseline results of your control. Test anything from your messaging, call to action, button color and the location of the call to action to see if it drives better results than your control. - Andy Karuza, FenSens 15. Use the right softwareFor our business, we use OptinMonster to perform A/B tests on all our campaigns, which I believe is a huge reason why they're so successful. Using the right tools for your company can make or break its progress, so it is important to invest in tools and software that will give you the results you're looking for, whether that's now or further down the road when the company has grown more. - Jared Atchison, WPForms 16. Get user feedbackWhile A/B testing will show you what works and what doesn't, it doesn't tell you the reason why. So, along with A/B testing, get feedback from real users as well. Getting feedback from your customers through an online survey will allow you to get insights into why something didn't work for them. The results from your A/B testing and customer feedback surveys will give you the full picture. - Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms |
| 6 Ways to Master the Art of Difficult Conversations Posted: 05 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT  You can improve the outcomes of your difficult conversations by:
Here are six ways to artfully navigate even the toughest discussions. 1. Make meetings a safe placeLong before it's time to have a difficult conversation, you should cultivate a culture of respect, inclusivity, and transparency. Create an environment in which each team member feels valued, encouraged to participate, and rewarded for candor. To start building this foundation, offer opportunities for collaboration and idea sharing. Invite team members to share ideas and seek feedback. Be sure to ask open-ended questions, which prompt deeper participation than yes-or-no questions. It's also a good idea to schedule group lunches or other non-work activities that give everyone an opportunity to socialize and find common interests outside their job descriptions. Fostering these dynamics builds trust and camaraderie, which lay the groundwork for a more constructive outcome, no matter how difficult the conversation. Feedback is received better when we believe it's being offered out of concern rather than judgment. It's also helpful for both parties to remember that you're ultimately on the same team. Executive coach and management professor Monique Valcour recommends sitting next to — rather than across from — your counterpart. This placement reinforces the idea that you're allies rather than opponents, setting the stage for a more cooperative conversation. 2. Put your phone awayBetter yet, don't bring your phone to the meeting. Leave it elsewhere. Having your smartphone nearby impairs cognitive capacity, including short-term working memory. A small Virginia Tech study also found that the mere presence of a cell phone was enough to undermine participants' perceptions of their conversations. Even when the phone was placed on a table and left untouched, participants rated interactions as less fulfilling and reported less "empathetic concern." This outcome applied whether the discussion topic was considered frivolous or meaningful. Researchers from both studies recommend setting up your conversation for success by leaving your phone in another room or a desk drawer or, better yet, your car. Don't use your phone to have a difficult conversation, either. Even the most eloquent email or text message is no match for a thoughtful in-person conversation. Emojis will never replace the nuanced messages we get from eye contact and body language. Plus, if you're conversing over your phone, there's a strong chance that you're multitasking while doing it, which means you're not giving the conversation the undivided attention it merits. 3. Listen more than you talkYou're probably familiar with the adage popularized by Stephen Covey, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Rather than rushing to get your point across before giving your counterpart a chance to speak, Covey's method advises the opposite. If you start by asking questions and listening sincerely, you have the opportunity to learn more about the person you're speaking with and the issue you're addressing. By the time it's your turn to talk, you're able to do so with more empathy and understanding. This approach also helps your counterpart to feel heard. You can put this tip into action by simply starting the difficult conversation with questions rather than statements. For example, rather than kicking off with a statement like "I'm disappointed you missed another deadline," try asking, "How do you feel about your project timelines? Are you facing any challenges?" Resist the urge to interject as your counterpart talks or fill the silence if there's a long pause. The more you listen attentively, the more your counterpart is likely to say. This can give you more insight into how to deal with the challenge at hand. 4. Be clearWhile you don't want to be tactless, avoid the temptation to sugarcoat your feedback. You'll be doing yourself and your counterpart a disservice by downplaying the problem at hand. It's also unreasonable to expect a marked improvement if you're not frank about the negative impact of your counterpart's behaviors. To make your feedback as constructive as possible, it should include:
And don't forget to follow up after the initial conversation to talk about the progress that's been made. If you see improvements, take a moment to thank your counterpart or offer congratulations on a job well done. Positive reinforcement is crucial for transforming new behaviors into sustainable habits. 5. ApologizeThe adage that the boss is never wrong is, in fact, just plain wrong. We all make plenty of mistakes. Being a leader doesn't change that. And when the stakes are higher, our errors are often magnified. If you've messed up, acknowledge your misstep and apologize. Remember, you're not just making amends, you're also modeling the behavior you'd like your team to emulate: admitting mistakes, taking ownership, setting aside ego and committing to do better. Your apology doesn't need to be fancy, but it does need to be genuine. Apologize humbly and thoughtfully, then make a sincere effort to avoid repeating the mistake. Don't let that unaired apology linger too long, though. Waiting can breed uncertainty, anger, or resentment, which can make an already difficult conversation that much more arduous. 6. Hit the pause buttonNever, ever broach a difficult conversation when you're feeling emotional or angry. If you need time to cool off, take it. Wait until you are able to approach the talk rationally and calmly so your behavior is constructive rather than combative. Addressing problems in the heat of the moment typically just makes them worse, not better. If you need to, apply this same advice to a conversation that's already commenced. We often feel pressed to finish a conversation once it's started, but pushing through isn't always the best course of action. If you or your counterpart are becoming overwhelmed or emotional, take a break. Pausing gives you both time to regain composure, organize your thoughts, and get a handle on your emotions so you can approach the conversation more constructively. Try saying, "We've both learned a lot so far today. Let's take a little time to digest everything we've talked about and revisit this conversation tomorrow." Then be sure to follow up and schedule another meeting so you both know when the conversation will take place. You can also prepare for the meeting by taking a few practice runs and practicing what you're going to say. Rehearsing helps you get more comfortable with the idea of talking about challenging topics and gain confidence in your ability to reach resolutions. It's normal to feel apprehensive about a difficult conversation, but having the talk is always better than avoiding it. You won't resolve a problem unless you address it with clarity and thoughtfulness. Remember, a difficult conversation is ultimately about making improvements and building relationships. Don't let the discomfort distract you from your goal: leading a successful team and running a successful business. |
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