What we see happening

A lot of CRO teams find that a large part of their company doesn’t fully understand the value of CRO and overall doesn’t like change. This makes it difficult for an experiment- and data-driven culture to take off. We also experience this problem with some of our clients and discussed it often with peers in the field. In this article, we will talk more about the key learnings around this topic, our vision, and the solutions provided during the event.

In the field

Often a handful of CRO specialists want to work on data-driven and evidence-based optimizations, but they feel resistance from within the organization. They struggle to communicate the importance of experimentation. Colleagues with higher positions and/or more outspoken opinions make changes or additions based on gut feeling. Thus, new features are launched without being tested first. We see this happening in small companies and larger corporations. The big problem here is the culture: where the experiment and data-driven way of working is not the default. Simply making these kind of unvalidated changes can cause losses. In addition, you deprive yourself of the opportunity to learn more about your visitor. That doesn’t sound good, right? Fortunately, you can change that. 

6 practical tips

Implementing a culture change is not easily done. It requires a solid plan where several actions are repeatedly followed up. We believe these 6 solutions work well in any organization:

1. Repeatedly emphasize the value of CRO. You can do this, for example, by sending monthly updates to colleagues and keeping all stakeholders informed of the results. Show what you have tested and learned and how this benefits the business. 
2. Participate in awards. After all, success should be celebrated. If you participate in awards and win something, the whole company is proud and gets more interested in the efforts surrounding it. But even if you don’t win, it creates a buzz, which is always good. 
3. Find a match with the main strategy. Where does the business strategy match your CRO program? Once that is clear, you can inform everyone about it in company-wide updates regarding this strategy. For example, quarterly meetings or all-hands meetings.
4. Focus on quality. The better the CRO program functions, the more changes you can test, ultimately leading to more successes. . With clear processes and good standards, everyone is informed about updates and wins. 
5. Easy-to-use tools.With easy tooling, it is easier for colleagues to join CRO activities. For example, a user-friendly process to share experiment ideas. If someone has an interesting idea, it should be easy for them to pitch it. 
6. Find an advocate. Find someone who has more seniority in the organization and believes in what you’re doing. They can weigh in at the right times and can stress the importance of data-driven CRO. 

Establishing a culture where changes or new features are implemented through experimentation is important. By doing so you let everyone in the company experience that trying, winning, failing, and learning is the ideal route to an optimal user experience. This does not happen overnight. It is a challenge we at ClickValue have a lot of experience with. With the right framework, an experiment and data-driven culture is realistic for any organization, even yours!

Would you like to brainstorm the possibilities with us? We are happy to work together with your company, for a comprehensive long-term plan or concrete actions that you can implement straight away. Feel free to contact us.