Author: Tim Hyde

Tim is an Infusionsoft certified partner, fixer and seasoned business growth strategist with real world business experience. Tim works with coaches, consultants and small business owners to help them get more time money and freedom from their business by optimising and automating the customer lifecycle.
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Reverse the pyramid: how to make the most out of your staff
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Reverse the pyramid: how to make the most out of your staff

Have you seen the Despicable Me movies? 

These flicks are family-friendly, madcap adventures involving the ‘bad guy’ mastermind Gru and his team of yellow Minions. 

 

I thought this crew could give a good example for my ‘Reverse the Pyramid’ concept, which takes a new approach to hiring and maintaining a base of employees. 

 

You see, Gru is the criminal genius. He’s a master of dastardly deeds and has spent his life building his skillset. To help him create his machines and execute his criminal strategies, he has about a zillion underlings, who aren’t really capable of much other than buffoonery (they get laughs so it’s ok). 

 

[So happy. So yellow. So ineffective.]

 

Despite his best-laid plans, Gru’s heists tend to go terribly wrong. As it is a kid’s movie, hilarity ensues. As a business owner, you’ve gotta wonder why he doesn’t get better help. He has put a lot of money into creating his base, supporting his minions and building tools of destruction. Is he really getting returns?

 

This brings me to my point about the pyramid. 

 

Let’s take a look at the structure of a standard business. 

 

On the first floor, you have the ‘minions’ who carry out basic tasks according to instructions. Generally, they do the same thing every day and there are lots of them.

 

Go up a level and there is a middle-management level of competency. These people are getting things done, relying on their intelligence and industry experience to do so. 

 

Next is the ‘expert’ level, the money-makers, salespeople and the wheelers and dealers who are running the organisation. These people are under a lot of pressure to draw in the real money for the business. 

 

And at the top, you have your ‘Genius’, your Gru-like mastermind (who is hopefully not evil). This person is driving the machine and is on the top income for doing so. 

 

Most businesses around the world operate this way, allocating a small salary to general job-doers, who aren’t likely to generate income for the business. Wages go up in accordance with experience and those who contribute the most to revenue generation are financially rewarded for doing so. 

 

It has been this way since the dawn of time but in today’s software-driven, tech-enabled world, I think it is time to reverse the pyramid. 

 

What happens if…

 

Instead of having a fleet of low-paid minions who are doing the same repetitive task, are bored and who aren’t contributing to the business, why not flip the structure?

 

Look for as many genius-level people as possible to take on the responsibility of being decision makers and action takers. Increase the number of revenue-generating staff and you stand to increase the money your business makes. 

 

A lot of businesses are bogged down by menial-task workers. The cost of these workers adds up and while they help keep things running, they may be preventing your business from running lean and producing higher profit margins. 

 

Instead of your staff pyramid looking like this: 

 

Genius

Expert

Competent

Incompetent

 

What would happen if it looked more like the following? 

 

 

Incompetent

Competent

Expert

Genius

Those geniuses are the ones who are good at making money and providing real value to your customers. As HR expert Dr John Sullivan explains, “Hiring those who perform at a higher level will increase revenue — hiring a higher percentage of top performers (instead of average performers) over all of your openings will obviously increase your output. For example, if a superior hiring system selected more productive hires (i.e. new hires who produce 25% more on the job than the average worker), over a large number of hires, the economic value of that increased productivity and output would be significant.”

 

But what about all the work the minions are actually doing? You have a few options here, which doesn’t necessarily mean firing half of your team. 

 

It all comes down to automation. Let’s look at Customer Care as an example. 

 

The technology exists to affordably implement a chat-bot which can be the first point of contact for your customers. The script goes something like this:

 

Chat-bot: “How can I help?”

Customer: “What time are you open?”

Chat-bot: “We open from 9am to 5pm each weekday”

Customer: “Where is the closest location?”

Chat-bot: “Where are you located?”

Customer: “Queanbeyan”

Chat-bot: “The nearest office is at 23 XYZ Lane in Fyshwick”

Chat-bot: “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Customer: “I don’t know if your business can actually solve my problem”

Chat-bot: “You can find more information on our FAQ page [LINK]. If you don’t find it there, I can arrange a customer service agent to get in touch with you.”

 

The majority of customer questions relate to the same general topics. By implementing a chat-bot, you can minimise your minion-style customer care team to those who are at a Genius or Expert level. They may not be directly generating revenue but their role in keeping customers happy it is still very important. By helping customers at an expert level, they’re helping improve retention and word of mouth referrals. 

 

The benefit for these staff is they will be handling a wider range of enquiries and be more stimulated by their work, so they are more likely to stay on with the team. Your other customer care staff can be trained to do other things or you can gradually downsize the team. 

 

Ways to automate your non-revenue generating tasks

 

Here’s a rapid fire of automation and outsourcing ideas, which can reduce expenses and help focus on revenue generation. 

 

Skip the receptionist

 

There are plenty of software options which automate the response to inbound calls, reducing the need for someone to pick up every time the phone rings. 

 

You can also look at outsourcing to a virtual receptionist who will only bill for the actual time spent on the phone. Your current receptionist can upskill into a role which is more focused on helping existing customers or focusing on sales and marketing. 

 

Optimise inbound leads

 

This suggestion comes from Infusionsoft:

 

“With automation software, you can set up an internal form to be used when people call your main line. Enter the client’s contact information, along with any relevant notes, before using a drop-down menu to assign a sales representative to follow up. The form alerts the sales rep to contact the new lead. Meanwhile, the software sends an automated introduction email from that sales rep to the potential customer.

 

When the introduction email is sent five minutes after the form is completed, it appears that the sales rep sprung into action after learning of the potential client’s call. Your lead will be impressed by your customer service before the sales rep even starts working.”

 

This approach minimises the need for personal assistants, or for them to waste time on bad leads. 

 

Automate social media posts

 

You don’t need somebody pressing ‘Post’ on all your social media feeds. Affordable software lets you program updates months in advance, and to several platforms simultaneously. 

 

Again, you can hire or work with one Genius instead of a team of repetitive-task minions who cost your business money. 

 

Upgrade your data tracking and analysis

 

Again, with the right software, you can free lower level workers from the tedious task of data-tracking. Implement this technology and you will instantly be able to see dashboards which show you daily, weekly or monthly progress and a range of statistics which affect your business. 

 

Take this a step further and plug in to systems which respond to what’s working and take actions like automatically increasing marketing spend in this area. 

 

Systemise customer communications

 

Your business should constantly be in touch with your existing customers but you don’t need several minions to do this. By setting up your CRM so you are regularly communicating with your customers, sales will come your way more easily. 

 

Chase overdue accounts

 

Stop checking your bank account every ten minutes and set up your accounting software to send automatic reminders when an account is overdue. Most customers will pay after the first couple of friendly reminders, freeing up your accounts staff to stop chasing money and help you find ways to make more of it. 

 

Similarly, set up notifications when a direct debit fails to go through and arrange to have it immediately followed up on by your accounting software. 

 

With the above being said, this isn’t a completely black and white situation. You will of course require some non-revenue generating staff but it won’t hurt to see how automation and outsourcing can reduce the ‘fat’ which is sucking away your profits. 

 

Do some calculations to check how hiring one extra ‘expert’ or ‘genius’ will pay off despite the larger salary. Reversing the pyramid is a multi-step process but is worth investigating and plugging away at to create a more productive, efficient and profitable organisation. 

 

In the second Despicable Me movie, Gru (who has now turned good – how convenient) meets secret agent Lucy. Working at ‘Genius’ level together, they are able to get a lot more done to defeat the bad guys and emerge victorious. 

 

 

[Bring in the Geniuses]

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Confused much? Here’s what you need to know about optimisation and A/B testing
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Confused much? Here’s what you need to know about optimisation and A/B testing

Us digital types live and breathe marketing technology to the extent that we sometimes fail to realise a lot of the lingo we speak is complete gobbledegook to other business owners.

We are so used to waxing lyrical about algorithms, click-throughs, PPCs and lead funnels that we forget these are terms which the rest of the world isn’t aware of.

First up – sorry if I’ve ever confused you with lingo and please pull me up if I ever go too deep into a subject without giving a proper explanation!

Second, let’s break down a term you’re bound to come across if you take the brave step of moving your business into the digital realm as part of a plan to cut costs and improve profits.

A/B testing is also known as split testing.

What is A/B testing?

A/B testing is also known as split testing.

According to a website called Optimizely, “A/B testing (also known as split testing or bucket testing) is a method of comparing two versions of a webpage or app against each other to determine which one performs better. A/B testing is essentially an experiment where two or more variants of a page are shown to users at random, and statistical analysis is used to determine which variation performs better for a given conversion goal.”

Get it? Perhaps not.

Let’s make it clearer.

You have two buckets of apples, one full of Pink Ladys and the other Granny Smiths. A lineup of hungry school children awaits (this is your target audience). You have enough apples for every kid to be happy, no matter what their choice

Line the kids up and get their pick of apples. Do they pick red or green? The apples which are selected the most are the ‘winners’ in these circumstances.

Given the choice of Pink / A or Green / B, eighty per cent of the kids grab a Pink apple, so it is a clear winner.

This is great. Good for you, Pink.

But now let’s try again. Scrap the Granny Smiths apples (who likes them anyway?) and offer a Red Delicious in its place. Now you have another A/B test but it is based on the assumption that children prefer sweeter, rose-hued apples.

You will probably find the percentage gap narrows. Perhaps the Pink Ladys are still popular but it turns out that given a choice of red vs red, 60 per cent of kids will go with a Red Delicious.

This is a very basic explanation of A/B testing but should help you get the drift. A test like this would show a school which apples they should order for the canteen so they have less waste.

The difference with A/B testing in the digital realm is you create two options and serve each one to your target audience at random.

For example, 50 per cent of your digital audience see a blue BUY NOW button, and 50 per cent see a red BUY NOW button. Track which button gets the most clicks over a two week period to see which colour is more attractive. From there, you could experiment by changing the shade or changing the placement of the button on the screen. Perhaps a bright red BUY NOW button which sits at the top left of the page is the ideal positioning.

Why do A/B testing?

A/B testing gives you actual data to work from. While design experts (known as UX / user experience – another term to get used to) have an idea of best practice, they aren’t relying on an exact science.

What’s more, you can gather data from user surveys but quite often a survey responder will give you an answer they think you want to hear, or one which will work in their favour (did you ever see an employee survey where respondents were happy with their current salary?).

As a result of your A/B testing, your website can be optimised for the best results from your customers based on their actual behaviour. This means you know from physical evidence what actions they take on your website and what they respond best to.

For most businesses, it is ideal to engage in regular A/B testing. Audience preferences and requirements evolve over time so what they want now may not be their ideal in two years time.

[Small changes can make big differences Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash]

This method of online testing has the huge benefit of improving your conversions, your engagement and the amount of money a customer spends in a single transaction. Some companies find one simple change can deliver huge profit increases. Others compound a number of small changes for improved results.

How to do A/B testing

  1. The question

To get started with A/B testing, think of some of the big questions and areas of mystery for your business.

For example, Why are so many customers filling a cart but abandoning it? Or How can I get more opens on my newsletter? You may want to know the category of products which, when highlighted, are mostly likely to get a customer to make an additional purchase.

Tie your questions to key business outcomes, e.g. You want more sales or you want more enquiries.

2. The predicted answer

You also have to have a hypothesis. Something like: “If we change sales newsletter subjects to say “LIMITED ITEMS LEFT”, more people will open them.” Or “If I add a pop-up offering a ten per cent discount which springs up when a buyer tries to leave my site, they will stay and make a purchase.”  

Your prediction could even be “If I change the colour of the ‘Contact Us’ button, more people will go ahead and do it.”

3. The test

Now you have to test your theory. There are several tools which will help you implement A/B testing and to track user behaviour and therefore the results.

You will have to work closely with your web developer, marketing team and designers to create the different options for people to be presented with.

Remember, your website users aren’t making a conscious choice based on A or B. They’re being given one option and taking action based on what they see.

Keep your tests simple so there aren’t too many elements and behaviours you are trying to measure.

[A subtle difference can have a large impact Photo by Jeroen den Otter on Unsplash]

Once your ‘experiment’ is live, give it a few weeks so you can get some consistent and ample data to work with.

4. The real answer

And finally, it is time to analyse your results. You may find that there’s a clear ‘winner’, or you may not notice a measurable difference between options. For example, some companies experiment with sending newsletters at different times of the day or different days of the week and fail to witness an impact on open rates.

If you do get a clear indication towards A or B, you can scrap the less effective option. However, be aware of potential flow-on effects. For example, that popup may improve sales results but you could then notice a drop-off in repeat visitors to the site.

Once you have completed your initial A/B test, you can make further tweaks, similar to our red/green, red/red apple example. There are always potential ways to improve your results and improve usability and customer satisfaction.

[Compare like with like to see what your customers prefer Photo by Benjamin Wong on Unsplash ]

Different areas to apply A/B testing to your website and marketing

Some basic A/B tests to apply to your website include the font, the text size and the spacing, plus the headlines and CTAs (call to action) that you use. There are some tools which also allow you to add C and D to your A/B test.

Colours are another simple way thing to test which could have surprising results and make a difference to customer actions.

The location of ‘buy now’, ‘call us’ and ‘make a booking’ is another element of your website you can optimise through A/B testing for excellent results. Move your button up, down, left and right, and play around with colour and size.

You can test the wording, images and calls to action on Facebook and Google Ads. Perhaps a more motivating “Click to buy” is less effective than “Find out more”. A picture of a frowning face may beat a smiling one, and a frowning person holding an empty wallet may beat a frowning face on its own.

Similarly, the subject line you use in an email can make a world of difference. Does adding the client’s first name pique their interest? Perhaps you’ll notice better open rates if you ask a question in the preview.

You can use A/B testing to see if including videos make a difference to conversions from your landing page or if testimonials make people more inclined to buy.  

Special offers are another item you can A/B test. Give half your customers the excitement of ten per cent off and the rest the option for a bonus gift with purchase.

Even the overall design of your homepage could be split tested. Do people prefer a lot of information or does a single image, opening line and call to action spur them to keep clicking?

So many questions! But remember to keep your business objectives in mind. You don’t have to engage in A/B testing just for the sake of it.

I hope this has clarified the purpose and benefits of A/B testing for you. While you may have a good understanding of what it is now, the fact is you’ll still need a hand to get it up and running! Working with a digital expert will help you conduct efficient A/B testing and they can then show you how to optimise your website and online communications based on the results.