Test To Learn

Test! Test! Test! You hear this all the time. The fact is, you can never stop testing. If you do, you almost guarantee that your business will never improve. Or, if you stop changing things and leave them as they are, things cannot improve.

But testing is expensive, so be sure you are testing relevant issues. Testing a price point of $59 versus $69 is a worthy cause because it may make you ten bucks richer. And comparing methods of payment is potentially a valuable inquiry. Even evaluating the predominance of phone responses instead of business-reply cards may present some interesting data.

Since testing can be expensive, make sure to minimize error in your testing. It is important to test only one element at a time. If you test price point and method of payment simultaneously, you may never really know what the results mean. Your test can be invalidated simply because you cannot identify which of your variables had the most impact.

The results you get from testing give you the confidence to implement changes that will improve your overall response. With well-planned testing, you begin to develop specific performance data on each individual test you conduct. The bottom line is there is no pass or fail in this kind of testing. You can only use the knowledge and insight you have gained to see a better response each time you mail.