My 2017 Client Results Laid Bare

I’ve always admired the likes of Dan Norris, Pete Cook and Pat Flynn – who have laid their businesses bare, and published their business stats online.

Last year, I re-hung my shingle for Conversion Rate Optimisation services, and picked up a small band of wonderful clients who understood how conversion rate optimisation can be far far more valuable than traffic or lead generation.

FULL TRANSPARENCY: My 2017 Client Results

Client results are in for 2017 – the final Conversion Rate Optimisation test we began last year ended last week – and I’ve been poring over the numbers!

After a lot of hard work, it’s cause for celebration.

Median Monthly Increase in Sales: 16.07%

In a given round of testing, my typical client saw a 16.07% increase in leads or sales they earn through their website.

Clients who stayed on for multiple months saw these results compound (like compound interest) the longer they stuck with the program.

For the sake of illustration, if you’re achieving a median monthly increase in sales of 16.07%, it only takes four and a half months to double a company’s revenues.

Median Annual Increase in Sales: 115.35%

The typical (median) client has only completed 2.5 rounds of Conversion Rate Optimisation testing so far. (I picked up more clients late in the year, and had some slow delivery times in July-November.)

But in those 2.5 rounds of testing, the median annual increase in sales that a client saw was 115.35%.

Best Sales Increase for 2017: 118.49%

One particular test saw a more-than-doubling of sales in one month.

If you’re curious what caused this big leap in sales, it was a rather simple change.

As I shared in a recent blog post, human beings are hard-wired to respond to contrast.

Yellow buttons on a predominantly yellow website don’t stand out.

But blue (since it’s on the opposite side of the colour wheel to yellow) does stand out from yellow.

Testing a blue button on this client website, the client’s website saw 118.49% more sales from website visitors who saw the blue button versus the yellow button, during the test period.

Best Test Result To Date: 416.67%

I’m still trying to beat my old record – a 416.67% increase in sales for Nando’s.

This result was caused by the removal of a prominent navigation menu that was proving to be a huge distraction.

In 2018, I’d love to find something that works even better than this…

Median Client Increase in Revenue: $427,754.65 p/a

The typical customer conversion rate optimisation customer saw an approximate $427,754.65 per annum increase in revenues.

(Since the median customer has only been through 2.5 rounds of testing – this means the typical test delivers $171,101.86 in income.)

Average Return on Investment: 24,518%

Every $1 my clients invested into my time and advice around conversion rates in 2017, they received average of $245.18 (24,518%) back in increased sales.

A 24,518% gain is a better-than-bitcoin return.

It’s the equivalent of investing $4,078.64, and turning it into a cool million.

For the skeptics and math nerds who are saying “Averages can be deceptive, because it only takes massive results for 1-2 clients to see the average skyrocket.”

Yes, you’re TOTALLY right. And my clients did have a couple of home-runs (like that 118.49% increase from the blue buttons on the yellow site).

The median (typical) client saw a 6,110.78% return on their investment (or $61.10 returned for every $1 invested).

At no point did any client see a negative return on investment.

What will I be improving in 2018?

In 2018, I’ll be working on increasing my delivery cycle from 6 weeks to 4 weeks – to speed up the compounding effect (like compound interest).

I’ll also be continuing to raise the standards of delivery – through better visibility of numbers (like you see in this post); better quality of reporting and explanation (like in the photo at the top of this post); better quality and frequency of contact; increasing delivery speed; and continued refinement of my processes to deliver even bigger gains.

From a business perspective, I’ll also be changing my pricing model.

I believe that if clients are receiving an average of $245.18 in additional revenue for every $1 invested into my services, they’re getting an incredible deal.

But this figure is actually rising.

The more I refine my processes, the better my results become, and the higher my clients’ ROI figures become.

I haven’t increased my prices alongside this trend though. And, as I bring on more clients, I plan to.

Finally – and ironically – I need to market this service better.

I’ve been so focussed on my clients’ results that I haven’t been improving my own.

I will be experimenting with webinars, and with deep-dive “Website Health Report” one-on-one phone calls and reports which I expect to sell for around $1,500.

Your Chance To Get A Better-Than-24,518% Return on Investment

The average return on investment a CRO client received paying for my time in 2017 was 24,518%.

But one way you can get a better than 24,518% return on investment is by first speaking with me for free.

I’d love to spend 90 minutes on the phone with you – looking at your website as it stands, the bottlenecks that are holding it back from better things, and how you can achieve massive growth.

Then, I’d like to deliver an actionable report to you – going into more depth.

It’s a win-win: I get to test out my “Website Health Report” process before I go out and start selling it for $1,500; and you get some clear, actionable insight into how to massively improve your sales through your website and online marketing.

If you have:

• A website that sells something online, or generates leads for you to follow up offline;

• Which is generating at least $500,000 per year in revenue for your business (in lead value or direct sales);

Then this is for you.

(It’s even more valuable for you if your sales growth has plateaued, if you’re doing any paid advertising or SEO, or if you’re generating more than $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 through your website.)

If you’re interested, get in touch. I can answer any questions you have, and we can arrange a time to meet.

My number is +61 402 90 4545.

My email address is brent at brent hodgson dot com.

Or you can get in touch with me via LinkedIn.

Brent