In Praise of Pilots – Deal with Change by Testing

By Mark Walker

Is the the speed of change different in the life science business world?

When you combine the trends impacting the rest of the business world such as new communication channels and devices with the rush of new discoveries and technologies into this marketplace, you have a potent mixture. If it’s not the market with the fastest pace, then it has to be in the in the top tier.

For marketers, new products from these discoveries (yours and the competitors) and new communication channels are just two of the trends making your lives “exciting.”

Picture a basketball court completely covered with set mouse-traps (the old spring-loaded ones). Someone tosses a single ping-pong ball onto the floor. Sprung traps flip and set off their neighbors. Now imagine that the traps reset themselves, the floor gets larger and the chaos grows. Ok, I admit I think it would be fun to be initial “tosser” and watch the activity from a safe place. I don’t know of a safe place in the life science business world. You are in the middle of the basketball court.

Use the Tools to Test Initiatives

Take advantage of the very tools contributing to this speed to test marketing initiatives and get feedback on results. It’s easier and faster to share information, right? Iterate quickly and constantly to test what works–and what doesn’t. Want to see how a new lead process works?  Pilot it with a region of your sales force. Test it with a couple of your inside sales reps. Want to test a new web page to get better conversion rates? Google has great free tools that you can implement.

When I worked with organizations interested in subscribing to our information service (a database for mining information about researchers and their grant awards), many were concerned about launching it to the entire sales force without testing. I would often recommend a pilot program. The idea was pretty simple.

• Set up the objectives and goals.
• Select a small, representative group of sales representatives (generalists, specialists, regional manager) .
• Train the pilot team on the service and set expectations for usage and feedback.
• Evaluate the results.

The value was evident for the organization. The overall investment and risk was minimal but the insights gained could be applied when rolling the new program out to the entire organization. The potential ROI could be extrapolated to the entire sales force and it was easier for managers to make the right decision and create buy-in for the sales force. Another element for success was in place as a result of the pilot. In the organization, there was already a group of peers that could not only help troubleshoot but specify best practices.

Testing Your Website? Of Course You Are.

For websites, there are free or inexpensive testing tools (Google’s Website Optimizer is an example) that can help you test different versions of a web page so you can see the changes that impact your activity. Amazon tests every pixel of their pages to find out what works (and doesn’t) and continues to iterate their home page and product pages. Not all companies have those resources but you can certainly test critical pages such as landing pages and sign-up pages as well as key elements such as Calls to Action, trying different copy, buttons and images.

Imagine you are having guests over to your house. You generally want to make that an enjoyable experience, right?  Why are you not treating your customers that visit your website in the same way? Tidy up, move chairs around to create some conversation areas, and decide where you are going to put the refreshments so your guests can get them conveniently.

Which Initiatives?

Google famously enables their staff to use 20% of their time on interesting projects not necessarily related to their job description.  Whether it’s a day a week or a couple hours each morning, the point is to include time to review new ideas (from customers, field reps, social media, internet, etc.) and think about how they could help your business.  Then figure out how you can test a couple of the ideas, quickly.

There are going to be blind alleys that we all go down when trying some new things. The advantage of the pilot is it reduces your risk by having a time point when it will end, requires a minimal investment in time and funding, and you come away with results based a set of measurable criteria. Test it and track it, then implement it, change it or shut it down.

What is your experience with pilot projects and what are the keys to success?  I’d enjoy hearing your story in the comments.

Tag Your Web Images So Scientists Can Buy Your Products

by Rusty Bishop aka ‘the Scientist’

I just spent 2 hrs searching for a replacement clinical centrifuge for my lab.  The crazy thing is I knew exactly what I was looking for since I used the old one everyday however, I just didn’t know what to call it! This led directly to the following article…..

Scientists spend far too much time searching for the correct products. Life Science companies have spent millions to brand products with great memorable boxes and colorful logos, yet the vast majority of companies fail to title images correctly on their website.

Don’t neglect those beautiful images enhance them and let them help you sell more efficiently and  pre-qualify scientists searching for your products!

The Image Title Tag – Please put your name tag on

One of the key items our team looks for when consulting for Life Science Companies to improve web conversions is properly titled images.

Here’s why:  Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) cannot possibly know what an image is unless it is labeled correctly, these are programs not people with eyes after all.  A proper image title is like a name tag for a blind program.

Here’s how to do it: An image title should be short and informative. Multiple words should be separated by dashes (-). So labeling the above image “Clinical-Centrifuge.jpg” is a lot more informative title than “img45334546.jpg”

Here’s what happens: The search engine will now index the page the image is housed on separately as well as the product page under the correct index.  In this case – “Clinical Centrifuge” will be indexed as  www.companyname.com/clinical-centrifuge.jpg.

A picture gets a thousand clicks

Thoughtful titling or re-titling all the images on your website may seem a like costly endeavor, so let me show you why its critical.

This morning I was looking for new Clinical Centrifuge, so I searched that in Google (green circle). The red arrow show the shopping results with some familiar names there like Cole-Palmer and Phoenix Equipment followed by the images circled in red.

Google especially loves images.  When you search for a phrase Google perceives to be a product, the indexed image results are the third or fourth line of the organic results.

This morning my eyes were instantly drawn to the two old school centrifgues (left center) that look just like the one I replaced. Sadly, clicking on these two lead to websites that aren’t even e-commerce sites.

So if you wanted to sell me a clinical centrifuge this morning and I had seen an image of my old one looking all nice on your website, it would have been super easy to find what I wanted and click through to your product page.  What you did with me once I got there is a question for another day.

But wait your job is not over!  Tomorrow we’ll pick back up this article with image alt tags and how they are used.

Answers to Your Questions about Red Funnel

By Rusty Bishop and Mark Walker

Last week, we visited the exhibit floor at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC. Our focus was to meet you all in person and introduce the blog to life science representatives that might benefit from what we do.

We really had a great time meeting up with old friends and getting to know some new ones (Rusty had a little too much fun at your parties). This was the first time we had a chance to introduce the blog in person and we were blown away by the response.

Thank you sincerely. We hope you enjoy it and actively participate by commenting and suggesting new topics for discussion. Your knowledge and experience are invaluable to your peers.

Some great questions came up about us and what we do. We tried to address them at the time but inevitably, we may not have had a chance to speak to all of them. Here are a few of the more common questions:

Are scientists upset that you are giving tips and hints to companies on how to sell to them?

Don’t think so. The fact is that scientists need your products to get their work/project done fast and right. If we can help sales and marketers better understand what scientists need in the way of information to help make decisions about products and services, everyone wins. Companies and their representatives need to think solutions, not products.

Is HowToSelltoScientists.com a formal training program?

No, its not a training program. It’s a free blog that touches on topics like how to sell to scientists. We had to chuckle a bit at that because in one sense, we can see how that someone could interpret the site name that way. However, since it came up more than once, the implication is that some see a real need for better training at the Sales and Applications Specialist Level, voiced even by former scientists now selling. Even though we don’t do formal training, we do offer webinars or seminars about our experiences and opinions about selling to the researcher customer.

If the blog is free, how do you guys make money?

No one actually ever said those exact words but we can read body language. We consult with companies that want their website to attract more scientists and convert more visitors into leads and sales. We talk to sales and marketing groups about our thoughts on how to successfully (you know the rest)… sell to scientists. We also create tools that enable companies to better understand and service their scientist customers (see the free search tools on the site here). We write the blogs and give away free ideas to give you an hint of how we think and what we bring to the table so that when you are thinking about getting some outside help, you think of us.

When did you start Red Funnel?

Early in 2010. Over the last 3 years, we worked on a few website projects together for other life science companies and got to know each other. Since we have different experiences and backgrounds (Rusty=scientist, Mark=business guy), we look at things from different perspectives. We don’t always agree on everything but the benefit to our clients is that we challenge each other to bring the best possible recommendations. We’ve got a passion for helping companies succeed in reaching scientists. It’s fun and it we are having a blast.

Why Red Funnel?

We wanted something memorable which reflected our focus. Everyone is familiar with the sales funnel and our effort is geared toward all the activities that increase the number of scientists that are in your funnel. Oh, and we like the color red.

Thanks again to everyone who was so encouraging at AACR. We want to hear from you and we will do our best to make this a valuable resource to you.

Your Website as Field Sales Tool – Sightings at the AACR Meeting

by Rusty Bishop

One great tactic I saw while walking the Exhibit Booths of AACR this week was the display of company’s websites in the booth.  Mark has written about training your sales staff to use the website as selling tool and I’ve written about your web site being your public face. So I was excited to see these two concepts in action.

Website on chocolate = love!

For example, in Sigma’s booth the marketing, literature, in booth mini-talks and conference swag all prominently featured their new “Where Bio Begins” web portal. That’s branding and traffic pushing in one fell swoop!

And the kind ladies in the Affymetrix booth walked me through their new Gene Atlas desk top array on their website and used it to invite me to an awesome party!  In order to get the invite, I had to sign up on their website, so they captured my information and qualified me as a lead (albeit a poor one).

Here’s two ideas to that may help you decide if your website display in the booth is a good idea

In Person Feedback

One of the most difficult things about web design is getting a real read on your customer’s reactions. Let’s face it most feedback online is banal and friendly, because scientists are non-combative and shy and people don’t really have time to give you feedback.  However, making your website available in your booth with a mouse and keyboard is the perfect chance to watch them interact with it and great time to ask them questions about it.

For example,

• Are they easily finding products?
• Do they fret about the long lead registration form?
• Are you lacking key images that drive conversions?
• Did your Call to Action button get their attention or was it ignored?

Staff training in the Real World

Your website really is your face, but it can also be powerful sales tool in the field. Its not often that Sales Staff, Product Managers, Technical Support and Marketers get the chance to work together in front of customers.Why not use the meeting to perfect your sales pitch with the use of your website.

Try this at the next meeting,

• Train staff on the website features in a non-threatening environment
• Watch, listen, and give feedback on how your team uses the site tools and features in front of customers
• Try different entry points such as the search engine or catalog browsing to test effectiveness in sales

Sales tips for selling to scientists can be hard to find. Find more by following us on Twitter here. Also, become a fan of Red Funnel Consulting on Facebook today!

Scientists want to see what they are buying

In lab meeting yesterday and we had a 10 min conversation about a kit that came in the blue and purple box (some thought it was yellow). A few hours later, my labmate Jon starts laughing and points to the old Promega Wizard Prep box on top of the freezer. Classic!
 

Science products have complicated names often with made-up words in them. For example, on one page of the Bio-rad website I found iProof High Fidelity DNA Polymerase and iTaq DNA Polymerase. What the heck is iProof? I’ve used Taq, but iTaq? Luckily for me, I knew I used the kit with one red and one green tube that came in the green box with a yellow sticker on it.
 

 
Notice how Bio-Rad uses large images of the kit with the components displayed clearly on their product display pages.
 

ABCO – Always Be Closing Online

ABCO: Always Be Closing Online.

Its the age old advice you hear in sales your whole career. The same applies to your website design as well.
Your website is your store front. The individual product pages are your sales staff. I’m not suggesting you place a big ol’ BUY NOW button on every product page, but it should be really damn obvious how to buy the product when a scientist is ready to buy. Nothing is more frustrating than having to search for the button.

Notice how Bio-Rad places the ordering call to action buttons directly next the two product sizes and how the green ‘Add to Cart‘  and Search buttons stands out.

I encourage you to take a look at your website today no matter your position in the company and think about how the product pages are closing sales for you. Tiny increases in online sales produce large increases in revenue due to the realized costs of sales staff both in person and call centers.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is – Custom Site Search

Two days ago I wrote about how your website is your face. In the article, I mentioned that you can create a Google Custom Search Engine for free to help your customers find products on your websites.
 

Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is. The company I called out was Roche, a company who’s products I use and respect. So this morning I built them a Custom Search Engine (CSE) to find products on their website. The link is here – Roche Product Engine.
 

Here’s the process:
 

1. Log In to Google Account
    
   
2. Find and open CSE Creator
    
   
3. Fill out form
    
   
4. Find the product domain URL for Roche products in separate window
    
   
5. Paste URL into CSE window, read format tips, re-format URL to search entire domain roche-applied-science.com/*
    
   
6. Accept Terms and Decide on Standard vs Business Terms (we pay you vs you pay us)
    
7. Test Search Engine with product Im looking for this morning -
    
   

Search – “LightCycler FastStart DNA MasterPLUS SYBR Green I”
 

I get 35 or so hits only on Roche’s site. Most of the results are in pdfs? That’s frustrating! I want to order a product. Maybe that’s why I can’t find anything on Roche’s website!
(Note: that in its exuberance Google will index anything on your site including handwritten Post-it notes on your desktop – kidding)
 

Ok how to fix that…. easy exclude pdf from the search by telling google to stop. You do this by adding a minus sign (-) infront of any term you want to exclude.
 

so…Search…LightCycler FastStart DNA MasterPLUS SYBR Green I -pdf
 

Bam! the first link is exactly the page for the product I want to buy.
 

I encourage you to try it yourself. Click here to try my Roche Product Engine.
 

I will try and make a video of this process later today. There are tons of options for customization, removing the ads, etc. That is another blog….
 

Bonus Cooking Tip of the Day – Wrap celery in aluminum foil in the fridge and it will keep for months! Who knew!

Your website is your face

“Your website is terrible, I mean I spent 30 min trying to find a product I know you sell, but couldn’t. I ended up buying it from Sigma instead. You guys need to do something about that, seriously!”
 

This is an exact quote that I overheard at vendor show at the University of California-San Diego last week (I immediately wrote it down.) The lady was visibly upset, but genuinely trying to help. The rep was apologetic and sympathetic and back peddling. He too thought their website sucked and even said he had complained about it repeatedly. Clearly it wasn’t the first time he had heard this complaint.
 

Never forget – Your website is your face! People are more concerned about their face than any part of their body. Its the first thing you see of someone else. You can tell their mood, their hygienic habits, whether they are lying or not. We spend billions on products to make our faces better.
 

Your website is your company’s face. Its the first thing scientists see.
 

The culprit in the above transction – Roche. I spent a few minutes navigating their site this weekend, and she is right, its a nightmare. Its hard for me to believe that a company as large as Roche can’t figure out how to produce a decent website.
 

In all seriousness, $50-100K likely buys them the best website money can buy.
 

$25k and its functional.
 

Google Site Search is free (plus a $100 for a programmer to install it on their website).
 

Yes that was FREE! Never try to out google Google, why bother you have more important things to do like sell kits and antibodies and $500,000 Mass Spectrometers.
 

Sales staff - Its time to take action. Complaining will not get you heard in a company as large as Roche, but action will. If your company’s website is getting complaints, take action yourself today. Remember money will always get the attention of the bean counters. If you aren’t making your numbers point out that online sales and your crappy website are the cause.
 

Do one of these today:
 

1. Find a great programmer, find an AB tester, find a user interface expert, find an SEO expert. Solicit their ideas and send a memo to your superiors (with four bullet points). Email me or comment if you need some direction on this. Rehearse these bullet points and have them ready for the chance encounter with someone in your company that can make the change.
 

2. Solicit letters from your best customers (not PIs, they dont buy your product remember). Send them to your boss or post them by the water cooler late at night if you are scared to be seen. If your company won’t read them, send them to me and I will post them here anonymously for you. The internet gets the word out faster than you can imagine.
 

Take action and become indispensable! Your job depends on it.
 

(yes, I know I took indispensable from Seth Godin)

Welcome to How to Sell to Scientists

Welcome! If you’re reading this you want to know to more about how to sell and market products to scientists. I created this blog to write about the things I’ve learned by watching you all try to sell me kits, reagents, equipment, animals, and services for the last 17 years and about the techniques I’ve learned running my websites Scientist Solutions.com and the soon to be launched Gatcat.com