Converting Visitors To Customers

𝟭𝟬 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 🔥 Most product sites don’t convert. Here’s how to fix it: 𝟭/ 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿 Before designing, talk to real users. Figure out what they want, what stops them, and what triggers action. → Talk to 5 signups: “What made you try it?” → Exit survey: “What’s stopping you?” → Watch session recordings → Skim support chats → Bonus: Buy someone coffee for quick feedback ✅ Example: Users say: “I just want to send invoices and get paid.” → Don’t write: “Smart billing software” → Say: “Send your next invoice in under 60 seconds.” 𝟮/ 𝗡𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Your layout needs: → Headline: pain point → Subheadline: curiosity → CTA: single action → Visual: product in action → Body: benefits > features ✅ Example: → “Hiring is broken.” → “Our AI recruiter finds top 3 candidates in 24h.” → “Try it free” → Demo video → “Save 10+ hours/week on screening” 𝟯/ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗱 Most people won’t scroll. → What is this? → Who’s it for? → Why does it matter? → What should I do next? ✅ Example: → Don’t say: “AI-powered web builder” → Say: “Launch your landing page in 60 seconds” 𝟰/ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 People don’t want “real-time sync.” They want fewer meetings, faster work. ✅ Example: → Don't say: “Real-time collaboration” → Say: “No more back-and-forth emails. Edit together live.” 𝟱/ 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳, 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 Trust builds conversion. → Logos → Quotes → Counters → Screenshots → Case studies ✅ Example: → “Trusted by 4,000+ teams at Meta, Notion, and Vercel” 𝟲/ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Stick to one goal and cut everything else. → No blog links → No footer clutter → No secondary CTAs ✅ Example: If your goal is “Try for free,” everything should lead there. 𝟳/ 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗧𝗔 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 Avoid vague buttons. Make CTAs feel easy + specific. ✅ Example: → Don't say: “Start now” → Say: “Try for free” 𝟴/ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 60%+ of traffic is mobile. If it’s clunky, it’s broken. → Large tap targets → Sticky CTAs → Short scroll → Preview breakpoints ✅ Example: → Desktop: CTA beside video → Mobile: CTA pinned bottom → Preview with Lovable 𝟵/ 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 One version is only one guess. ✅ Example: → “The fastest invoicing tool for freelancers” vs. → “Send your next invoice in under 60 seconds” → Ship both with Lovable 𝟭𝟬/ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗧𝗔 Conversion isn’t the goal. The activation flow right after is. → Pre-fill content → Show a 60s walkthrough → Highlight one key action ✅ Example: User signs up → edits sample invoice → sends in 1 click LFG

2026 planning starts now. If I was the CRO of a $50M business looking to grow 30% next year (i.e. add $15M of net new ARR to end the year at $65M) here’s exactly what I’d do: ASSUMPTIONS: - Selling into SMB and Mid-Market but with a small Enterprise sales effort. - 82% Gross Revenue Retention and 95% Net Revenue Retention (NRR). - A CS team that has renewal targets but expansion is handled by the AEs. - New business team is hitting quota in total but unevenly distributed. 1. Stress Test the Targets and the Revenue Model Look at 2025 growth and compare to total investments in sales and marketing focused on new business growth to understand CAC to ARR growth. Confirm the ratios map to the budget — e.g. you’re not being asked $15M in growth on the *same* CAC investment.    Assume CAC will degrade by 10% and ensure your fully weighted S&M investment is Pro-Rata + 10% to the growth. We’re looking for rough confirmation we’re not being asked to perform miracles. 2. Stress Test Pipeline Coverage and Marketing Performance Ensure we understand Lead to Closed Won Cycle and we have coverage. If we have a 3 month sales cycle and it’s mid-September, we’re on track. But if we wait much longer we’ll be drifting into Q1 and will immediately be behind. As usual, we’re looking for 3-5x pipeline coverage. 3. Understand Demand Generation Channels Word of mouth is not (really) a channel. It’s a “channel” if you can put $ behind it and the more you spend the more you get. If we have our basic framework in place, it’s time to get out the precision tools, modeling CAC, retention, and LTV by *investable channel*. At higher ACVs, we put muscle behind in-person travel, ABM, and targeted field marketing. At lower ACVs, we need investments in data and enrichment to enable effective paid acquisition and AI-enabled inside reps. 4. Review Gross and Net Revenue Retention targets If nothing changes with NRR, we are looking at $47.5M end of year run-rate. Let’s figure out if we can push NRR up to 105%, lowering the burden on new business. How? - Segment accounts by Red, Yellow, Green - Assign commercial support to CS to expand Green through more seats, new products, or deeper usage. Take one high performing AE and turn them into an Account Management expansion focused hunter whose sole job is converting upsells. 5. Drive Our AEs with Great Variable Comp and Route Our Best Leads to Our Best People Top sellers are 5-7x more productive than average sellers. And sellers with unlimited upside and generous accelerators, do better. I'd design our comp plans to pay for over-performance and route our leads to our best people. Target 80%+ quota attainment and be willing to part with the bottom 20%.  Get confidence every lead we send to the sales team closes at a higher rate with a higher deal value. The last step? Pop bottles because we hit our number 🍾 P.S. Want to learn how to do this as a scaleup CRO? Pavilion's CRO School starts 10/2. DM me to join.

When we launched Gamma, we set the free tier at 400 AI credits with no refresh. Some said we'd lose too many users. That was the point: freemium is segmentation, not charity. We tested different limits. Too low and people quit before they understood the product. Too high and they deferred the decision indefinitely. 400 was where evaluation ended and professional use began. Most founders never find this breakpoint. They guess. Here's what everyone should know about freemium: 1. Free tiers should be generous… enough Notion once thought 1,000 blocks (each paragraph, image, or element) was generous. It was actually a choke point, so they killed it for individuals. Our 400 credits gets you 8 to 10 full presentations. Then it stops. Like Loom's 5-minute cap - long enough to demo value, short enough that real use cases hit the wall quickly. 2. Experimentation is a non-negotiable Your conversion rates don't have to stagnate. After A/B testing model changes, we saw a 20% lift in free-to-paid conversions. Loom keeps iterating their limits to optimize conversion. You're probably leaving money on the table if you haven't experimented much. 3. Lean into high-stakes use cases The "Made with Gamma" badge creates a decision moment. Just like Canva's watermark appears at the exact "client-facing" moment. Credits create urgency. The watermark creates clarity. Together they separate occasional use from professional use with minimal sales touch. 4. Focus on who converts, not who signs up Figma gives unlimited drafts but only 3 team files. Dropbox holds firm at 2GB. At our 400-credit breakpoint, we see who needs Gamma to do their job. That focus improves the roadmap and directs support toward power users instead of chasing vanity metrics. 5. The best moat is self-selection Dropbox converts just 2.5% of 700 million users - and built a multi-billion dollar business on it. They could make free storage 10GB tomorrow. They don't. Because the 2GB limit ensures only people who truly need cloud storage upgrade. Every paying customer chose to be there. That's a moat competitors can't cross with free giveaways.

Don’t overthink conversion. Qualified prospects only ever drop out for 3 reasons: 1. Comprehension: They don’t understand what you do 2. Urgency: They understand but don’t care 3. Trust: They get it, they care, but they don’t believe you. (And it’s always in that order.) Here’s how to diagnose and fix each of those 3 gaps: 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟭: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: Show your headline to a prospect for 5 seconds. Ask them “What does that mean?” If they can’t explain it back clearly, you’ve found your problem. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: You’ve got 5 words + one image to show you understand their desired outcome. If your headline talks about your product, you’re asking them to guess. If your headline talks about their goal, you’re on the right track. 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟮: Urgency 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: If prospects say “I’m too busy,” that means you’re not a top-3 priority. That’s an urgency problem. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: You can try simple tactics like time-limited discounts, and “problem agitation” copy that pokes at their pain. But here’s the real opportunity: Ask prospects what is on their top-3 list, and reposition or pivot to address a top 3 priority. 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝟯: Trust 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲: Ask recent signups “what almost stopped you from signing up?” Their answers will reveal your trust gaps. 𝗙𝗶𝘅: It’s a mistake to view trust as an amorphous concept like “brand.” Trust is rooted in specific concerns like “What will my team think?” “Will I actually use it?” or “Are your providers vetted?” Your action plan: 1. Run the 5-second test on your headline 2. Interview prospects to discover their top 3 priorities 3. Address specific trust issues (not general “brand building”) 💡 Want the whole playbook? We’ve recorded “The 15 Minute Landing Page” workshop - I’ll drop a link to the replay in the comments. Know somebody who’s struggling with conversion? Tag ‘em 👇

When Cheryl Bachelder became CEO of Popeyes in 2007, the company was dying. Stock price had crashed from $34 to $13. Four CEOs in seven years. Most new CEOs would have come in swinging. Fired people. Cut costs. Demanded results. Bachelder did this: She decided to serve her franchisees instead of commanding them. "How can we help you raise your bottom line?" became her question. She traveled city to city, meeting one-on-one with franchise owners. Not to lecture them...but to listen to them. She treated them as partners, not subordinates. The franchisees were shocked. Here's what happened over the next decade: 1. Restaurant sales rose 45 percent 2. Restaurant profits more than doubled 3. Stock price soared from $15 to $79 Bachelder proved something radical: "serving the people and the enterprise is by far the best path to superior financial performance." She built a culture where leaders served instead of being served. Most companies demand loyalty from the bottom up. Cheryl earned it from the top down.

A few words nearly cost me a deal. I thought I was being polite. Friendly. Respectful of their time. But what I said came across as vague, uncertain—and maybe even a little desperate. I had emailed a prospect with: “Just checking in to see if you had any thoughts…” Nothing. No reply. Later, on a call, they told me: “We weren’t quite sure what you were asking for—it felt more like a gentle nudge than a clear next step. In the meantime, we connected with another partner.” That moment stuck with me and changed everything. Since then, I’ve become much more intentional about the language I use and how even small changes can have a big impact. Am I perfect? Definitely not. But I’ve learned that the right words can shift how we’re perceived and how effectively we connect. Here are a few common phrases that may be quietly working against us—and what to say instead: 🔴 “Just checking in / Circling back…” ✅ Try: “I wanted to follow up with something that might support what you're working on.” 💬 Example: “You mentioned [pain point]—I found [insight/case study] that might help as you navigate [challenge].” 💡 Why it works: You’re bringing something to the table—not just asking for attention. 🔴 “Would you be open to…?” ✅ Try: “Could I ask for your help with…?” 💬 Example: “Could I ask for your help in connecting with a few of your peers in other divisions?” 💡 Why it works: It’s confident, respectful, and moves the conversation forward. 🔴 “Feel free to…” ✅ Try: “Here’s my availability—let’s find a time that works for you.” 💬 Example: “Would next Tuesday or Thursday work for a quick touch base?” 💡 Why it works: You’re making it easier to say yes—and showing you're serious. These changes are subtle—but powerful. Words matter. In sales, they can build trust… or create distance. The good news? With a few thoughtful swaps, you can shift from chasing to leading. Ring my bell 🔔 to make sure you see my posts

McDonald's and Starbucks could solve America’s charging infrastructure problem. Together these two companies operate more than 20k locations near highways with ample parking facilities. Imagine if all these high-traffic spots also offered EV charging… It would put EV infrastructure in virtually every commonly visited community hub across the country. And it’s a big win for them too. Adding charging infrastructure for them creates another reason for people to come to their locations. Here’s how I see this: - Increase dwell times. Drivers spend an average of 20–30 minutes at charging stations. (That’s time they could be grabbing a coffee or shopping for food.) - Turn loyalty programs into charge cards. Earn points with charge sessions even at other CPOs. - Supplement retail sales like coffee and snacks with charging revenue. Retail locations already serve as community hubs. Adding EV charging and routing to loyalty programs makes them essential stops on every driver’s journey. Here’s how retailers can maximize this opportunity: - Add routing to their loyalty programs to integrate it with customer habits. - Use amenity-based routing to prioritize stations near your locations. What’s your take on retail as the future of EV charging hubs? Let’s talk.👇

75% of visitors that land on your PDP bounce. That’s 3 out of 4 potential customers, gone. Why? Because most sites make visitors do the work: • Finding key product details • Figuring out why it’s worth buying • Searching for trust signals before committing But shoppers shouldn’t have to think. They should instantly believe you’re the right solution. In this post I'll be sharing a comprehensive guide of 12 changes you can do to your PDP to highlights benefits and convert shoppers.  1. Show key concerns your product solves. Keep them as a badge and place it above the product title. Gets them interested from the top of the page.       2. Highlight who is this product for. Place this under the product title. Important for skincare, personal care websites.       3. Highlight the quantity they get for the price they pay. This cab be grams, litres, days of supply.       4.  Add a badge like "Best seller", "Most loved". Do this where it's relevant. This builds confidence in their purchase decision.       5. Add the results the product has driven. This can be for other customers or the result of a clinical study you have conducted.       6. Show image thumbnails. The image gallery is the fastest way to tell what's in your product, how to use it, when to use it. Get them to scroll through it.       7. Highlight 3-5 key benefits of the product. Keep this in 1 line and have them in bullets or with icons.       8. Tell WHY is your product effective. In this example, I've added an ingredients section to explain that.       9. Keep add-to-cart as the primary CTA. And not buy now. This is relevant for skincare websites since you can cross-sell other products in this routine.      10. Optimize the area around the add to cart. Highlight shipping time, free shipping, where you ship.      11. Motivate purchase with samples or free gifts on orders. Shopper should spend $X to avail this. Increasing your AOV while delighting the shopper.      12. Add a cross-sell. Like 'Complete this routine', 'Complete this look'. Show which products go well with this one. Make it easy to add to cart from this page.      Other changes I did: • Removed auto slide from the announcement bar • Added breadcrumbs to help navigate to parent category (reduces bounce rate from PDPs) • Underlined reviews and added the review count. What’s one PDP change that made a difference for you? Drop it in the comments. P.S. If your product has not clinically proven to solve a problem, don’t mention it. The goal isn’t just one purchase. It’s about building a brand that lasts. One that's trusted and gets repeat buyers. Not one that dilutes its name for short-term sales.

Why Do Airports Use So Much Carpet? — it might not be what you think Last week, I found myself wandering through the retail concourses of Changi Airport in Singapore. My flight was comfortably early, so I took a stroll through the alley of duty-free shops, cafés and boutiques. And then I noticed it: the moquette. Changi uses moquette everywhere, from check-in to the gates. It’s beautiful, yes, but also deliberate: it softens acoustics, makes walking quieter — and, more interestingly, it slows people down. I naturally thought of one of our current engagements with a large retailer in France. Our task is to increase footfall, conversion and average basket size. Classic.   We introduced plenty of simple ideas (I love simple ideas). For example, we noticed staff spent 45 minutes daily sorting products. We asked distributors to pre-sort items alphabetically, matching the store layout. Sorting time fell below 20 minutes. Across the network, that’s 30 million minutes saved — and 6 million more customer interactions ( let’s assume a real 5 min interaction per customer) SO WHYH THE MOQUETTE? A perfect example of a tactic disguised as décor. • Carpet slows foot traffic (and trolleys) • Slower pace → longer dwell time → more chances a passer-by notices a display or steps inside • That means better conversion and bigger baskets SOME NUMBERS If numbers are your thing, here some reasoning: shoppers walk 1.5 m/s on tiles and 1.3 m/s on carpet — that 0.2 m/s slowdown means about 1.5 seconds more dwell time every 10 metres. Increasing dwell time by 1 % can lift sales by 1–2 %, and add 7–10 % boost in conversion. And yes you can model margin increase with added maintenance costs etc. ANOTHER WAY TO THINK OF SPEED For the same reason, a few years ago we helped design the entrance of a luxury retailer so that the walking speed would gradually slow down — from the fast pace of the sidewalk to the calm rhythm of browsing inside the store. We mapped the first seven metres from the entrance and placed products according to the natural deceleration of customers. At the front: high-contrast displays and strong visual triggers — handbags, travel accessories, fragrances — items that catch attention even when you’re still walking fast. Further inside: finer products that require a moment of pause — watches, skincare, jewellery, bespoke items — where curiosity turns into consideration. The goal wasn’t to change the architecture, but the tempo. Because in retail, as in music, rhythm defines emotion — and emotion drives conversion. ___ So as I sat at the gate waiting to board, I looked again at the floor — the same moquette that had just inspired a retail lesson.. Sometimes, commercial excellence isn’t about grand strategies or pricing models — it’s simply about making people walk a little slower. 🔔 Follow to discover more: coming next our playbook covering 20 tactics to increase footfall and conversion. ♻️ Share if you know someone who’d find this useful.

🎢 Onboarding UX Playbook (+ Decision Trees). Practical techniques for better onboarding UX, design patterns, kits and Figma templates — on mobile and desktop. 🚫 Users often skip tutorials/walkthroughs entirely. 🚫 Never block the UI with full-page onboarding modals. 🚫 Avoid long multi-step tutorials with 5+ steps. ✅ Ask customers what goals they are trying to achieve. ✅ Allow users to hide walkthroughs and restore them later. ✅ Focus on bringing users to first success moments fast. ✅ Structure your onboarding suggestions in bite-sized chunks. ✅ Explain features when users slow down or make mistakes. ✅ Show features when users lose time with repetitive tasks. ✅ Prevent failure with an early warning system for new users. ✅ Collapsible checklists work well for onboarding. ✅ Personalized onboarding works even better. ✅ Design sets of filters, templates and empty states. ✅ Show starter kits based on user’s profile and interests. ✅ Consider short video guides and email drip campaigns. Good onboarding can’t be generic. It has to be relevant and valuable. Define your user segments first. Design a set of presets to help them get to success moments faster. Think of the questions you need to ask to customize their experience. Think about filters and presets they might need. Onboarding tutorials often appear once and get instantly dismissed, nowhere to be found again. Allow users to find them when they need it. Bring them up when users slow down or make mistakes. And test the discoverability of your features continuously. If a feature is obvious, you might not need to explain it at all. And if it isn’t, perhaps onboarding won’t solve this problem either. Useful resources: How to Choose Onboarding Methods and Components, by NewsKit 👍 Methods: https://lnkd.in/eWn5FPWA Decision Tree: https://lnkd.in/e8TmMDFf Design Patterns: https://lnkd.in/ed7HjzkW Onboarding UX Playbook, by Eleana Gkogka https://lnkd.in/edcDfMFG Complete Onboarding UX Guide (free eBook), by Intercom https://lnkd.in/eAxT6ZM4 User Onboarding Best Practices, by Taras Bakusevych https://lnkd.in/eRwr2tEc Guide to Onboarding, by Phil Byrne https://lnkd.in/esEavgw7 How Spotify Organizes Onboarding in Figma, by Barton Smith, Cliona O'Sullivan https://lnkd.in/ei434tqq Mobile Onboarding Wireframe Flows (Figma template) https://lnkd.in/ekhzWFJz UX Onboarding Patterns, by Eve Weinberg https://lnkd.in/e7_M4kDv #ux #design