client challenge
- Our client, a leading brand of window treatments, developed an online product visualization tool designed to help their B2B partners increase sales; however, the adoption and use of the tool by these partners was inconsistent.
- They wanted to understand the issue – was it the roll-out of the tool, the tool itself, or both? – and identify specific changes that were needed to make it an effective sales tool.
- Our client also wanted to make sure their business partners understood how important they were to the organization and that their input mattered.
decision point approach
- We conducted virtual in-depth UX interviews with select partners and observed and discussed how they used the tool with their customers. We dug into what was most helpful to the sales process, where the tool could be improved, and other opportunity areas.
- We also surveyed partners who had limited usage or had not used the tool to understand why.
impactful solutions
- Through the research, we identified why the tool was not used as expected and recommended specific changes to the tool to turn that around.
- We also identified that education was needed to increase adoption of the tool – partners did not want to be seen as struggling in front of their customers. We recommended a short tutorial to help get new users up-to-speed quickly.
- We gained a better understanding of where and how the tool fit into the sales process which led to additional recommendations to help streamline the process.
actionable results
- The client made significant improvements to the online tool which improved user experience.
- Educating partners on how to use the sales tool led to increased adoption and use – and ultimately helped to increase window treatment sales.
- Including business partners in the research made them feel more invested in the sales tool and helped our client strengthen their B2B relationships.
