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Choosing
the right beta sites and administering them with care are key to a company's
growth. How the beta process is managed can define the success with which
your product or service will enter the marketplace.
Beta sites
are companies or individuals that test a product or service before it
reaches the market with an aim to improve the quality, focus or features.
The beta phase is a time to test out the strength not only of your product/service,
but the strength of your company as well. This pre-launch period may be
the first time all departments in the company, including sales, marketing,
engineering, finance and human resources, will be tested on their ability
to work in concert.
Planning
Before choosing your beta sites, understand how your strategic goals are
spread over the three stages of beta-testing: beta site selection, the
test run and follow-up. Determine whether a singular, phased or serial
beta approach is optimal. If you plan to have high-profile beta sites
that will be key references later on, your company may decide to do a
"beta for your betas." This serial approach gives you the opportunity
to work out some of the initial problems before taking it to your most
valued beta sites. The phased rollout entails increasing the number of
sites over time and helps alleviate the danger of overloading your implementation
and support teams.
Strategic
goals to achieve with your betas
Betas play multiple roles in the process of developing, positioning and
introducing a product to market. They are vital to your engineering efforts,
but to your marketing and sales efforts in almost equal measure. Beta
releases also help determine the scale of your customer-support infrastructure.
As part of your launch, betas must be compatible with your long- and short-term
strategy.
Because the
outcome of the beta test can be so crucial to your company, choose beta
users with particular care. They should reflect the vertical markets or
market segments your company plans to target and, for business-related
products, the executives with the authority to buy your product/service.
With the opportunity to use the product/service from inception and to
influence development, beta testers will end up tailoring it to their
own needs, both as individuals and as organizations - thus those needs
should match those of your target customers.
It is a mistake
to view beta testers merely as a means to determine the potential of your
product/service. Beta users are a mix of investor and customer, with the
ability to spread your product/service across their own companies, as
well as within their vertical markets. As such, retaining these pre-launch
partners should be an integral part of your marketing and sales strategy.
These early adopters are taking a chance and will invest time and money
to use your product/service. Planning and consideration go a long way
in creating strong advocates of help to your company on the way to a successful
launch.
Selecting
the beta site
Having identified your market, competitors and potential customers, it
is time to think ahead and survey potential beta sites during early product
marketing efforts. Don't lose sight of what achievements you expect to
come out of the beta phase; getting feedback on your product/service is
not the sole aim - your company is also preparing to send its message
to the marketplace. Manage the process well and beta sites can deliver
credible reference customers that will grow awareness about your company
and demand for what you are selling.
- Establish
relationships early with potential candidates that fulfill target criteria.
Get practical input from them before you draw up a shortlist of potential
beta sites.
- Make sure
your beta sites understand the basic requirements necessary for effectively
testing your product/service. Ascertain that the hardware equipment
of each site is compatible with your product/service, and its work force
capable of satisfying your demands.
- To zero
in on the right sites, use your network of contacts in the industry.
Do not hesitate to ask your investors for help - not only do they have
an interest in your success, but the backing of highly regarded investors
can greatly boost your efforts as you approach potential beta sites.
Signing
up the beta site
Four components comprise a successful engagement with a test site: a strong
initial contract, high-quality user surveys, careful project monitoring
and integration of the feedback gathered during the test.
The contract
your company signs with your beta sites should reflect the mutually beneficial
nature of the engagement. Include incentives for the beta sites alongside
clauses that allow your company to achieve its strategic goals. A well-planned
agreement will include the following:
- Fees -
Engaging a paying beta site is optimal; references are much stronger
when beta users are willing to pay for your product/service even at
this early stage. However, your company is expecting a lot from the
beta user. It is therefore important to significantly discount payment,
by offering your product/service at a lower price for the first year
or by phasing in payment over time. Your beta testers can be seen as
co-developers; the mutually beneficial relationships you build with
them can carry you through the inevitable difficulties.
- Public
relations/reference clause - Too often, vendors think they have received
an implicit agreement that beta users will speak on their behalf to
journalists and analysts once the pre-launch is complete. As a result,
the vendor doesn't bother to make this explicit agreement in the contract.
One word of advice: Get it in writing. A line in the contract stating
the user's willingness to be included in public relations efforts, including
case studies, press releases and other collateral, saves a lot of heartache
in the end. A separate stipulation of the user's willingness to serve
as a reference for investors and other potential users is recommended.
- Surveys
- Specify in the contract how your company will monitor the beta's progress,
and what is expected from the user regarding your access and their help
in gathering feedback. Developing a series of survey questionnaires
is an excellent way to collect information at various stages of the
beta testing. Send them prior to installation to ensure technological
compatibility, during the rollout and at various times during the actual
test phase. In the survey design process, get input from all parts of
your company - engineering, marketing, sales, finance and human resources.
Use multiple choice designs, allow plenty of space for feedback and
make yourself available to beta users to discuss aspects of the questionnaire.
Integrating
beta site feedback
Capturing feedback and reactions (good, bad or indifferent) will help
form the future direction of your product/service, and the message your
company sends to the marketplace. Your organization needs to develop a
mechanism to accept and integrate all the feedback, with enough flexibility
to make changes quickly and effectively. Integrating feedback from beta
sites is a two-way street. You will need to respond to criticisms and
suggestions either by changing your product/service or by educating your
customer during the beta process.
From a customer
relations perspective, the relationships developed during the beta phase
will set the standard for what potential customers will expect from your
company and its support infrastructure. It allows your company to plan
and budget for developing a strong in-house and/or partner support network.
If your product is new and unusual (and hopefully it is), how you present
it to your beta sites will greatly impact their perception of your company
as a whole. Your sincerity and commitment to the beta sites not only are
key to building future relationships with potential users, but will crucially
influence the quality of their feedback.
Undoubtedly,
your company will want to use some or all of your beta sites as references
in the follow-up process. Finding ways to do this, while at the same time
not overburdening beta users, isn't always easy. Always start by providing
those asking for references with a document that has been created and
signed by the beta user. Then, if they still require a direct reference,
spread requests among testers (practice "load balancing") to
avoid overburdening them.
The production
of case studies is an important element of follow-up. Work with writers
well briefed in both the technology and the client as you prepare case
studies with your betas. Design case studies with several constituencies
in mind to optimize their range of use and effectiveness. For example,
target the case study to an entire vertical market, as well as to a certain
level manager in a variety of organizations.
In case studies,
the experience of the user is key, but for press releases, make sure to
address the need for stature among press and analysts. Quote the most
senior person possible at a beta site in your press releases.
Beyond
the beta test
Choose and manage your company's beta sites well, and they are likely
to be among your first partners and customers. Focus on retaining those
beta sites most able to positively impact sales of your product/service,
by selecting leaders in your target market with a long-term need for your
product/service, whose use will increase demand among other companies.
Customers
understand when a beta has bugs - flaws are to be expected, although tolerance
drops in mission-critical systems. Whether or not users experience problems
with the product is less significant than the way in which your company
responds to their reports. Prompt attention and open communication go
a long way in quelling the concerns of your beta sites. The impact of
one extremely helpful technical support person can turn out to be the
critical piece of an entire relationship with a beta customer. By the
same token, if a beta partner doesn't receive qualified help when it's
needed, an excellent possibility can be ruined. While this article focused
primarily on harnessing beta sites for sales and marketing efforts, beta
planning is an invaluable tool in improving your company's internal processes.
Beta tests act as a reality check to determine if departments are scaling
to the right size and speed. Account management and customer service,
sales, finance, engineering and operational infrastructure will be tested
during the process. Thoroughly address any red flags that emerge. Start
with a clear, overarching strategic plan, add tactical plans for each
department linked to each phase and you've got not only the ingredients,
but also the recipe for a successful beta site launch.
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Case
Study:
Vigil
Technology Beta Tests e-Sense
Vigil Technology is planning to launch e-Sense, the first
complete online solution for automatic gathering of business
intelligence from the Internet, in the fourth quarter of this
year. Founded in Israel, the company has established its headquarters
in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
With
a tight timeline, that means fast and focused attention on
the beta process, which began in the middle of August, and
a lot of time on the road. Vigil CEO Gidi Cohen notes, "In
order to successfully roll out the beta, gather feedback,
and integrate it into our product marketing efforts, we needed
to have a detailed plan that was specific enough to know what
steps needed to be taken when, but flexible enough to allow
for unforeseen changes, such as people leaving the beta site
organization."
Goals
of the beta
Vigil had a clear idea in mind of its market sector and specific
launch goals for e-Sense. The company chose a mix of beta
sites that reflected its user profiles, enabling Vigil to
gather accurate data about a typical user's interaction with
e-Sense.
Vigil
also chose an ASP model of distribution for e-Sense. A client
server solution, e-Sense's thin client sits on the user's
computer, while the backend of the application is hosted and
managed by Vigil. Because the model is fairly new, Vigil wanted
to test all aspects of the organization's ability to operate
within this model, from engineering and hosting to customer
support and product marketing.
During
the search and selection period, as well as during the test
phase itself, Vigil was able to validate its positioning,
pricing and method of delivery. Cohen explains how: "Talking
to the potential beta sites was like having a moving focus
group. Although we had done a lot research in the marketplace,
showing the actual product in action prompted a lot of valuable
feedback, such as how our users currently try to solve the
problem of achieving comprehensive and continuous coverage
of their business landscape, how they would use e-Sense to
help achieve this, and how it would impact their working habits."
Cohen continues, "We were able to integrate their suggestions
immediately through our product marketing cycle, ensuring
that their feedback was a part of our engineering as well
as marketing communications and sales efforts for our launch
next quarter."
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Lucy
P. Marcus is the CEO of
Marcus Venture Consulting Ltd., a consulting company specifically designed to work with
venture capital and private equity funds, institutions, and corporations,
and is the founder of HighTech
Women. (Lucy
was profiled in the Financial Times -- read it here)
This article
first appeared in TORNADO-INSIDER.COM - Magazine. Issue 7, November
1999
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Feedback:
The article written by Lucy is very good. It capture the whole process
of beta testing. I will certainly use this article from time to time to
remind me what to do and what not to do.
Roseni
Dearden
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