And the Best Customer Service Award goes to…

Last year, the Marketing team at Jonajo started using both VWO (Visual Website Optimizer) and Optimizely to run A/B tests on a webpage of a client while at the same time comparing both tools with one another. Both tools let you run campaigns with different variations where you can manipulate the images, text and even the order of sections that are on display on the website without needing to have any CSS or HTML knowledge. Both tools provide heat maps, multivariate test options, targeting tests, test reporting and segmenting, etc. Users can compare the engagement visitors have as well as the amount of times a specific goal has been reached, from one variation to the other throughout the period of time the experiment is running.

VWO results view

We tried the trial version for both tools, meaning that the amount of activities we could do using that specific version were limited. VWO offers a 30-day free trial while Optimizely let’s you try the free version for an unlimited amount of time.

Optimizely results view

How Customer Service impacts decision making.

I found a few differences in the way each brand provides Customer Service, while experimenting with the trial version in both Optimizely and VWO.

Find below a small comparison table on factors I think influence potential client’s decision-making.

| VWO | Optimizely
Support | 9/10 Provided real-time support. Client can talk with agent on skype at any time both are online. | 8/10 If you are on the starter plan you can email a person from support, sometimes wait a couple of days for an answer. No online tickets or phone support if you are enrolled this same plan.

Inquiries

10/10 Client can make as many inquiries as they need.

8/10 Limited amount of inquiries answered.

You will be provided with more information only if you are enrolled in the Enterprise plan.

Pricing information availability | 10/10 Plans and pricing are displayed on the pricing tab. | 8.5/10 Starter plan is for free and for an unlimited amount of time. To know the pricing of the enterprise plan you need to contact the team to get a quote.
Location | 8/10 Based in India. Different time zone | 10/10 Based in the US.
Score | 92.5% | 86.25%

Convenience is a factor that plays a big role in the decision-making process. I find that people value their time more than anything and are not willing to wait to get valuable information, sometimes to only learn that they simply cannot afford the product/service. Having someone that will take your questions in real time is very valuable. I was surprised to learn that even when VWO is based in India, most times, I didn’t have a problem communicating with them. Optimizely is generous by providing the starter plan for an unlimited time and for some companies it may work to have a, what seems to me, limited support.

The fact of the matter is that we are in an age where people have any options to choose from meaning that brands need to provide both a differentiator and great customer service to get people to choose their product over the competition’s.

You can read more on blogs like altima blog that have an interesting ten point comparison between the tools as well as sitepoint that focuses on the A/B testing feature both tools offer.