In this webinar, we share our expert advice on how to run a successful B2B beta tests that will help you save time, money, and resources so you can hit the ground running with happy customers. Use this link to access the on-demand webinar: https://www.centercode.com/webinar/2016/august/

1. 1
Running a Successful B2B Beta Test

2. Meet the Speaker
Mario Sancho
Sales Director @ Centercode
mario@centercode.com
/mariosancho

3. Agenda
1. Beta Challenges
2. The Beta Process
3. Adjusting the Beta Process for B2B Success
4. Q&A

4. Beta Testing =
Customer Validation
Targeted customers using your product in real environments
Increases quality, improves user experience, validates performance
B2B Beta is when customers are using your product in a business environment

5. Who is Centercode?
Services Fully managed tests and programs
Software Complete beta program management platform
Testers Access to 150k+ deeply profiled global candidates
Content Free tools and best practices
Customer validation is our core competency
We've been collecting customer feedback for tech companies since 2001

6. Beta Challenges

7. Typical Beta Challenges
Project design and scoping
Allocating qualified resources
Recruiting ideal testers
Persistent user engagement
Collecting useful feedback
Discovering and delivering insight

8. The Beta Process

9. Beta Closure
● Final Survey
● Incentive Management
● Product Collection
● Wrap-up ➤ Closure Report
Beta Preparation
● Scoping & Design ➤ Beta Test Plan
● Platform Workspace Setup
● Tester Recruitment & Selection
● Product Distribution
Test Period
● Onboarding and Support
● Feedback Collection (Bugs, Suggestions, Journals,
Discussions)
● Directed Activities (Surveys, Tasks, Interviews)
● Engagement Monitoring + Management
● Team Support
● Weekly Reports
Beta
Process
Meeting
Deliverable

10. Adjusting the Process
for B2B Beta Testing

11. More often than not, testers are your current customers
Tests are usually smaller in size
Instead of testers, you have sites and sites might have multiple testers
Product being tested is typically highly integrated and of high value
Two major challenges:
1. Finding testers
2. Participation
What Makes B2B Betas Unique

12. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Starts with clearly defined objectives for the product and testers
Testers are first and foremost your customers
If multiple testers come from one company go with “Test Sites”
There are often two Beta Plans:
● The overall plan that outlines feedback objectives and target market
● Individual site beta plans to balance what features will be tested
Scope & Design

13. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Confidentiality
● Individual vs company NDA
● Can testers collaboration between each other?
Use Segmentations
● Segment testers by sites or individually
● Create a segmentation for your sales team or SEs
○ They will often submit feedback on behalf of the tester/site
Will the testers/site be able to call for support or will they use the
provided workspace?
Platform Workspace

14. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Candidate sources
● Marketing
● Sales
● Support
Recruit through your sales team
● Send them an invite to refer their customers
Recruit a “primary tester” then recruit additional testers within their
company
Even if testers have been preselected create an application to allow
the testers the opportunity to opt-in
Consider “why” they are testing when selecting testers
Recruitment & Selection

15. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Install and test the product internally
Ship the product yourself (not through corporate logistics)
Create a welcome letter/package
Verify shipping address prior to shipping (probably not the
same as the address in the CRM system)
Product Distribution

16. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Start with tester readiness - are they still ready, willing, and able?
Follow a proactive support strategy, especially in week one
● Do not assume they will start as soon as the product is received
● Remind them of their commitment to participate
Lean on your task lists
● Creates an action item in the mind of the testers
● Is perceived as the minimum participation requirement
Onboarding & Support

17. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Types of Ongoing Feedback Reports
1. Bug Reports
2. Feature Suggestions
3. Journals
4. Support Requests
5. Test/Site Reports
6. User Forums
Ongoing Feedback Management

18. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Site Beta Plans
● Should differ from site to site
● Have been agreed to by your customer prior to posting
Tasks Lists
● Created/posted weekly
● Keep them short
● Assigned by site if using sites
Directed Activities

19. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Surveys
● Created/posted weekly
● Minimize the use of open ended questions
Interviews
● Standard set of questions asked of every tester/site
● Plan for 15 minutes in length
Directed Activities

20. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Requires more nurturing than most betas
Will typically only participate if:
1. Experiencing a bug
2. Require support
Think tactically - If you are using a tool like Centercode, post your
surveys before giving the the opportunity to submit a support request
If a site is unresponsive:
● Check with their sales contact
● Determine the strategic value to the company
● If client serves a strategic value, move them to a VIP team and
stop engaging them
Engagement Management

21. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
If there is a product meeting ensure that beta is represented
Standard reports should be on stated objectives
Report on some basic KPIs:
● Installs
● Issues reported/fixed
● Test Plan results (possibly by sites)
● Weekly surveys
Team Support & Reports

22. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Participation reports
● Create a weekly participation report
● If the test is small or not all testers are engaging consider
reporting on:
○ % of Test Plan objectives completed
Stick to the original test plan unless a major issue causes you to pivot
Avoid taking request from the team for additional information
Team Support & Reports

23. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Consider it a “mini” project
Can cover all the objectives of the beta
Remember to use “N/A”
Advertise and focus on “Final” as the last thing they must do
Hold a wrap-up meeting with the tester/site
Final Survey & NPS

24. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
Consider giving two types of incentives:
● The company incentive
● The individual incentive
Merit based incentives can be used but not announced because all the
testers are customers
Verify they do not violate any corporate gift giving policy
Incentive Management

25. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
If product needs to be retrieved, withhold the individual incentive
until the product is received
Send all instructions when requesting the product
● Include the “When, Where and Why”
● Should include a box and a pre paid shipping label
What if they are unresponsive?
● Create a series of letters each escalating in seriousness
● At least one of the letters should sound legal in nature without
threatening any legal action
● Engage sales for help? Can be a double edge sword
Product Collection

26. Scope & Design → Test Plan
Platform Workspace Setup
Tester Recruitment & Selection
Product Distribution
Final Survey & NPS
Incentive Management
Product Collection
Wrap-up → Closure Report
Tester Onboarding & Support
Ongoing Feedback Management
Directed Activities
Engagement Management
Team Support & Reports
Preparation
Test Period
Closure
B2B Beta Process
If possible hold a wrap-up meeting with the internal stakeholders
At a minimum, create a closure report which should cover:
● Objectives from the beta plan
● Results of the objectives
● Total feedback collected
● Verified issues and issues addressed
● Overall tester sentiment and insights
Consider sending each site a “mini” version of the report focusing on:
● All issues addressed
● How their feedback was used or will be used
Wrap -up

27. 27
Final Thoughts
Create and understand your objectives from the start
Individual “Site objectives” should be balanced by the strategic value of your
company. The higher the value, the lower the participation.
Ongoing reporting should be as much about the product as the client/site
During Beta, support is proactive and not reactive

28. 28
Q&A
Mario Sancho
Sales Director @ Centercode
mario@centercode.com
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Thank You!

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