Special Ops Podcast Episode Summary

Title: Funnel Quality Checks You Should Do Before AND After Launching
Host: Emma Rainville
Guest: Richard Parkin, Chief Marketing Officer at Shockwave
Release Date: May 28, 2025

Emma Rainville, the seasoned entrepreneur and host of the Special Ops podcast, delves deep into the intricacies of funnel quality assurance (QA) in the latest episode titled "Funnel Quality Checks You Should Do Before AND After Launching." Joined by Richard Parkin, her Chief Marketing Officer, Emma explores the critical steps businesses must undertake to ensure their sales funnels operate seamlessly both before and after launch. This comprehensive discussion unveils common pitfalls, strategic QA practices, and the importance of maintaining robust operational frameworks to drive business growth.

1. The Overlooked Importance of Funnel QA

Richard Parkin opens the conversation by highlighting how even meticulously crafted funnels can falter if not properly connected and tested. He emphasizes the prevalence of seemingly minor oversights that can lead to significant operational failures.

Richard Parkin [00:00]: "We've had people with this perfect funnel flow built this fantastic front end upsell that everyone wants, but then they've forgotten to connect the product for the upsell."

Emma echoes this sentiment, expressing frustration over the ease with which these mistakes occur and go unchecked.

Emma Rainville [00:13]: "It's been such a journey to see how easily people just screw these things up and then never check."

2. Comprehensive Pre- and Post-Launch Testing

The duo underscores the necessity of conducting thorough QA both before and after a funnel goes live. Richard shares his methodology for ensuring every component functions as intended.

Richard Parkin [00:07]: "We like to check before we put everything live and right after we put everything live."

They discuss the importance of testing every variation of the funnel, especially in complex setups with multiple customer paths.

Emma Rainville [04:11]: "So what I'm hearing is the first thing you do is before you go live, you run through the entire funnel. Do you do every variation that the funnel has to offer?"

Richard Parkin [04:20]: "Generally, it's going to depend on how complex the funnel is. Like, typically, if you've got a complicated funnel, you're going to want to go for your high priority stuff first."

3. Real Transactions Over Test Cases

A pivotal point in their discussion is the recommendation to use real credit card transactions during testing phases instead of relying solely on test cards. This approach ensures that all billing descriptors and payment flows function correctly.

Emma Rainville [05:23]: "No one's testing their funnels with a credit card. Oh, yeah, you need an actual credit card."

Richard elaborates on the necessity of being the first customer to identify and rectify issues that may arise post-launch.

Richard Parkin [05:23]: "The only way you're going to be absolutely certain of what's actually happening is to take a look for it, make sure you are your first customer."

4. Cross-Platform and Mobile Testing

Given the dominance of mobile commerce, the conversation shifts to the imperative of testing funnels across various browsers and devices to capture a holistic user experience.

Emma Rainville [07:12]: "You've got to be checking it in at least a couple of different browsers."

Richard Parkin [08:02]: "Look at this point, last time I've I looked at the overall industry stats, it's about 80% of people are shopping and buying on their phones now."

5. Legal Compliance and Policy Integration

Richard dives into the legal aspects of funnel setup, detailing the essential policies and terms that must be present to safeguard the business and build customer trust.

Richard Parkin [09:07]: "First thing I'm taking a look at is how the page loads."

Emma Rainville [12:00]: "They make sure that claims aren't being made that shouldn't be made and whatnot."

The discussion includes the necessity of clear refund policies, privacy policies, and terms & conditions, ensuring they are visible and accessible throughout the funnel.

Richard Parkin [12:19]: "You need to have a refund policy."

6. Post-Checkout Optimization and Tracking

Post-purchase processes, such as tracking events and autoresponders, are crucial for maintaining customer relationships and measuring funnel effectiveness. Richard explains the importance of verifying these elements to ensure data is accurately captured and utilized for future marketing efforts.

Richard Parkin [14:11]: "Then we start taking a look at the upsell flow, your everything that comes after the confirmation."

Emma Rainville [18:27]: "If you're giving your customer a bad experience, you are gonna get more refunds, you're gonna get more dissatisfied customers right from the beginning."

7. Real-World QA Experiences and Lessons

Emma shares anecdotes from Shockwave’s QA processes, illustrating the common discrepancies and errors found during funnel assessments. These real-world examples reinforce the critical nature of diligent QA practices.

Emma Rainville [16:57]: "The amount of mistakes that you found. And just insane."

Richard adds depth by discussing the tangible costs associated with overlooked policies and the potential legal ramifications businesses may face.

Richard Parkin [17:21]: "It's the policy side of it. But if your products aren't working, if you're giving your customer a bad experience, you are gonna get more refunds..."

8. Implementing a Robust QA Checklist

To aid listeners in implementing effective QA processes, Emma and Richard introduce a comprehensive QA checklist tailored to various product types, including events, physical products, info products, services, and SaaS.

Emma Rainville [19:37]: "So, as we do at Special Ops, Richard created a QA check list that actually puts all those nuances in there for you..."

9. Continuous Monitoring and Team Involvement

The episode concludes with an emphasis on the necessity of ongoing funnel monitoring. Emma advocates for involving team members, particularly those in customer service, to conduct regular QA checks, ensuring swift identification and resolution of issues.

Emma Rainville [19:37]: "The best person on your team to QA the funnel regularly."

Richard Parkin [18:07]: "But having your customer service team, particularly at pivotal moments, go in and make sure that they're testing..."

Conclusion

Emma Rainville and Richard Parkin provide a thorough exploration of funnel QA, underscoring its pivotal role in sustaining and scaling business operations. By addressing technical, legal, and experiential facets of funnel management, this episode equips entrepreneurs with actionable strategies to fortify their sales processes against common and complex challenges.

For additional resources, listeners are encouraged to download the free playbook available at Special Ops Podcast and implement the QA checklist designed by Richard to enhance their funnel's effectiveness and reliability.

Notable Quotes:

• Richard Parkin [00:07]: "We like to check before we put everything live and right after we put everything live."
• Emma Rainville [05:55]: "When I'm testing a funnel, I want to make sure that the triggers happen, particularly on recurring payments."
• Richard Parkin [09:40]: "There's still got a lot of potential customers who are on slower Internet or who have... less, even less of an attention span."
• Emma Rainville [18:27]: "If you're giving your customer a bad experience, you are gonna get more refunds."
• Richard Parkin [19:37]: "If you haven't done these types of checks with your funnels, run go right now."