Self-Service Portal Experiment
Data-driven pivot from self-service to sales enablement
Situation
Eterneva wanted to enable customers to independently design their memorial diamond, share information about their loved one, select attributes, capture consents, and set up payment plans online. Designs existed in Figma but nothing had been implemented.
Task
Lead completion and launch of the self-service portal with Stripe payment plan integration, then validate it through a controlled experiment in the main customer flow.
Action
- Led the development team through building the portal in Bubble with Stripe API integration for payment plans
- Set up a 10% experiment introducing the portal into the main customer flow
- Monitored results: high click-through but significant drop-off before payment
- Surfaced the data to the CEO, who determined the product was not ready for full launch
- Managed the pivot to using the portal as a sales enablement tool, capturing high-intent leads and preferred diamond attributes for the sales team
Result
The experiment surfaced a channel mismatch: customers in this grief-sensitive category were not converting through unassisted checkout. The data-driven pivot to sales enablement delivered value by capturing high-intent leads and preferred diamond attributes for the sales team.
Key Learnings
- A controlled experiment can save a company from a premature full launch
- When a product doesn't convert as expected, the data itself is valuable for deciding the next move
- Pivoting a failed self-service tool to sales enablement can still extract value from the investment