# CRO methodology Human Guide

## What This Is For
Scientific, customer-centric approach to conversion rate optimization based on the CRE Methodology(TM). It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for conversion optimization: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the CRO methodology agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for CRO methodology.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the CRO methodology guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Define success metrics aligned with business KPIs before touching any page
- Map the entire funnel to find "blocked arteries" (high-traffic underperforming paths) and "missing links" (absent funnel stages)
- Research visitors in three dimensions: who they are, what blocks them (UX problems), what stops them (objections)
- Gather market intelligence from competitors, reviews, and other industries
- Prioritize ideas with ICE scoring; design bold experiments, not "meek tweaks"
- Run experiments with statistical rigor (95% confidence minimum, full business cycles), then scale wins across the business
- "What's preventing you from [action] today?" (exit survey to discover objections)
- "Here's what [X] customers found..." (counter-objection with social proof)
- Primary sources (exit surveys, live chat, tickets, sales calls) give direct visitor language; secondary sources (reviews, social media, competitors) reveal industry-wide objections
- The "Big 5" universal objections: Trust, Price, Fit, Timing, Effort
- Quantitative research (analytics, heatmaps) shows WHERE problems are; qualitative (surveys, interviews) shows WHY
- Non-converter surveys should ask ONE question for maximum response; post-purchase surveys ("What almost stopped you from buying?") reveal the objections that matter most

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Core Principle, Scoring, The CRO Frameworks, The CRO Process, Customer Research & Objections, Persuasion Assets, The O/CO Framework, Hypothesis Design, A/B Testing Methodology, Common Mistakes.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **Ethical boundary:** Anonymize data, get consent for recordings, and don't survey so aggressively that you degrade the experience.
- Lead with benefits, not features: "Never delete another photo" beats "256GB storage"
- **Ethical boundary:** Never fabricate testimonials, inflate statistics, or display fake trust badges -- all proof must be genuine and verifiable.
- Research objections from surveys, chat logs, tickets, and sales calls -- don't guess
- **Ethical boundary:** A counter-objection must resolve the concern with real evidence, not dismiss a legitimate worry as unfounded.
- Define primary (decides winner), secondary (monitoring), and guardrail (must not decrease) metrics before testing
- Calculate required sample size BEFORE starting (baseline rate, minimum detectable effect, 80% power, 95% significance)
- Never peek at results and stop early -- it dramatically inflates false positives

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the CRO methodology human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the wondelai/skills skill entry for `cro-methodology`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# CRO Methodology

Scientific, customer-centric approach to conversion rate optimization based on the CRE Methodology(TM). Extraordinary improvements come from understanding WHY visitors don't convert, not from copying competitors or applying generic tips.

## Core Principle

**Don't guess -- discover.** Every visitor who doesn't convert has a reason. Discover those reasons through research, then systematically eliminate them with evidence and proof. This evidence-based approach consistently outperforms "best practices", intuition, competitor copying, and expert opinion.

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Score any landing page, funnel, or conversion flow against the seven Quick Diagnostic rows below: award ~1.4 points per row answered "yes" (7 rows = 9.8, capped at 10). Bands: **9-10** = single clear action, research-grounded O/CO table, value prop legible in 5 seconds, proof at every friction point, funnel mapped, path free of UX blockers; **5-6** = guessed objections, generic best-practices copy, proof buried in FAQs; **<=3** = competing CTAs, no funnel map, claims with no proof. Report the current score and the specific diagnostic rows failing.

## The CRO Frameworks

### 1. The CRO Process

**Core concept:** A systematic 9-step process moving from defining success metrics through research and experimentation to scaling wins across the business.

**Why it works:** Random optimization skips research. The process forces you to understand visitors before changing anything, so every change rests on evidence, not opinion.

**Key insights:**
- Define success metrics aligned with business KPIs before touching any page
- Map the entire funnel to find "blocked arteries" (high-traffic underperforming paths) and "missing links" (absent funnel stages)
- Research visitors in three dimensions: who they are, what blocks them (UX problems), what stops them (objections)
- Gather market intelligence from competitors, reviews, and other industries
- Prioritize ideas with ICE scoring; design bold experiments, not "meek tweaks"
- Run experiments with statistical rigor (95% confidence minimum, full business cycles), then scale wins across the business

**Product applications:**

| Context | CRO Process Step | Example |
|---------|-----------------|---------|
| **Landing page audit** | Define goals, map funnel, research visitors | 70% bounce because value prop is unclear |
| **Checkout optimization** | Map funnel for blocked arteries | Shipping cost shock causes 40% cart abandonment |
| **Email sequence** | Scale wins | Winning objection-handling copy reused in drip emails |

**Copy patterns:**
- "What's preventing you from [action] today?" (exit survey to discover objections)
- "Here's what [X] customers found..." (counter-objection with social proof)

See [funnel-analysis.md](references/funnel-analysis.md) when mapping the funnel -- step-by-step mapping, blocked-artery/missing-link diagnosis, industry funnel benchmarks, and impact-based prioritization.

### 2. Customer Research & Objections

**Core concept:** Visitors fail to convert for specific, discoverable reasons. Exit surveys, chat logs, support tickets, sales calls, and reviews reveal the "voice of the customer" and their real objections.

**Why it works:** Teams' guesses about why visitors leave are almost always wrong. Research uncovers objections no one anticipated, and the customer's own language out-persuades any copywriter's invention.

**Key insights:**
- Primary sources (exit surveys, live chat, tickets, sales calls) give direct visitor language; secondary sources (reviews, social media, competitors) reveal industry-wide objections
- The "Big 5" universal objections: Trust, Price, Fit, Timing, Effort
- Quantitative research (analytics, heatmaps) shows WHERE problems are; qualitative (surveys, interviews) shows WHY
- Non-converter surveys should ask ONE question for maximum response; post-purchase surveys ("What almost stopped you from buying?") reveal the objections that matter most

**Product applications:**

| Context | Research Method | Example |
|---------|---------------|---------|
| **Exit intent** | On-site survey | "What's preventing you from signing up today?" |
| **Post-purchase** | Email survey within 7 days | "What almost stopped you from buying?" |
| **Objection mining** | Support tickets + reviews | Search "but", "however", "worried about"; negative reviews = unaddressed objections |

**Copy patterns:**
- Use exact customer language in headlines and body copy -- it outperforms polished marketing copy
- "What's the one thing we could change to make you [action]?"
- "How would you describe [product] to a friend?" (reveals positioning in customer terms)

**Ethical boundary:** Anonymize data, get consent for recordings, and don't survey so aggressively that you degrade the experience.

See [RESEARCH.md](references/RESEARCH.md) when planning research -- ready-to-use survey questions per channel, recommended tools, and how to turn raw responses into a ranked objection list.

### 3. Persuasion Assets

**Core concept:** Every company sits on overlooked proof -- undisplayed testimonials, unmentioned awards, hidden credentials, buried guarantees. Inventory these "persuasion assets", acquire missing ones, display them.

**Why it works:** Visitors decide on evidence, not claims. A modest claim with overwhelming proof beats a bold claim with none.

**Key insights:**
- Audit five categories: Credentials & Authority, Social Proof, Risk Reversal, Data & Specificity, Process & Methodology
- Create a wish list for missing assets and actively acquire them (request testimonials, apply for awards, compile statistics)