'Speak to an Expert' plus a demo CTA vs 'Contact Sales': +291% clicks
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsChanging 'Contact Sales' to 'Speak to an Expert', offering custom pricing instead of a quote, and adding a second demo button lifted clickthrough 291% on VolunteerMatch's solutions landing page.
MECLABS Institute ran the test with VolunteerMatch, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study.
Three changes went live together, so the lift can't be credited to the new button text alone.
- +291% overall clickthrough on the calls to action.
- 30% of visitors who clicked 'Speak to an Expert' went on to fill in the form.
- No visitor who clicked 'Contact Sales' in the control filled in the form.
- Sample sizes and confidence levels were not shared.
The change
'Contact Sales' becomes 'Speak to an Expert' and a demo CTA is added.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The VolunteerMatch Solutions landing page had one call to action: a 'Contact Sales' button to get a quote.
Variant
The button read 'Speak to an Expert' and promised custom pricing. A second, lower-commitment button offered a demo for visitors not ready to talk.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- 'Contact Sales' can signal a hard sell, while 'Speak to an Expert' suggests help.
- 'Custom pricing' tells visitors they will need to share some details, so the form on the next page is less of a surprise.
- A demo option gives early-stage buyers a way to act without committing to a call, and still captures their contact details.
Caveats: Bundled: new button text, the custom pricing wording and a second CTA changed at once. Visitor counts were not shared, and the data is from early 2015.
Who ran it
MECLABS Institute ran this test and published the results (MarketingSherpa case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on MECLABS Institute →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we reword our sales button to offer expert help and custom pricing, and add a lower-commitment demo option, then more visitors will click and complete the form because the next step feels less like a sales pitch.
- Primary metric
- Form completions from the CTA (not just clicks)
- Guardrails
- Sales-qualified lead rate
- Demo-to-call conversion
- Split of clicks between the two CTAs
- Who should test it
- B2B SaaS companies with sales-led pricing and a 'Contact Sales' button. Self-serve products with public pricing will learn less from this.
Questions
Is 'Contact Sales' a bad CTA?
It can put people off because it sounds like a sales pitch.
In this test, a friendlier label, custom pricing and a demo option together lifted clicks 291%.
Do two CTAs hurt conversion?
They can split attention. Here a second, lower-commitment option added clicks overall, but test it on your own page.
Should B2B pages say 'quote' or 'custom pricing'?
'Custom pricing' tells visitors they will share details to get a tailored price.
VolunteerMatch thought this set clearer expectations for the form.