How to optimize your guided selling tool

When you launch your guided selling tool, it often feels like crossing the finish line. But, in reality, that's just the beginning. Simply going live isn't enough – the real impact comes from what you do next: measuring, understanding, testing, refining, and optimizing.

In this article, we'll take you step by step through the key elements of optimizing your guided selling tool. From integrating with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), to improving your recommendations, boosting your house brand, driving better returns and revenue, and leveraging the data in your marketing automation.

1. Link your guided selling tool to GA4

Are you using Google Analytics 4? Then automatically link Qonfi to GA4 so you can gain insights into the impact of Qonfi on your performance metrics. By default, performance segmentations are created between Qonfi users and non-Qonfi users based on conversion rate, average order value, average revenue per user, revenue, and conversions. You can view these segmentations, for example, below. This is all GA4 data, and you can access the same insights in GA4 and even perform deeper analyses. The effects on your performance in Qonfi are visually displayed under insights > performance.

An interesting metric is the comparison of average revenue per user between Qonfi users and non-Qonfi users. When you notice that the revenue per Qonfi user is significantly higher, it provides insights into placing the guided selling tool more prominently on your website, encouraging more users to engage with Qonfi. See also point 4 of this article or read this article with 10 tips for positioning your guided selling tool on your website.

2. Analyze your recommendation rate and drop-off: where do users drop off?

Without proper tracking, you'll be left in the dark. By default, click data is already measured (insights > usage tab), giving you insight into:

• How many users engage with and start the guided selling tool (and where)?
• How many users complete it and receive a recommendation (recommendation rate)?
• How many click through to a product (CTR)?
• How many users add a product bundle directly to the shopping cart?
• How many users fill out a contact form or email the recommendation to themselves?
• How many users fill out a contact form?
• Which products are most frequently recommended and clicked?
• What are users' preferences based on a particular question?
• At which questions do users drop off in your flow?

Check your advice rate > 85%?

The advice rate is the number of results (advice) divided by the number of users who started the guided selling tool. In other words, it’s the percentage of users who start the tool and see a result (completion).

For well-designed and optimized flows, the advice rate should be above 85%. If it’s not, then there’s work to be done.

Optimizing the advice rate

When you have an advice rate of 85%, it means that 15% of users start the guided selling tool but do not finish it and drop off somewhere in the flow. It’s worth investigating if there are questions where there’s a high drop-off rate, where a lot of visitors are abandoning the tool. For this, you can refer to the ‘Worst performing questions’ table. You can then optimize questions with high drop-off rates by adding videos, images, or additional text to better explain the question and answers.

1. Check your drop-off per question – where do users drop off?
2. Add context to difficult choices – explanations, examples, or visual cues
3. Don’t make your flow unnecessarily long – better to have five good questions than twelve vague ones
4. Test alternative question formulations – for example, via VWO or an A/B testing tool

Case: Qub Rail Lighting

At Qub, we noticed a high drop-off on the question "What type of rails are you looking for?"

The visitor was given the following options:

• Single-phase rail lighting
• Magnetic rail lighting
• Three-phase rail lighting

The question itself made sense, but for many visitors, the difference was completely unclear. What is a “3-phase system”? Why would I want magnetic? What fits in my living room?

By adding simple clarifications, such as a one-sentence explanation, smart visuals, and USPs, the drop-off rate for this question decreased, and the advice rate increased from 59% to 88% in three weeks.

3. Optimize your CTR (click-through rate)

A good advice rate is one thing, but if no one takes action after receiving the advice, it’s still not very effective. The click-through rate (CTR) indicates what percentage of users who see advice actually click through. A click-through is counted when:

• A user clicks through to a product page from the advice.
• A user adds a product or product bundle directly from Qonfi to their shopping cart.
• A user fills out a contact form.
• A user emails the advice to themselves.

All four metrics are measured separately and are available in the usage tab.

Check your click-through rate > 85%?

For optimized flows, we typically see a CTR between 85-90%. If you notice that your CTR consistently falls below this, it’s likely that the advice is not relevant enough for the user. The product selection may not align well with the answers provided.

Case: Lamps

A lamp retailer used a guided selling tool to help visitors choose the right type of lighting. The advice rate was 95%, but the CTR remained around 55%.

What did the data reveal?

Most visitors indicated they were looking for a pendant light, but in the advice, 4 out of the first 6 products were floor lamps and desk lamps. The advice did not align with the user’s needs, leading to fewer visitors clicking through to the recommended products.

What did they do to solve this?

They looked at the most common answer combinations and further tested and validated whether the recommended products matched the provided answer combinations through match testing. Based on these insights, they optimized and adjusted the product matching to the answers.

Next, they gave more weight to the first question (“What type of lamp are you looking for?”) in the matching process. Only products with the same type of lamp (e.g., pendant lights) were considered top results because they specified in the matching that the products must exactly match the selected answers for this question.

The CTR increased by over 30%. Visitors felt better assisted and clicked through to relevant products faster.

What can you do if your CTR is too low?

1. Walk through your own advice flow

Check with match testing whether the recommended products make sense and align with the provided answer combinations.

2. Make the advice more relevant by specifying that products must exactly match the provided answers for certain questions

A user who selects "I’m looking for a pendant light" doesn’t want a ceiling spot as the first recommendation. For such specific questions, decide that the product must exactly match the provided answer (see the image below).

3. Optimize the matching rules

Give more weight to certain questions, answers, or products.

4. Use custom match labels

Explain in the advice why a product is recommended, based on the answer, with custom match labels (e.g., “Suitable for sensitive digestion”).

4. How visible is your guided selling tool on the site?

A perfect piece of advice is worthless if no one sees your guided selling tool.

At Qonfi, we’ve found that with optimized flows, on average, 30–40% of visitors within a category actually use the tool. If you're below this (or far below), there's a good chance that:

• Your guided selling tool isn't noticeable
• It appears too late
• Or it’s placed in an illogical spot

I strongly advise you to display the tool more prominently on the category page and also on the product pages. Right now (see below), you can’t see the tool anymore, but this is exactly the moment when visitors may have doubts. Here’s an article with 10 tips for making your guided selling tool more visible on your website. At the very least, try the following:

1. At the top of the category page:
   This way, users immediately see: “I don’t have to search myself; I can get advice.”
2. On PDPs (product pages):
   For example, as a subtle question: “Not sure if this is the right product?” With entry-level models and low-margin products, you can use a product check to upsell on the product page.
3. Triggers below the fold on the category page:
   Show a pop-up (event-based) when someone is below the fold or has been on the page for a few seconds.
4. Place your guided selling tool on content pages.
5. Retargeting display for the guided selling tool:
   Visitors who abandoned the site without making a purchase? Create a separate audience and retarget them with a display banner saying, “Didn't find what you were looking for? Try the guided selling tool.”

5. Test, test, and test again

A guided selling tool is not a one-time campaign. It's a dynamic part of your webshop, and that's why it’s a shame not to test it.

With tools like VWO and Convert, you can perform A/B tests. This way, you can discover what really works: different questions, placements, or order.

What can you test?

The incremental effect of the guided selling tool
Enable the tool for 50% of your visitors and disable it for the other half. Then check:

• What does it do to your conversion rate?
• How much extra revenue does it generate?
• Does it increase the order value?

Test two different flows
For example, change:

1. The order of your questions (usage scenario first vs. budget first)
2. The visuals for your choices (more attractive images = higher click-through)
3. The language of your questions (more conversational or more to-the-point)

For example, in a lamp webshop, we tested two flows:

• Flow A: Started with style and color
• Flow B: Started with space (kitchen, living room)

Flow B had 26% more clicks on advice and led to higher satisfaction.

6. Check your match babels

Imagine this: you fill out a guided selling tool for duvets, get a nice overview of your best-matching duvet, and all you see is a list of checkmarks with the word “yes.” That tells you... absolutely nothing.

And yet, you just carefully selected your preferences.

That’s why match labels are key.

Match labels explain why a product suits you and remove any doubts. They translate dry data into understandable, customer-friendly language.

What are match labels exactly?

Every time a product “matches” based on someone's answers, you can decide what text appears in the advice.

Without a match label, in a duvet choice tool with yes/no questions, it might look like this:

✅ Yes

✅ Yes

✅ Yes

With match labels, it could look like this:

✅ Suitable for adults

✅ Machine washable

✅ With tuck-in flap
 

Tip

Don’t use generic labels like “match” or “suitable” – write in conversational language. What would the customer want to read? Think of:

• “Matches your skin type”
• “Suitable for daily use”
• “Ideal for small spaces”

7. Tweak your advice and boost specific products

Not every product is equally important for your brand. Sometimes, there’s a higher-margin product or your own private label (house brand) that you want to highlight. With Qonfi, you can boost certain products within the advice, without it feeling pushy to the customer.

Why boost?

Imagine: three products match equally well with the provided answer combination and are actually all just as relevant. Boosting specific products means that these products get a higher relevance score, and as a result, they’re recommended faster than other products that haven’t been boosted.

For example:

• Your house brand gives you higher margins.
• You need to reduce stock of product A.
• You want to promote newer models.
• You want to boost products with a higher conversion rate.
• A combination of the above.

How does it work?

In the Qonfi interface, you can easily add boost rules. You specify which products you want to boost with match rules. The customer won’t see this, but it does influence the order in the advice. You can then test this in the "match testing" tab.

8. Use smart labels like ‘Our choice’

Sometimes, you want to put extra emphasis on a product within the advice. For example, because it’s your best-selling model, it has the highest reviews, or it’s simply a very reliable choice. With custom labels in Qonfi, you can give such a product a visual boost, without interrupting the flow.

These visual cues help your users decide faster and increase the chances of clicking on a specific product. It’s also a smart addition for UX: it makes the advice more organized, clearer, and easier to scan.

What are custom labels?

Custom labels are small visual tags such as:

✅ Our choice

🌱 Most sustainable option

💸 Best value for money

🆕 New in assortment

💡 Popular with others

🩷 Most chosen

These labels appear automatically on products in the advice, as long as you’ve set them up in your feed.

Case: WOOOF

At Woof, the guided selling tool helps dog owners choose the right snack. Based on the answers provided (e.g., allergies or the dog’s age), the visitor gets a selection of matching products. With custom labels like:

✅ Best Match! – the product that best fits the answers

🟠 Hypoallergenic – ideal for sensitive dogs

🟠 100% Natural – highlighting the health benefits of the snack

🟠 Rich in Omega-3 – for additional health benefits

The result? A visually strong recommendation where visitors immediately feel: this fits my situation.

How to set this up?

Do you use Channable or another feed system? Then you can add an extra field in your product feed with your own label (e.g., custom_label_0 or qonfi_label). In Qonfi, you specify which field you want to use. Once a product is matched and contains that label, Qonfi will automatically display it with the product.

Check the manual here for a step-by-step guide.

9. Let users email their advice and automate the follow-up smartly

A visitor fills out the guided selling tool, receives a suitable recommendation... and then does nothing. Sound familiar? Maybe they want to discuss it with a partner, or they’re still undecided between two options. In such cases, you want to help the user easily return to the advice later.

Solution: let users email the advice to themselves

With Qonfi, you can give users the option to send the advice directly to their own inbox. This is not only convenient for the user but also valuable for your marketing.

For example, a customer in the fitness industry offers a guided selling tool for treadmills. Users who email their advice receive an automatic reminder 5 days later:

“Have you found your perfect treadmill yet? Your best match is still waiting for you.”

How does it work?

• The user enters an email address (with opt-in).
• Qonfi sends the personalized advice directly to the inbox.
• You receive a copy or trigger in your marketing platform (e.g., Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign or Spotler Activate).
• This allows you to start an automated flow: a reminder, an offer, or an additional recommendation.

Smart follow-ups to test:

• Reminder 3 or 5 days later
• Additional advice (“Customers like you also looked at…”)
• Temporary offer (“Your advice + an extra 10% discount until Friday”)

This way, your guided selling tool becomes not just a one-time interaction, but the beginning of a conversation.

Need help optimizing your guided selling tool?

We’re happy to assist. Whether it’s improving your matching, increasing your CTR, or using email flows more effectively.

Contact us, and we’d be happy to take a look with you.