Finishing the first launch of your online program is a huge accomplishment. Even though the first launch is usually far from perfect, it’s often your most important launch because it’s where you learn fully what it means to launch an online course or membership. And, until you’ve launched once, you can’t grow and improve for future launches.

After your cart closes, it can be very tempting to close your computer and take a long nap. But one of the things you need to do within a day or two of that last sale is a launch debrief. If you have team members you should ask them to do it as well. Knowing your numbers is a key launch strategy for continuing to build your business.

What is a Launch Debrief?

The launch debrief is where you go over all of the components of your launch so you have benchmark numbers to compare with your future launches.

It’s the way you determine what worked, what didn’t, what was amazing and what was probably not worth the time and effort you put in. Often people think of the launch debrief purely as sales and conversion numbers, but it’s much more than that.

What Should You Include in a Launch Debrief?

Start your launch debrief at the beginning and work through the entire launch.

• What were the dates of the launch?
• What was the launch selling?
• What did you use for your pre-launch content? Was it a video launch, a live launch or a webinar launch?
• How long was your cart open?

While it is true that debriefs often contain numbers, it’s also imperative for future success that they also include narrative:

• What worked during the launch?
• What didn’t work?
• What came up that was unexpected?
• What did you want to implement but couldn’t?

You’ll also want to list out any bonuses you may have offered, or would like to offer in the future, and the point at which they were offered during the launch. Don’t forget to mention why the bonus was offered.

• Were you answering an objection?
• Encouraging fast action?
• Providing necessary background info for people to be prepared for the program itself?

Writing out these answers within a day or two of completing your launch will give you a gold mine of information that will otherwise be forgotten when you launch again. Even better to start a file for keeping your launch debrief notes prior to the launch’s beginning and adding to it throughout the launch.

What Data Goes into a Launch Debrief?

The data that goes into your launch debrief numbers can be as simple or detailed as you like. At the very minimum, you’re going to want to know:

• Click thru rates of the emails you sent out (open rates are no longer a reliable metric)
• Conversion rates of opt in and sales pages
• Registration and attendance (or viewer) numbers for your pre-launch videos, webinars or live events
• Sales numbers and, if you offered a payment plan, how many people were full pay versus payment plan
• Refund numbers

Additional details you may also want to track include:

• How much your list grew, and if there were spikes in numbers (and what might have caused them).
• If there was anything in particular that resulted in more than average unsubscribe rates.
• Upsell and downsell numbers
• Top sales days and what lead into those days
• Paid advertising conversion, analytics, spend
• Social media analytics

Even though it can seem like a lot of information to track and collate at the end of your launch when you’re tired and ready to move on to the delivery of your program, knowing these numbers are going to help you execute an even more successful launch the next time around.