This is how to de-risk your launch.
Test it on your tier three customers first.
Whatever you’re building—be it brand positioning, messaging, product or platform—I recommend running it by your LEAST lucrative buyers before taking it further.
I know it can be tempting to go straight to tier one.
You’ve probably invested significant resources. It may have taken longer than expected. Sales targets are high and so are the stakes. Your premier customers have the largest budgets, so it makes sense.
However, this is all the more reason to launch a little softly. Listen closely.
Because when we build, it’s often with limited insight.
Hard-won(!) wisdom working with clients and on my own business over the years has taught me that as accurate as these insights may be, they’re equivalent to peripheral vision.
What you get from sharing your work with others outside your inner circle is depth of field. Surround sound.
You’ll hear and see reactions, feedback and nuance you didn’t expect, on elements you thought were totally obvious. You’ll have a chance to work out the kinks in your creative and communication.
Better to do that and not burn relationships with key customers while you’re still “getting it right.”
By all means, share your work with them too (and early, before it’s fully baked so you still have room and resources to iterate).
But exercise your biggest experiments and gain your highest learning where it’s low-risk.