These tactics aren’t just for startups. I’ve worked with many large companies who used their sales teams to demo products that didn’t exist yet. This is a great way to get fast feedback on new ideas.

Most of us have pre-ordered a book before. I’ve sold every single one of my courses before I did all of the course production work. Plenty of products are bought and then made to order (think Dell computers, custom cars, and even Boeing airplanes). Many startups concierge test their ideas before they start building—this means they sell and manually... See more

The Best Approach: Ask Customers to Pay Right Now

A Good Approach: Ask About the Past

So in the framework of good, better, best, what counts as “good”? We can ask, “What have you done in the past?” If you’re trying to understand what someone would pay for something, ask them if they pay for something like that today. If I’m going to do a new streaming entertainment service, I can ask you, “What... See more

A Better Approach: Run a Demand Test

We can simulate the buying experience and see if it resonates with people. We can mock up our pricing page including our different packages, what is included with each package, how the pricing will work (e.g. monthly, annual, subscriptions, one-time payments, etc.) and the price for each package. The goal is to... See more