Test your messaging in a week, not a quarter

Message testing gets postponed because teams imagine a formal study. In practice, five well-chosen conversations surface the same problems in a fraction of the time.

• Show, don't explain — put the words in front of them and stay quiet
• Ask what they think it does and who it's for
• Ask what they'd expect it to cost
• Note every word they use that you didn't

The words your customers use for free are worth more than the ones your team argued over for a month.