The five tests
- 1. The five-stranger test - ask five people outside the business to summarise what you do
- 2. The homepage swap test - put the sentence as the homepage headline for two weeks
- 3. The proposal close test - lead the next ten proposals with the sentence
- 4. The conversation test - use the sentence as your introduction at the next event
- 5. The wrong-customer test - count how many badly-fitting enquiries arrive in the next month
Walking each test
The five-stranger test. Show your homepage to five people who aren't customers. Ask each one to describe what the business does and who it's for. If three or more get it right, the sentence is landing. If they struggle, the first clause probably isn't doing its job. Total cost: an hour and five coffees.
The homepage swap test. Replace the homepage headline with the positioning statement for two weeks. Watch the conversion rate of the page - enquiries divided by visitors. If it lifts, the sentence is sharper than what was there. If it drops, the sentence might be too narrow or the page underneath doesn't back it up.
The proposal close test. Lead the next ten proposals or quotes with the positioning statement as the opening line. Track the close rate compared to your usual baseline. A clear positioning opening usually closes faster, even when the rest of the proposal is unchanged. If it doesn't, the sentence isn't aimed at the customers actually in your proposal pipeline.
The conversation test. Use the sentence as your one-line answer to "what do you do?" at the next networking event. Note the questions people ask in response. Good positioning earns curious follow-up questions. Weak positioning earns a polite nod and a change of subject.
The wrong-customer test. After the sentence has been live for a month on the homepage and in proposals, count how many enquiries arrived from badly-fitting customers. Sharp positioning reduces wrong-customer enquiries because the wrong customers self-select out. If wrong-fit enquiries didn't drop, the sentence might still be reading as generic.
What to change after each test
The five-stranger test points at clause one - the customer and situation. The homepage swap test points at the whole sentence and the page underneath. The proposal close test points at clause two - the differentiation. The conversation test points at the rhythm of the sentence and how it sounds out loud. The wrong-customer test points at how clearly clause one excludes the people who shouldn't be enquiring.
Retesting cadence
Run the five-stranger test once a quarter. Rerun the homepage swap if you change the page or the offer materially. Track the proposal close rate continuously - it's a leading indicator of positioning health. The wrong-customer count is a useful annual review metric. Most businesses test the sentence twice a year and rewrite once.
What to do this week
Run the five-stranger test in the next seven days. Five short conversations. Write down what each person says back to you. Compare it to the sentence on the wall. The gap between the two is the next edit.
The recurring principle this chapter sits on is review results and improve the system. The five tests are how positioning gets reviewed honestly. The next eBook, Building a Simple Value Proposition, takes the positioning statement and turns it into the working copy that runs across the website, proposals and conversations.
