When you have a wonderful business idea, it’s tempting to simply want to launch a website, create content, and build a platform to distribute your new products. Your enthusiasm pushes you to want to leap from concept to cash in the shortest amount of time possible.
However, speed to market is not always a winning strategy. It’s much better to apply tools like a win-loss analysis to get things right. Testing out your ideas before introducing them to the world is always a good idea because it will save you time, money, and angst.
Your business will not prosper if your big idea does not connect with your marketplace.
Will the Market Respond?
Whatever your big idea might be, it may not meet the market’s needs. One possible scenario might be that it’s too far ahead of its time. Another possible scenario might be that it only appeals to a small audience.
People may not respond to your product as well as you think they should. While it may be clear in your own mind why they would want it, it may not be clear in their minds. Even if your product meets their needs and desires perfectly, they may not understand its value well enough to get behind it.
Before you go to the trouble and expense of building out your business, focus on getting feedback first. The only way you can tell if it’s a great business idea is by getting feedback from your target audience. This reconnaissance approach will pay big dividends in the future.
How to Respond to Negative Feedback Loops
If the idea is too far ahead of its time, people may not understand it. As a result, you’ll get a negative feedback loop. This feedback loop might be expressed as indifference or opposition.
However, you won’t necessarily need to abandon your idea if you get a negative feedback loop.
Here are two strategies for handling indifference or opposition.
1. How to Handle Indifference
If your idea is greeted with indifference, spend more time explaining it to people.
When Steve Jobs first came out with the Mac, people didn’t quite understand how it worked and it did not sell as well as he had hoped. However, when he came out with the iPhone many years later, he had learned from his earlier lesson and spent a lot of time explaining his product. He went over all the features with the public so that people could understand how it’s possible to hold a mini-computer in your hand that can also make telephone calls and send text messages. Once he got his big idea across, Apple became one of the top tech companies in the world.
2. How to handle opposition
What if people don’t like the idea at all and go out of their way to criticize and condemn it? Instead of feeling discouraged, use this feedback to fix the problem.
Find out what it is that upsets people and change your product to handle that objection. For instance, if people think the product is dangerous, find ways to make it safer. If it is actually not dangerous, but only perceived as dangerous, then find ways of demonstrating its safety.
Optimize Your Website
Once you have created a product or service that people are eager to buy, refining it to meet market needs based on the feedback you receive, the next step is to run tests to make sure your site is optimized for customer experience. What kind of web design and content do you need to create to win customer’s over?
Here are 4 ways your business can find out what your customers want to see on your website:
1. Use surveys to get feedback.
For effective surveys keep them short and only ask questions that you’ll use.
2. Set up forms on your website for feedback.
When visitors don’t like something they click away and you have no idea why. After a piece of content, use a web form to ask them whether they liked it or not and the reasons for their opinion.
3. Send out emails to your existing customer base.
Ask your question via email to gauge their response to your design or content or product offerings. This works if you have an existing customer base. You can also ask questions on your social media profiles.
4. Use A/B testing.
A/B testing, also called split testing, compares two versions of a web page to gauge which one outperforms the other. You show visitors either variant A or variant B. The visitors should share similar interests and the tests should be conducted within the same time frame, like the same day, week or month. You will then be able to figure out which version is more popular.
5. Ask customers directly.
When you engage with your customers directly, either through webinars, at a live seminar, in a store, or a trade booth, ask them direct questions. Unlike the communication constraints you have when you use forms, emails, or analytics, you will get a comprehensive idea of how people think about your business products.
When you have a big idea, ask for feedback on your idea before you build an offer around it. Once you have your product or service in place, then use feedback on your website to improve engagement and optimize conversions.