Ruminations on the Test Drive: If you want to see how it ENDS, look at how it BEGINS

One of my favorites axioms is that if you want to see how it ENDS, look at how it BEGINS.

The saying is an acknowledgment that human “actors” do the actual work in life, so whether they hit the ground running (or not); are easy to work with (or not); or do what they say (or not) is indicative and predictive of how things will go in the relationship.

Think about it. On a personal and professional level, people are generally on their best behavior at the beginning of a relationship. 

It is also a time when they are expected to be prepared and have a plan.

This is why I say that if you want to see how it ends, look at how it begins. 

People who are easy to work with and on top of things when you first start working with them, are generally going to be good to work with over the long haul.

People who rub you the wrong way, or don’t have their act together when you first encounter them, are telling you something about who they are. 

Ignore this fact at your own peril.

Which brings me to the goodness offering a "test drive" of your product (or service) before committing long term.

Why do I advocate this?

Going back to the notion of seeing how things end by looking at how things begin, having a test drive in your selling funnel accomplishes the following. It:

- Delivers tangible, quantifiable value
- Establishes credibility
- Enables the client to get buy-in
- Sets a framework for the working relationship

In the process, it forces you to focus on the sharp edge of the spear in terms of your offering.

A test drive can start simple, it can take lots of different forms, and be iterated over time. 

In the case of my company, Datex Property Solutions, we began with a data analysis of our clients' MRI or Yardi databases, then expanded the offering to a test drive of the base Datex platform, and then extended it further to support test driving our reporting automation capabilities.

Clients have told us time and again, that the value proposition really moved the needle for them. 

When done right, a test drive is the ultimate show me, which is a win-win for both sides.