Practice Makes 'perfecto'

If you could have seen me at the weekend you would have witnessed me, clad in a rather fetching pinny (don't worry, it was a rather manly striped blue one...;-)), wooden spoon in hand having a 'dry run' for a bit of an informal gathering at 'Lowe Towers' in a couple of weeks time for which I decided that I would do the cooking...

'She who must...' was looking on with what - I can only assume - must have been admiration ... as I took over the kitchen and painstakingly worked my way through various recipes for Gnocchi (which is a little way from perfection yet...) and Lasagne, which its rather good if I do say so myself! (well the man painting the house reckoned it was the best he'd ever eaten but then again he probably hoped for more leftovers the next day too)...

Now, you are possibly thinking that this is maybe a bit too much effort to be going to for an evening with friends, but for things like this I like to imagine myself in my guest's shoes, and try to not only meet, but exceed their expectations and quite simply give them... an evening they will not forget...

Before somebody reminds me that this is the 'Business Lowedown' and not 'Masterchef' I must in fact point out that it's that same level of preparation and attention to detail that you need to put not only into your products and projects, but all of your dealings with your existing and potential customers...

I really can't stress enough that you need to test and check that everything works before unveiling it to your customers. (And yes, that does include things you choose to give away for free as well). Nothing will dent your credibility like a broken link or website that doesn't display properly...after all, if you are unable to get that bit right...what does it say about the quality of the product you are trying to sell..?

And it's not just your credibility that could take a 'hit' - imagine this...you've done all the work, and your 'customer' loves what you have to offer so much that they click on the 'order now' button...and expect to be presented with an order page... but instead are faced with an error message instead... We've all seen it.

Of course, it's not just the 'big' errors that will be exposed by a thorough 'walk through' of your entire process - by trying out each and every part from the point of view of the customer it will also expose all the 'other' (but still very significant) wrinkles that need to be sorted out like spelling or obvious punctuation errors, and ensuring there is congruency through all of the process (like having the same photo in your emails as on your sales and order page, so that the buyer knows they've definitely clicked through to the right place).

Like a West End play or Broadway musical, you need to rehearse again and again to ensure you have everything running smoothly - not just throw it out there, and hope it will all be 'alright on the night'.