Insights — Channel Creation & New Revenue Streams — 3 min read
Test a New Customer Segment Before Committing
The most expensive way to find out a segment won't buy from you is to build a full sales operation first. A disciplined test provides evidence before you commit the capital.
In short
To test a new customer segment, use 'low-fidelity' validation: targeted outbound outreach (100–200 accounts), a dedicated landing page with a clear 'commercial' call-to-action, and discovery interviews that focus on pain points rather than features. If you cannot get five meaningful conversations from two hundred targets, the segment is likely not as viable as your spreadsheet suggests. The goal is to find 'frictionless interest' before you invest in infrastructure.
Every new customer segment looks profitable on a spreadsheet. The 'Total Addressable Market' is always huge, the 'Estimated Penetration' is always conservative, and the 'Projected ROI' is always green. But spreadsheets don't buy products; people do. And until you have actual evidence that these new people will part with money for your service, you don't have a new channel — you have a hypothesis.
Testing a segment is about 'de-risking'. It is the process of finding the maximum amount of information for the minimum amount of investment. It is not about 'launching'; it is about 'learning'.
The 'Minimum Viable Proof' (MVP)
You do not need a new website, a new brochure, or a new salesperson to test a segment. You need a proposition and a phone. The objective is to find out if the 'problem' you think they have is actually a 'priority' for them. Many segments have problems they are perfectly happy to live with.
An MVP in this context is a series of 'Sales Sprints'. Pick 50 companies in the new segment. Craft a message that speaks their specific language. Reach out. If the response is silence, you don't have a messaging problem; you likely have a relevance problem.
Measuring 'Commercial Intent', not 'Interest'
People are polite. If you ask them, 'Would this be useful?', they will often say yes. This is dangerous data. You need to measure intent. Intent is shown when a prospect gives you something of value: their time (a meeting), their data (a detailed requirements form), or their money (a pilot project).
| Level of Evidence | What it looks like | Confidence Level |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1: Opinion | They say 'that sounds interesting' in an interview | Very Low |
| Level 2: Time | They agree to a 45-minute discovery call | Medium |
| Level 3: Access | They introduce you to their procurement or IT team | High |
| Level 4: Money | They pay for a small-scale trial or pilot | Maximum |
The 'Landing Page' Smoke Test
A highly effective and low-cost way to test a segment is a 'Smoke Test'. Create a single landing page tailored specifically to the new segment. Use their terminology and their specific pain points. Drive a small amount of targeted traffic to it (via LinkedIn Ads or cold outreach). Measure the conversion rate on the call-to-action (e.g., 'Request a Sector Audit').
When to walk away
The hardest part of testing is being willing to accept a 'no'. If your tests consistently fail to generate interest, the answer isn't 'try harder' or 'spend more on ads'. The answer is that this segment is not a natural fit for your current capability. This is a successful outcome — you have prevented a costly mistake.
Evans Sales Consultancy provides the 'Managed Channel Growth' support to run these tests for you. We don't just give you a report; we do the outreach, handle the discovery calls, and provide the hard evidence of whether the segment is worth your attention.
Could your business support another route to revenue?
Evans Channel Creation identifies, validates and builds additional revenue channels from capabilities a business already has — B2B to D2C, D2C to B2B, product to service, recurring revenue or partners — and says so plainly when a channel should not be built. Programme from £1,995 + VAT per month over six months.
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