How Dan works
The Proof
The Proof is the testing stage of Dan Ilett's work. A proposition, a pitch or a customer communication is put in front of an audience before you spend behind it, and you get back what people understood, what they would do next and which words stopped them. It includes Consumer Duty communications testing for financial services firms.
What happens
The thing being tested is written down in the versions you are weighing up. We build the audience it has to land with, either as real people recruited to match your buyer or as a population of agents calibrated on your own evidence, and put each version to them with the same set of questions.
The questions are about comprehension and intent rather than preference. What is this asking me to do. What happens if I do nothing. What will it cost me. What is the risk. What would I do next. What confused me.
Results come back by segment as well as overall, and the worst served group is reported alongside the headline, because an average hides the people who most needed to understand.
What you get
- A score for each version against the audience it has to work on.
- The exact phrases, sentences and figures that confused people, and how many people each one stopped.
- The worst served group reported on its own.
- Recommended rewrites, and a retest of them.
Consumer Duty testing for financial services
Financial services firms have to evidence that customers understood a communication and could act on it. The Customer Comprehension Test is the version of The Proof built for that, with a population calibrated on the firm’s own customer base, a vulnerability stress test alongside every run and a small human panel validating the result. The Customer Comprehension Test.
What can be tested?
A proposition, a positioning line, a sales pitch, a bid, a website page, an email sequence or a customer letter. Anything with an audience and a decision at the end of it.
Who is in the audience?
Real people recruited to match your buyer, a population of agents calibrated on your own evidence, or both. Where both run, the agreement between them is reported openly.
How long does The Proof take?
Usually 2 to 3 weeks with a recruited human audience, and a few days where the population is synthetic.
Do I have to buy the whole programme?
No. The Proof is bought on its own, fixed price and fixed scope. It is often bought by companies who already have their story and want to know whether it lands.
What happens after you get in touch: you pick a 20-minute slot, Dan reads your website and sales deck before the call, and you leave with a view on whether the story is the problem and what to do first. A proposal follows only if you ask for one.