---
title: "Test a funnel by playing a real customer"
description: "Before you open the funnel to customers, play a real customer, get the gift, pay for real in the sales funnel and see if you receive the product."
type: "Trust post"
docType: "How-to guide"
from: "write-to-sell/selling/introduction"
tags: ["3. Selling"]
entity: "test a funnel"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cuongthach.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Test a funnel by playing a real customer

Before you open the funnel to real customers, you **play the customer yourself** and go through every step. Many steps in a funnel are easy to get wrong, and only by going through them for real can you see where. When you finish, you know for sure that a customer gets the gift, can pay and gets the product.

## What to prepare

- **A gift funnel** with a gift page and a link to give the gift (see [Gift funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/concepts/gift-funnel)).
- **A sales funnel** with a product, a payment gateway and 3 pages (see [Build a sales funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/guides/build-a-sales-funnel)).

## The two most important checks

![The two most important checks](https://cuongthach.com/docs/_nimbus/md/ymkgvd/illus-docs-ke-hai-gia-do.en.svg "Every other check rests on these two")

| Funnel | What to check |
| --- | --- |
| Gift funnel | Do you **get the gift**? |
| [Sales funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/concepts/sales-funnel) | Does **payment** work? |

Every other check depends on these 2. If the gift does not arrive, the gift funnel cannot earn trust. If payment does not work, the sales funnel has no sales.

## Walk through it as a customer

1. **Get the gift through the gift funnel**

   Open the gift link and sign up like a stranger. This is the path every new customer will take. You will see the gift arrive, along with the first email that shows how to use it.
2. **Buy for real through the sales funnel**

   Go from the product page to the checkout page and **pay with real money**, like a real customer. Only a real order tells you if the payment gateway works. You will see the thank-you page appear and get a notice that the money arrived.
3. **Check the product after payment**

   See whether you get the product after you pay, and how you get it. This is what customers wait for right after they buy. You will see the digital product arrive, with an email that shows how to use it.
4. **Write down the experience**

   Write down which step confused you and how the whole path felt from start to end. Where you get confused as a customer is where real customers will get confused. Fix each spot, then go through it again until no step confuses you.

:::caution[Real payment, not just looking at pages]
Only a real paid order tells you if the money comes in and if the product reaches the customer.
:::

## When a step does not work

Each place that breaks during the test points to one part to fix.

| What you see | What to fix |
| --- | --- |
| You sign up but do not get the gift | The gift delivery and emails of the [gift funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/concepts/gift-funnel) |
| You cannot reach the checkout page | The buy button and how the 3 pages are linked ([Build a sales funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/guides/build-a-sales-funnel)) |
| Payment fails | The payment gateway |
| You pay but do not get the product | How the digital product is delivered |

After you fix one spot, go through the whole path again from the start, not just the step you fixed. A change in one step can affect the steps after it.

## Signs the funnel is ready

- You get the gift and the email that shows how to use it through the gift link.
- A real paid order goes through, the money reaches your account and you get a notice.
- The product reaches you after you pay, with an email that shows how to use it.
- Going through it again from the start, no step confuses you.

## After you open the funnel

Once the funnel is open, you track customers through it as described in the section "Measure conversion in stage 3" on the [Google Analytics](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/resources/tools/google-analytics) page, to see which page customers leave on and how many people go from an article to the sales funnel.

## Related pages

- Rebuild the part that broke: see [Build a sales funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/guides/build-a-sales-funnel).
- Why the gift must reach the person: see [Gift funnel](https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/concepts/gift-funnel).

Source: https://cuongthach.com/docs/write-to-sell/selling/guides/test-a-funnel/index.mdx