Ask what happens with missing or wrong input

For every tool, I ask directly what happens when the input is missing, blank, or just plain wrong. A name with no email. A form submitted twice. I want that answer before I trust the tool with real use.

Most tools work fine when everything goes right, which tells you almost nothing about whether they're actually reliable. Real business data is messy, and the moment it doesn't match what you expected is exactly the moment a fragile tool falls apart quietly, without telling anyone. Asking this question up front, and testing the answer yourself, turns a fragile demo into something you can actually count on.

Try this today: pick your current tool's most likely bad input and run it through on purpose, then check whether the tool tells you clearly or fails without a word.