You Should Hear a Pin Drop
When you are pitching, and doing it well, you should have the rapt attention of everyone within your cry and gaze. If you do, telephones will not be answered, incoming Blackberry messages will not distract, and eyes will not glaze over with ennui. You will have them in the proverbial palm of your hand. How do you accomplish that? Let’s review some pointers.
Get a face-to-face appointment to show your idea. Never send in a model or prototype unless there is no other way to do it. Products are best demonstrated by their inventors, and questions can quickly be answered.
Get as high up the corporate product review food chain as possible. Lots of people can say “no.” Only a few can say “yes,” and you want them at the pitch.
Unless the reviewer knows you well, begin the meeting briefing on your most significant accomplishments and any other personal choice morsels that might help set the scene and make the audience more receptive.
While inventors are passionate about their brainchild, offer up some objective information about the concept. This might include the results of focus group testing, patent searches, competitive product data, etc.
Make the presentation professional. If you want to operate in today’s marketplace, you need to exhibit to your audience that you are in step with it.
Bright Ideas
“Be it known that I, Harry Houdini, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York City, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, in the State of New York, have invented a new and improved diver’s suit ….” So began the specification of Patent No. 1,370,316 issued on March 1, 1921, to the famous magician and escape artist.
If you hit a snag, think fast. Many times a manufacturer will say to me, just as I am getting into a presentation, that the product is not right for the company. This is when you need to be even more inventive and see if, through some modification, you can make the item fit.
If the potential licensee is on the fence after you have completed your dog-and-pony show, offer to continue to work on speculation. This can keep the product alive and get the manufacturer invested. It increases the likelihood of the product getting a curtain call.
Finally, always have a call to action when you wrap up the meeting. Everyone needs to know what happens next and who does what. Chances for a sale at the pitch session are rare (although not impossible). Typically, manufacturers like to bring back good ideas for different people within the company to opine. As you will learn, if you do not know it already, falling in love and getting to the altar are quite different experiences.
Bright Ideas
In 1989, Tomima Edmark, a 36-year-old marketing rep for IBM, saw a woman in a movie theater sporting a French twist hair-do. She turned to her mom and wondered aloud if it was possible to turn a ponytail inside out. Soon after that epiphany, Edmark made a prototype from circular knitting needles and started testing it with friends. The results were beyond positive. Women loved it. Topsy Tail, one of the most successful hairstyling products, was born and ultimately brought in over $80 million in global sales.
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