How to sell ideas?

Author: Yuri Smirnov . Topic: Support unexpected . Posted: 20.08.2009, 23:15.

Dmitry Laptev, creator of the site Tectolog.com (generation, creation, evaluation, research, sales ideas), proposed to evaluate his life.

Personally, I am impressed by the methodological transparency of the project. Potential customers can visit a sufficiently clear idea on what tools based project (the authors refer to tectology A. Bogdanov, TRIZ Altshuller, the principles of lateral thinking de Bono, describe the key tools for generating ideas and illustrate a number of analytical articles of their own approach to the study of problems) .

As is known, in the post-Soviet business occupy a considerable layer of people from the scientific, technical and engineering environment. These people are all too often characterized by a strong system of thinking - and appreciated his presence in their partners. It seems to me like a businessman offering a warehouse to get acquainted with the materials Tectolog.com (and not only with their content, but also a way to systematize), employees of the resource with a considerable degree of probability will agree to further full-time negotiations.

The word "negotiations" in the subject under discussion is crucial. In my mind, time is not ripe for the emergence of the Internet platform for effective direct sales ideas (that might look like such a platform - says here ). In the most brilliant and promising idea little chance of being sold across the counter "Internet service - now sold as books, CDs, electronics. First, it has yet to be any business practices, nor the legislative field, which would ensure mutual confidence between the parties. Secondly, the original idea - that is, "The idea in its pure form - almost always be adapted to the specific requirements of the customer company.

Therefore, the best result, which may contribute to the "online-shop of ideas" - a personal meeting between the author's ideas with the potential customer. Only in direct contact (which could take months, even years), they will be able to work out a mutually acceptable configuration of cooperation. And does not the fact that in this configuration will survive the initial idea :) It will be great if the customer will tell you at this first meeting: "What a gorgeous image you come up with. Pity the next 10 years in our region it will not buy. But let's think together about our real needs ... "Who knows: perhaps in the end, you'll create with them a new company, dividing its share ...

In short, the "store of ideas" of his "cabinet" should be compelling and credible, not more. And basic goods should serve not so much the idea of how much consulting project to adapt your ideas to production processes, business processes and market environment of the customer.
.
It seemed to me, Tectolog.com moves precisely along this path (if I'm wrong - let the authors of the site will correct me). Let's consider what more can stimulate the negotiation process between potential customers and resources such as Tectolog.com.

1. Taste for creative ideas come to "the flow of improvements"

Put yourself in your home business - your potential customers. While 9 out of 10 articles in the business press today are optimistic: they say, what a wonderful time we live in, how many opportunities open to wanting to escape the crisis ahead, to stake new technological niches - in fact, 9 out of 10 businessmen uzhimayutsya as may save on humans and on development projects. We must find a way to "lure" them to the site, change their mood - and, perhaps, then they will be ready to accept your offer to purchase ideas.

In my opinion, a good option would be to tape with the results of monitoring improvements in domestic companies. Yes, the Internet can find many resources with a description of the business ideas for launching new companies - but how often do businesses open up new companies? Once every 5-10 years, and some - generally once in a lifetime. However, a businessman almost daily have to solve non-trivial management tasks - so ask them to practical tape with a brief description of improvements used by domestic companies in management, marketing, financial management and staff.

Everybody wants to know how their competitors, and generally successful companies in all industries: what are the successful "chips" used in his work, what new business technologies are adopting as wriggle out of difficult problems, etc. Such "chips" businessmen are eager to share with the press and blog readers, so they can be found in large numbers. However, not without difficulty: information is "smeared" across the internet. To refine your search, you can take my advice, published under the heading How to deal with information . Of course, the tape must be convenient filtering tools for branches, regions and time periods, and your brief description of the "business chip" should include references to primary sources (articles, reviews, interviews with businessmen, etc.).

If you manage to create a sufficiently dense flow of messages that are updated several times a day - your visitors will have a unique service in which they are actually very much needed. You can even aloud to call this service benchmarking. :)

As a result, tape will give your site a powerful permanent visitor traffic, as well as help your readers to tune in to a creative way and to prepare for the perception of your own ideas, offered for sale.

2. For sale idea - to buy its modification

A good idea is not only difficult to sell - at least it difficult to "steal". People become fans of:

  • own ideas;
  • ideas whose implementation is well paid for out of someone's pocket;
  • ideas, the fruits of which they themselves would enjoy.

The owner of the same or a top manager of the company usually starts to think on the contrary: "Hey, have nowhere to gather a team for this project, constructing an industrial design, buy more equipment, retrain workers, to conduct a marketing company, discover new distribution channels. And who guarantees that all these costs otobyutsya? Why no one comes up with ideas that can fit without spending much in my reality? He wanted to steal - so there is nothing to steal! "

The fact that a prospective customer often takes someone else's idea - literally so, as it was expressed. And this is natural: it is not his work - arrive at the others. A potential customer rarely sees the essence of the idea, its "root" - and, consequently, does not see her ability to mutate. Remember, from a school course: in every word is the root, but can be more consoles, suffixes, endings, which give rise to entirely new meanings. So with ideas. Is "root" idea (eg - communication without wires), but there is - it "-rooted" variation (mobile, satellite communications, paging, Wi-Fi, etc.).

You do not know all the circumstances of your potential customers - so you have little chance of exposing the idea to provide in a single text all the circumstances. The only way to overcome the above-described barrier of perception - the talks. Through negotiations, you have the chance to dispel the first rejection, explain the idea to offer her other variations, adapted to the customer.

What do the negotiations took place? Breaking the pattern of thinking: to show the customer that you want to sell is not a literal description of the ideas on your site, and the project, which will be born during the negotiations. If your obligation to attend, of course. :)

Describe the idea on its website openly, in detail. The risk that it will be stolen, as I said above, is minimal (though not zero). In the epilogue to necessarily mention what is ready to modify the requirements of the customer - or to offer another of similar quality. And be sure to give a reference to a portfolio of practical examples which illustrate how radical ideas can change the extent of their implementation. Perhaps the first would have to limit cases from domestic and foreign practice - but as soon as possible, replace them with examples from the experience of your company.

To close the theme of theft of ideas, I will note that over time some of your most versatile and easily implemented ideas will be really, er ... borrowed. Take this as an inevitable cost of your tough business. Never go on fighting for the priority: first, it neobayatelno looks from the outside (regardless of who is right or wrong), secondly, the ideas are in the air, but you can never know for sure whether they were stolen - or come together in several goals. Better to rejoice with the readers of your website that the idea that you once were discussing someone materialize.

3. Proposed the idea - the trend is for sale

Authors Site Tectolog.com often emphasize that this or that idea has been developed on the basis of the trend, identified in the study of the topic. Gentlemen, you are on the right track! Trend + idea - it's a great bunch. The only thing I would suggest: make the second part of this bond more transparent.

So far, both sides of the ligaments - and the trend, and the idea - mentioned on the site with no details, no descriptions of the mechanism. As a result, a potential customer might get the impression that he offered two "cats in bags simultaneously. Perhaps the best option: to leave the trend in the shadows, and based on the idea of it - to paint in all its glory. Earnest idea might induce the customer to get acquainted with the trend - and yet-to negotiate.

After all, in fact, a qualitative study of the trend may be to the customer a higher value than the associated business idea. Who does not want to know how consumers will behave tomorrow, which possess the imagination of their minds? Besides, knowing the trend, new ideas based on it can generate packets. Maybe they develop and instruct you, buying you study the trend. And this is a long-term contract - the first brick in the foundation of a sustainable business.

Future posts

  • Training improvements: three in one
  • Project Open Mind: himself superman
  • As I ran my ideas generator

Discussion
Feedback Dmitry Laptev 21.08.2009

The project was originally conceived as tectolog.com platform for interaction between potential customers with the developers of ideas, concepts, research, technical solutions. For the money, or subject to joint participation in mutually beneficial projects. For these purposes the site is invited to publicly available information on methods for generating ideas, concepts, finding solutions for all areas of human activity (it is not just a business - in politics, too, is spinning a lot of money ... :) Information on the site is served in most structured form, because in the end it should be applied in practice.

In a personal letter to me author of the article made some remarks on the feed material. I agree with all the points: in the near future the site will undergo structural changes and may change in appearance.

1. "The taste for creative ideas come in a stream of improvements." I agree with this point. There is something to think about and already had the idea what to do.

2. "Sale idea - to buy its modification. Absolutely agree (though in the world practice there are cases where simple idea, executed just words, cost and bought for good money).

In general, the first and second paragraphs of Article suggests optimization marketing component of the project (turning face, and not sideways). OK.

Feedback