Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!: Make Your Million-Dollar Idea Into a Reality (24 page)

Be aware that whenever buyers are watching your pitch, alongside all the excited thoughts of hugely successful quarters dancing in their heads are visions of the extra work you are going to make for them if they take a chance on you. So if you make the choice to go in without a distributor or a rep, convince your buyers you will be worth it. Be as helpful and handy as possible. Let them know not to worry, you’ll take care of things, read their guidelines, and make sure you do everything right.

A FEW MORE SUGGESTIONS

Dress for Success

Not long ago, I read a surprising article that examined a trend in which people age fifty and over were beating twenty-somethings out of jobs because the twenty-somethings were showing up ill-dressed for their interviews, in sloppy or skimpy clothes. Our culture has many of us believing that manners and dress don’t matter anymore. A lot of young people just out of college see social
media titans and other hugely successful personalities showing up at stockholder meetings in a hoodie and jeans, and they think they can do the same when they pitch their product. After all, they’re just keeping it real. But actually, they’re not keeping it real, they’re taking a real chance.

Once you’re as successful as Mark Zuckerberg, then you can show up to important events dressed any way you like. Until then, it’s important to appear at your pitches dressed in a way that shows you care and that you respect the people who have taken time out of their day to meet with you. If in doubt, dress up. You can never go wrong looking too nice, but you can go very wrong looking not nice enough.

Remember to Listen

You probably know more about your product and your market than almost anyone else, but that doesn’t mean you know everything. Nothing turns buyers (or investors) off more than a know-it-all. While it is admirable to stand firm in your convictions, and you should take every opportunity to offer evidence that supports your claims, don’t dismiss buyers’ questions or concerns. They have experience and insight that you do not have. If you come across as combative, arrogant, or hardheaded, or buyers see that you’re unwilling or incapable of listening to them during a pitch, they’re not going to want to work with you, no matter how amazing they find your product. There’s always another product they can buy to fill their sales quota.

Sometimes It’s Good to Share the Spotlight

In some cases, you won’t be able to do the pitch yourself. As discussed earlier, some entrepreneurs just aren’t suited for public speaking, and so they bring in a partner to be the face of the product even as they sit close by during the pitch and make
themselves available for questions. If you’ve hired a representative firm, they could pitch your product for you. It can be nerve-wracking to let someone else do your pitch. How could anyone else be as passionate about your product as you?

That’s why reps and distributors are usually paid a percentage of the amount of each order they land for you. It creates an incentive, making it as much in their best interest to woo buyers for your product as it is yours. That doesn’t mean you have to relinquish all control over your pitch, however. Remember, you always need to be driving the bus. Even if you’re shy and you’ve hired a rep to pitch for you, accompany the rep to the presentation. Speak up when and if needed. No one knows your product better than you do.

THE PRE-PITCH PREP

Your Prototype Is Perfect

Take a good, hard look at your prototype. Is it exactly what it should be? Is it perfect? Not is it perfect in an it’s-perfect-except-for-that-teeny-little-detail-you-wish-you-had-thought-of-previously kind of way. I mean, it’s perfect in that you look at it, and smile, and think,
This. Is. Perfect
. If so, you’re already ahead of a lot of other inventors. In fact, you’re avoiding a common mistake that I have committed in the past.

We inventors are passionate people, and sometimes—especially once we’ve enjoyed a little success and are feeling more confident—we can get so excited about a new idea or product that we can’t wait to start sharing it with our buyers, so we can get the ball rolling under it quickly. Yet every time I have let my enthusiasm get ahead of me, I’ve regretted it. Several times I have been so eager to start sharing new ideas at QVC that I have pitched them before they were fully fleshed out. I’ve learned that
you should always make sure the design and the prototype are perfect before revealing it. Don’t show it before it’s ready and blow your one and only chance to make a good first impression.

Learn from my mistake (the one I never make anymore): Perfect your product so that you can pitch it in all its shining glory, so your buyer can’t help falling in love with it.

Your Props Are Ready

Make sure that you’ve got everything you need to make an unforgettable demonstration. If you need to build a doorway to show how your product hangs off of it, build a portable doorway. If you need to demonstrate how well your product cleans, devise a portable bathtub, kitchen floor, or stovetop, as Aaron Krause did to show that his scrubby sponge was unparalleled at getting the gunk off delicate surfaces. Whatever it takes, do it and do it right! Don’t skimp. This saying is true: you have to spend money to make money. Always go out with your best foot forward. You get one shot, so make sure it’s perfect.

You Set Your Goals

So, you’re confident that your prototype is in its absolute final, perfect incarnation, and you’ve got your props ready to help you demo your invention. You’re ready to start pitching. But there are millions of retailers and buyers out there. Where to begin?

I always had the theory that it was best to go with the biggest retailers with the most stores, for that would get me the highest amount of purchase orders in the shortest amount of time. Not every retail outlet will be appropriate for your product, but don’t eliminate retailers because they’re too small or you don’t think
they have the appropriate cachet. Don’t worry about cachet. Get in the door and be grateful to anyone who is willing to take a chance on you. Do what you must to get your start. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you, but you should be willing to put up with a lot in order to get your foot in the door. It’s a rite of passage we all take.

Realistically, you may know that it’s unlikely you’re going to get a multimillion-dollar contract with a large national chain right out of the gate. But at this point, it’s only unlikely, not impossible. Go big. Go fast and furious. Here’s what I say all the time: Cast as wide a net as you can. Do not be intimidated. Knock on every door, call every phone number, and write to every email address you can possibly find belonging to a buyer that might be interested in what you’re selling. What have you got to lose? Everything! Don’t let fear, laziness, or a lack of persistence keep you from getting an audience with the people who are guarding the gates to your future. And do not turn down sales; a bird in the hand is valuable.

I recently did a deal with three guys from New Jersey who had invented a simple plastic case that would keep flat paintbrushes and roller brushes wet—The Paintbrush Cover. No more furiously washing the brushes at the end of every day to keep them from drying out and getting ruined. The case keeps the brushes moist for months and months. It’s patented, too! These three represented everything I look for in an entrepreneur. They were burning with enthusiasm. They flew out to California, and the morning of their
Shark Tank
appearance, instead of practicing their pitch or pacing their hotel rooms nervously, they went out and knocked on the doors of a few hardware stores. And as they proudly declared on air, each one bought!

It was with that sort of determination that I set out to get my first invention into every single retail store where it belonged. Every
night, after spending all day polling women on the streets of Chicago, I’d sit with the book I had lugged home from the library (it cost about a thousand dollars!). It was called
The Department Store Guide
, and it was the best tool ever. I’d scour it and select the top stores I wanted to target. All of them were the ones with the largest number of stores. I’d make endless lists in my notebooks. I copied every relevant name and phone number I could find.

Today you might use a publication called
The Chain Store Guide
, which provides a comprehensive list of retailers across the country and the names of their most important personnel. The information is also online at
www.chainstoreguide.com
.

My plan was to go big—so big that it might have seemed unreasonable to anyone but me: my product was well suited for any store, so I was going to reach out to every single one, beginning with the largest chains with the most stores. I was sure that if I could start selling into four or five of the top retailers in the country, I would make my entry into all the other retailers.

START WITH A FAST PITCH

I was sure that if I could get buyers on the phone for just a few minutes, and give them a taste of my energy and excitement, and how great my product was, they would be curious enough to agree to meet with me in person. My phone was equipped with speed redial, so every day I would start at the top of my list and call the first number. If no one picked up or I got to voice mail,
I’d hang up and immediately redial. If no one picked up or I got to voice mail, I’d redial again. If still no response, I’d wait an hour and hit redial again. I’d try every hour or so. I didn’t want the individual to be irritated when he or she picked up. There was no caller ID back then, which helped. This system was frustrating, and it was boring, but it worked. Sometimes it took hours, but someone would eventually pick up. And every time someone did, I hit the person with a brief yet extremely precise introduction, carefully scripted to pique his or her interest.

The Script

Buyers are just like everyone else—busy, overscheduled with meetings, and stressed out about their sales goals. They don’t have time to be interrupted unless it is by something or someone who will make their sales goals easier to hit, their workday better, and their bosses happy. So with every word I spoke, I tried to convey the message that that’s exactly what I had to offer. I knew there would be no time for introductions or for polite chitchat (though I was exceedingly polite). I had to capture the person’s attention with one catchy, appealing sentence. So my opening sentence was, “Hi, my name is Lori Greiner. I have a revolutionary new product and you’ve never seen anything like it.”

If the person didn’t hang up on me right away, I went on with what could best be described as a mini-pitch: “It’s the coolest earring organizer ever. It holds 100 pair of pierced and clip-on earrings on sliding earring stands. The stands slide to the left and to the right, one behind the other, and it takes up only about nine inches of space on your dresser. I’m going to be in your city in two weeks. Would you have just five minutes for me to quickly show it to you? I think you will love it. I promise I’ll set my watch, and in five minutes I’ll leave if you want.”

See how concise I was? No filler, no unnecessary information, nothing except the main things every buyer needs to hear before he or she will even think about giving you a chance to make a pitch:

1. That you’ve got a brand-new, original product people will love.

2. That it is exciting.

3. That you will be quick and easy to work with.

4. That you are ready to meet at their convenience.

Take a close look at the words I used. Each sentence was important: “I have a revolutionary new product …” “It holds one hundred pair …” “It takes up only nine inches …” I struck their imaginations. I also said there was nothing on the market like it.