Great conversation this morning at Red Rock. Here are a couple of topics we covered.
Scoping a Hardware Project
I mentioned two consulting organizations that have “post a project” pages you can use to submit small projects to help scope a design or review a project plan (as well as larger projects)
A Good Test for an Early Customer
We also talked about tests for an early adopter:
- Has a problem.
- Knows they have a problem
- Has spent time and money to solve the problem
- Unsatisfied by current solution.
This comes out of “Four Steps to the Epiphany”
Thought Leadership for a New Process of Methodology
We talked about thought leadership as a way of encouraging early adopters to contact you. I did a briefing on thought leadership that may be helpful. Other points:
- Amplify positive deviance – find others who are experimenting with similar approaches and collaborate with them.
- Be clear on benefits: too often we get caught up with the change, most potential adopters want to understand the benefits.
- Outline “before” and “after” and make the “before” picture realistic so that people can see themselves.
Planning and Managing Negotiations
We also had an extended discussion of planning for and managing negotiations and I recorded these tips:
- Need to understand your BATNA–best alternative to a negotiated agreement–with the current counterparty. It’s important to continue to maintain and improve this in case negotiations break down.
- This really means you have to keep multiple players at the table or maintain an auction to get the post price or agreement, prematurely narrowing the field if not reciprocated may lead to a lowball offer or no viable options if the intended transaction falls through.
- You often have to start in a small niche or work with less attractive prospects just to generate case studies and develop proof of value. The advantage to starting small is that your relative negotiation power is higher.
See also https://vimeo.com/25482001 for a book club for business impact webinar on “3D Negotiation”
“All reform comes from below. No man with four aces howls for a new deal.”
John F. Parker
Part of “Fifteen Quotes on Negotiation”