Negotiating to get what you want

Are you a candidate for the Emily Dickinson Award? And what's that you ask? The award for a creative person, cloistered in their own creative castle, that no one has heard of and won't until after they're deceased and someone with marketing savvy finds and promotes. (I love many of Emily’s poems – particularly The Bustle in the House* – but find it a shame she couldn’t enjoy her own success and find the solace and joy she gave to others.)

To help you avoid being such a creative candidate, you've got to promote and negotiate. Today, let's discuss a bit of negotiating – a vital skill in life because you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

What follows is an email thread from today. I’ve changed the person and products names for confidentiality. But, it doesn’t matter what the product is. Marketing is marketing.

I once foolishly applied for a job as a Marketing VP at a computer company. I say it was foolish because I don’t do well in formal job settings any more. I don’t have the patience for corporate folderol. I made it through their screenings and into an interview where they asked me if I’d had any immediate experience marketing their kind of product.

I told them that I really didn’t care what the product was so long as it was ethical and of high quality. They said they wanted someone who had sold this before. I said I’d sold pearls, gold, real estate, computers, concerts, singing contracts and so forth through TV, radio, print media, direct mail, with a sales force etc. That it didn’t matter what the product was because no one cares what your product IS, only what it DOES.

They didn’t agree and fortunately, I wasn’t hired.

So read this conversation with an open mind, substituting your product or service for his. Negotiating is the same. Know your product. Ask questions and find answers. Do your homework. Never talk price but talk value, value, benefits and value. (Read my book Marketing Singers for more negotiating strategies. This is just a snippet.)

Here’s the thread:
On 3/31/2010 9:43 AM, Steve Jones wrote:
> Mark,
>
> I should have reported to you sooner. I had a great trip. Both XXX Inc. and YYYY Products met with me a couple of weeks ago. Like you had advised, I focused on products, not the deal. They did seem to love my original design, and showed interest in the newer product concepts as well. YYYY Products said that their contact at Apple had been asking them for something "new." They felt that my stuff might fit the bill. They took samples to a Las Vegas trade show last week but were not able to get time with Apple.
>
> XXX Inc. told me that they serve the mobile professional and asked for a derivative product that was (deleted for confidentiality) and briefcase. I should have that for them in a couple more days. My patent agent is filing applications as I come up with designs.
>
> It all went as well as I could have hoped, but I am wondering what happens next. I know how to develop products and even test for market interest, but it gets sketchy from there. If they don't make clear requests, then I can only imagine that I must work on marketing the product through an e-commerce website.
>
> Any reactions?
>
> Steve

Hello Steve,
Sounds like it is progressing.

I just met the VP of Marketing and Products for the new Sharper Image company. His name is Federico Bellegarde and he lives in NYC. I'll find his phone number and send it to you. I would think he might have some interest and is a very affable guy.

Take each company one step at a time, build value, make them salivate and then ask them what they think. Ask them "is this a product your company would be interested in selling?" They'll usually give weasel word answers and then you take each caveat or weasel word they pose and ask what that means. Ask them the path to commercializing this product with them... what do you want, when, where, how it will fit into their profile, what they'll do to promote it -- actively (advertise it) or passively (stick it in a catalog), if they have samples of contracts they use for licensing a product like yours, etc.

In other words, get pushy and ask a ton of questions. If they give vague answers don't think you'll ignorant or stupid, think they're obtuse. It's your product... you have a right to understand and they must provide the complete understanding. I'm not demanding at this point. That's a mistake. But I am curious and want to know.

Good luck,

Mark

PS. Here’s the Dickinson poem I like that captures much of what I’ve experienced in the death of close loved ones:

The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth, -

The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.