How to Get a Meeting & Setting Up a Presentation Tips

Once you've prepared your pitch, here's how to get a meeting with your prospect.

You’ve prepared, rehearsed your presentation, taken all the necessary steps to protect your invention, and you’re ready to sit down with any potential buyers or licensers out there. You know who they are. Now how do you set up that meeting? In my experience, the best way is the simplest: Pick up the phone and call the company. Ask the operator who in the company is responsible for the xyz business? “

You might get a name; you might get the departmental secretary. But eventually you’ll get to the person responsible for that business, probably a Product Manager. Don’t be afraid to ask if that person has the authority to close a deal with you.

You tell them you’ve developed a product that will make their xyz product obsolete. Tell them you have a model built, a patent application in, and a full range of costs and sales estimates developed.

I recommend that when you go to any meeting to discuss finances you bring your accountant. Let him/her make the deal and do the real negotiating.

Also bring a colleague. Why? Because you’ll be focused on details: someone else should take astute notes of what actually gets said in the meeting.

Don’t bring your lawyer. More deals are broken than made when everyone gets bogged down in legal details. They will have their legal department go over preliminary details.

Sign their Confidentiality Agreement. Chances are they won’t even see you unless you do, so it’s in your best interest as well as a show of good faith.

Remember to keep the focus on the money your product will make, not the product itself. The buyer is interested in money, not your invention. Know what you want from the meeting. What kind of deal? Do you want to sell an exclusive option? For how long? With a renewal clause? What kind of royalties will you ask for? Decide before you meet. Royalties vary from product to product. Generally, the higher the volume, the lower the retail price and the smaller the percentage of wholesale costs.

If you’re producing a new kind of paper clip, you’ll get a relatively small percentage return on a product that will be produced in massive volume.

On the other hand, if you’re producing a fairly unique product with significant value to the customer, in small volume, your royalties can be as high as 50 percent. Therefore, that slow-burning, revolutionary new space-shuttle fuel commands high royalties, and can make you rich!

Get an assurance that the product will actually be produced if you license it to them; otherwise there will be no royalty on sales. Consider asking for a front-end payment. This could be several thousand dollars against future royalties earned. (Once the company pays you a front-end sum, they’ll want to produce the product to get it back.) Be sure you have the legal right to look at their books to ensure you’re getting paid enough royalty.

Good luck!

Article © Copyright 2001 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by Paradigm News, Inc.

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