<ol><li>Is this prototype scalable?  </li><li>How quickly can you make this product?  </li><li>What are your payment terms?  </li><li>Can we negotiate?  </li><li>Can you make every part of this product at the same rate?  </li><li>What’s the minimum amount of product I can order at once?  </li><li>What will my total costs be?  </li><li>What happens if you don’t ship me my products on time?  </li><li>Are there any circumstances that might cause this manufacturing price to change?   </li></ol>

Discussing with the manufacturer: questions to ask

If you're in the position of choosing between manufacturers, you'll want to consider some things like proximity to the manufacturer, their size and experience, the company’s industry connections, and financial stability. Ensure quality from the start. Make people that you trust use it or taste it, and try it to give you feedback. There’s always a way better to make things better.

Make it!

It’s ready to sell when all of these questions are properly answered, It solves the problem. It gives the results you are looking for. It’s the best option out there.

And how do you know is it ready to sell?

Study aspects of your product that are not as good as something else that’s in the market and figure out a way to potentially market your product so that doesn’t become a weakness, instead, it becomes a strength. Show the other side of this objection and what the benefit is. Figure out how to sell people on your prototype as you make it.

Be smart and anticipate objections

If you hear a no try to use someone else as an example: “I called an XYZ account and they said no at first too. Then this happened and it increased their sales or it drove traffic to their store.”Be thoughtful about when to go back to a prospect after hearing no. Give them time to consider what you’ve offered before asking them again.

Turning a NO into a YES

Introduce your product by yourself to the people who are selling your product. The goal here is to find out “How do I make every single employee a huge fan of what I’ve invented? ” A good example of it can be Apple.

Leverage yourself

There are several classes you can take to get more comfortable with selling products or services to strangers. <ul><li>Take an acting or stand-up comedy class. Both will force you to confront your vulnerability and get you accustomed to talking to strangers. </li><li>Take a debate class. It will push you to analyze two ways to look at an issue. </li><li>Take a public speaking class. Anything to get you more comfortable in front of a crowd.</li></ul>

Face your fear

You should convince your manufacturer, customer, or buyer that there’s an urgent problem that needs solving. There are four types of people you’ll be speaking with:<ol><li>The director is someone who wants you to be very concise and to the point. </li><li>The socializer is someone who wants to get to know you a little bit better. </li><li>The relator is someone who wants you to connect with them and care about them personally. </li><li>The thinker is someone who wants to know every detail about your product, whether they use it or not. </li></ol>

Sell the problem

<ul><li>Ask your trusted testers: what do you like about this product? What are the three things you would change about it? Would you use this? </li><li>Negative feedback is really important at this stage and you need to know what to do with it. </li><li>Make a change of something you didn’t think about or, you don’t agree with and move on your path. </li><li>You need to be harder on yourself and continue asking yourself: is it your first choice? Does it really solve a really important need? Would you want to have this business option over something else in the market?</li></ul>

Collect feedback

When you're selling your product or service, you might think you're just selling that, but it's not entirely true. If you learn how to sell, you will become that much better in your business as an inventor. Know how to sell gives you that instinct of what's going to work and what's not. If you're selling your product or service, you'll be selling the problem that your product or service solves.

Negotiate minimums

Iteration is a part of any business, whether you’re creating an actual physical product and investing something or not. You will be iterating constantly how you’re servicing the customer. The world is always changing, so solutions can’t remain static. Think of how often apple comes out with the new iphones. People are beginning to expect new and better technology.

Obsess the customer

The main goal of prototyping is to bring your idea into the world to see if it can be made. Then, you have to examine the strengths and weaknesses of your product by comparing it to what else is out there in the marketplace. Add a design element but don’t compromise the fit. It’s ok to frankenstein parts of existing products together to create your prototype.

Prototyping

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Negotiate minimums

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