Selling Innovation – Start-up Checklist

Start-up Checklist

Before you start your start-up, ask the following questions:

• What are the changes in market dynamics that your innovation addresses?
• Who might be upset or disrupted by your innovation?
• What three extensions to your innovation can you imagine now which could be added later by you or someone else?
• What is the total market penetration of three products different from your innovation but that target the same market?
• What characteristics of your innovation make it a ‘need to have’ for your potential buyers?
• What features in your product allow your customers to share it with their friends? (not just a Facebook ‘Like’)?
• Can your operations sustain a 60-90-day delay in payment?
• Can you name ten people that you have direct connection with (not including fiends or family) who would realistically give your innovation a serious review and consider a pilot or purchase?
• Who is going to monitor your live social media accounts?
• What are the three criteria that will trigger a pivot in your sales / go-to-market strategy?
• Who can you leave a voice mail to test out your pitch?
• What are the top three statements from prospective buyers that you will listen for before starting your pitch?
• Who does your pitch talk more about, your innovation or the prospect?
• What time of year is the best time to pitch your innovation to your prospective buyers, and why?
• Has your accountant signed off on the pricing model?
• Who is responsible for fulfilling (or fixing) any and all deliverable’s or promised made in a sales agreement?
• What resources have you made available to help a first follower share their enthusiasm about your innovation?
• What customer service elements have you planned for each billing cycle?
• How are you integrating social media into FAQ/Customer Service updates?
• Who is responsible for converting product specs into marketing content and what is the publishing schedule?
• Why are you launching the second set of features, second?
• What are the three criteria you will use to evaluate one vendor against another?
• Who in the organization does NOT have access to ALL customer data, and why?
• How does your sales pipeline align with your time-close projections?
• Who was the best sales person you ever saw, and why?

Download the remainder of the book Selling Innovation using the discount code WD22R (valid until 4/30/2014).

image credit: emnews.com

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Ken Smith, Business Plan Reviewer and Start-up Coach for Springboard Enterprises, served as Co-chair of CEO Service Committee for the MIT Enterprise Forum Cambridge; and is the author of the start-up resource guidebook Selling Innovation