The introductory letter and the product/description file should be sent to targeted companies. The targeted company should be one which enables it to develop, manufacture and market the product. Those aspects are:
Industrial sector Market
Materials used Turnover
Technologies used Investment in R & D
Subsidiaries
Avoid companies which use your proposition in order to request invention funding. The usual and desirable method of financing the new product's development is self-financing drawn from the company's everyday activity. In general, it is advised to contact those companies with more than 80 and 250 employees respectively in the field of high technology and in more traditional sectors. Rather than contacting the leader, contact its competitors, which are more opportunist and determined. The search for manufacturers must be done in an efficient and well-organized manner; it must enable you to obtain a maximum amount of information in a minimum amount of time and cost.
In a given sector of activity:
First of all, look for a professional event, such as an exhibition, where corresponding manufacturers will display their products. Obtain the exhibitor's guide, either by buying it or studying it at the Chamber of Commerce.
Read the specialized written press from the last twelve months and fill out the documentation request card. Use the internet by consulting major search engines, specialized directories such as Thomas Register, Kompass, and indicating key words related to your invention. Supplement this information by contacting product distributors.
This first approach is carried out through the Vice-President of Marketing, for he or she gives a marketing dimension to the pre-development of the new product that you are proposing. The information that he or she gives you will be useful and reliable, and will be a worthwhile supplement to the innova-book. Retain only qualitative information; quantitative information brings about a limit.
Never contact the Director of Research and Development, who represents a technical continuation of your proposition. A meeting with him could, however, provide a small part of a solution which you had not previously considered.
The introductory letter and the product/description file should be sent by fax and the internet. A web site brings these two prospecting tools together, and should be referenced on internet search engines. In particular, key words related to your invention should be referenced.
Consider also the opportunity to place an advertisement on the specialized written press where you can submit your ideas and rough drawings. You will find an example in the section Designer's Corner on Design News Magazine.
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