Breaking the Ice Want skeptical customers to warm up to your product? Here's the scoop on how to win them over.
By Don Debelak
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
The BIZ Experiencess: Inventor Peter Lerman, 51, of Bethel,Connecticut, and licensee and marketer Lou Matinale, 42, presidentof MatonyProducts, a company that licenses products from inventors
Product Description: Lerman's invention, the Sno-Easy, is anergonomic shovel that allows the user to shovel snow withoutbending or twisting. It features a "helper handle," whichpivots on two axes in different directions: up, so the shovel canbe picked up without bending over, and then in a second direction,allowing the handle to be twisted to dump the snow. After Lermandeveloped the product, he met Matinale through a mutual contact in2001; Matinale agreed to handle the production and marketing. Nowsold at retailers like Home Depot, Walgreens and Wal-Mart, theSno-Easy shovel retails for $19.99.
Startup: $6,000, which Lerman spent on engineeringdrawings and patents before licensing the product
Sales: $1 million to $1.5 million expected for the2004-2005 winter season
The Challenge: Overcoming skepticism from retailers andconsumers when several other similar products have failed
Often, an inventor recognizes a problem that other inventorshave already attempted to solve. That's certainly the case withsnow shovels. There have probably been at least 10 different"easy on the back" shovels introduced over the past 15years. Consumers in the market become wary after many similarproducts are introduced and then fail. But that doesn't meansuccess isn't possible, as Peter Lerman and licensee LouMatinale found out.
Steps to Success
1. Understand the problem. "Shoveling snow is badfor the back," says Lerman. "You bend over to pick up thesnow, and then twist and turn to dump the snow. Other'back-saver' products reduce the bending but don'taddress twisting." To understand the problem, inventors shouldinterview three or four users. Sometimes they'll experienceproblems the inventor missed.
2.Design a complete solution. There were three steps inLerman's design. "I started with a helper handle for thehand that was not holding the end of the shovel," he says."I added a two-way pivot hinge to the attachment point of thehelper handle and main shovel handle. That way, a user could twistthe helper handle and dump snow without twisting his or her back.The last change was to switch to a smaller shovel scoop. Thatlowered the weight of a shovel load."
3. Make your difference stand out. An inventor has 10 to15 seconds to persuade people that his or her product is better.That time is cut in half when the market is skeptical, so you musthave a solution that people can grasp right away. "When peopletry the Sno-Easy, they immediately get the product'sbenefit," says Matinale.
4. Produce a high-quality product. Lerman designed aprototype, but it wasn't complete. "I wanted the product[to be] more durable and easier to manufacture," he says.
To do this, says Matinale, "We re-engineered the two-waypivot, used steel rods for the handle and helper handle, and used ahigh-impact plastic scoop with a metal edge."
When the market is skeptical, you have to show your commitmentto the product. A high-quality product demonstrates an investmenton your part, which implies you have a strong belief that yourproduct is better than past product failures.
5. Ensure the product stands out in the distributionchannel. "Large home-improvement stores can have darkspots," says Matinale. "We packaged eight Sno-Easyshovels in a floor display that accents the product's featuresand catches people's attention." The display encouragespeople to pick up the product and try it.
Lessons Learned
1. Get professional marketing help. Buyers atdistributors, retailers and catalogs will be skeptical of yourproduct if similar products have failed. A marketing professional,either a licensee or someone with a successful past in theindustry, can help overcome this problem in several ways. First, aprofessional will have contacts who will at least listen to a newproduct's story. Second, he or she endorses the product byrepresenting it, which is more effective than an inventor statingthat his or her product will sell. Finally, he or she will know howto deal with skepticism by showing why the product will sell whenothers haven't.
2. Don't be afraid of competing products. While manyback-saving shovels have failed, a few are still on the market.Retailers prefer to offer more than one product in a categorybecause it creates more interest to the shopper. When your producthas a visual difference people can see, that will make shopperscurious about how the products compare.
3. Understand the fine distinctions that matter to thecustomer. For instance, a smaller shovel scoop implies alighter load, and that can make a big difference in a buyer'sperception of the product. When you test a product, show variationsof every feature to see how customers react. A minor feature couldbe the final impetus for a customer purchase.
4. Consider a nontraditional approach to distribution.One of the Sno-Easy retail outlets is Walgreens. That's not anormal distribution point for shovels. But since the shovel is forpeople who suffer from back pain, it's a good fit for adrugstore. Try selling your invention where your target customersshop, even if your product type isn't usually carried in thosestores.
Don Debelak is author of BIZ Experiences magazine's Start-UpGuide #1813, Bringing Your Product to Market, and host ofinventor-help website www.dondebelak.com.
