You have an idea, you are in love with it. There’s no product yet, but you are already seeing endless possibilities, thinking headlong about various details, and excited about features you have come up with. The idea seems brilliant to you, or at least good enough to share with management immediately. You rush to get approval, a team, and a budget and proceed to execution. At this point, you need to shift gears and do a reality check.
Mind or heart?
As long as your idea exists only in your head, the possibilities you see may not be obvious to others. Especially if they are business people who tend to think differently. For those of us in love with the creative process itself, it almost never clicks that the idea we are clinging to is not going to work or is not business-oriented. And that’s as true for digital professionals as it is for creatives.
Famed Hollywood screenwriter Blake Snyder, for example, calls this infatuation with the idea…
"the smell of rain on the street at dawn," when a sight or sound makes the writer think he's on to something. "Of course, the fact that we are able to discover meaning where others cannot proves that we are unique. But it's important that we find a way to turn that into something that makes sense to others," Snyder says.
However, many entrepreneurs, product owners, and managers make the same mistake. They are so enamored with creativity and the idea itself that they easily forget to align it with the market and business goals, ignoring many commercial questions: "Where am I going to get the money for advertising, how long will it take to develop? Who will buy the product? How much will we sell it for? Do we have competitors?"
American management expert Ichak Adizes has developed an organizational lifecycle concept and compares developing an idea to ‘courtship’. He recommends that "problems of the heart should be solved with the mind, and problems of the mind should be solved with the heart."
That is, once you have an idea, it's important to test it against reality. This can be frustrating, like stepping into a cold shower, but it's sobering and can warn you about mistakes that often cost your reputation or money.
Consider the idea itself as a product that needs positioning and marketing packaging for a specific target audience (within the company and internal decision makers), differentiation from competitors (other companies' initiatives and products), a value proposition, and promotion.
First, make sure the idea is good, at least in your opinion. Here are five warning signs that your idea may be weak:
- You are afraid to tell anyone about it.
- You are afraid that if you share the idea, it will be stolen.
- You are afraid that if I do not tell management about the idea as soon as possible, the moment will be lost and no one will need it.
- You have thought through many individual features and details, but lack an overall vision of what the product is and what problem it solves.
- You have not researched the market and rely only on your gut feeling.
Do not rush to prepare slides for presenting your product idea. First, you need to gather more information, discuss it with colleagues and find allies among them.
Find allies among colleagues
The idea phase is one of the earliest stages in the product lifecycle. It is characterized by uncertainty in terms of audience, values, and possible monetization. To "sell" the idea to senior management, you need like-minded people who both share your confidence and see the need for this product, and who can share their expertise with you and help you implement or present the idea.
Identify the people within the organization who are most likely to influence decisions about your idea or project.
- Who do colleagues turn to in difficult situations?
- Who does leadership listen to?
- Who commands special respect from the majority of employees?
- Who is involved in budgeting for similar projects?
- Who is on good terms with people in positions of power?
- Who supports similar ideas?
Invite influential and experienced colleagues over for a cup of coffee and try to get their opinion on your idea. Then learn how to formulate the idea correctly from a business perspective.
Get ready for your presentation
If you want to get management excited about an idea, you do not have to write a detailed business plan right away. The essentials can be presented on several slides, and after preliminary approval, you can develop the plan for step-by-step execution. Before the presentation, you need to elaborate on the following points:
1️⃣ Market and target audience. Which markets are strategically important? Should the focus be on strong growth or cost reduction? Is there a desire to actively develop a particular technology? Who is your competitor and with what product? Do you know their strategy? Who is the target audience for your company's products now and what are their expectations?
2️⃣ The problem your product solves. You need to find out if the product will help you better solve the current problems of the current target audience or attract a new audience
3️⃣ The key features and benefits. What technologies are needed to implement the idea? What channels can be used to distribute a new product? Does your company already have the assets listed or do they need to be acquired?
4️⃣ Money: budget and monetization. You need at least a rough estimate of the cost of testing the idea and at what price and through what model you will distribute the product in the future. If it's a new product, it usually needs to sell at a higher price, appeal to a new audience, or have a new monetization model. If the goal is to optimize the current product, the cost should come down.
5️⃣ Risks. Analyze the extent of the problem that could occur if something goes wrong, whether you are just risking the project budget or other company resources. What exactly can go wrong on the part of suppliers, production, marketing, and sales?
💡It is desirable to link the product's key features and target audience to the company's competencies and strategic goals.
Package the idea as a product
The relevance and priority of your idea to management depends heavily on how you package it. The value proposition should address both audiences: the potential product consumers and the decision-makers and stakeholders within the company.
✅ Determine who is responsible for the decision to implement your idea. Think about those who can benefit most from the idea. What data do leaders in your organization like to use or are accustomed to using when making decisions?
✅ Determine the company's goals to properly position the idea. The value of the decision should be clear to everyone involved. So find simple words to express your idea in an understandable way, and highlight the benefits to each department.
Show, do not tell
To convince a person of something, you do not have to bombard them with conclusions. Tell, or better yet, show him the information on the basis of which he can draw the conclusions you need. This principle of storytelling 'show, do not tell' works in cinema, literature, and business because people do not like to be told what to do. They like to draw their own conclusions, or at least they think they draw their own conclusions. Pitching is about putting yourself in the shoes of those who think differently and showing them the value of your idea.
Always remember that your job is to guide your listener through your story. Every thought, like every turn in the road, brings us closer to our goal.
The thesis is the idea we want to convey. Sometimes the thesis does not work by itself, it needs to be revealed or supported. Details are additional information, illustrations, screenshots, statistics, and facts. Arguments are details we cite as evidence.
These can be:
- facts, statistics, analyses, reports, calculations;
- independent standards (industries, laws, etc.);
- social evidence;
- opinions of recognized experts;
- precedent;
- speaker's personal experience.
Try to imagine possible objections from management and find convincing arguments for these objections in advance.
Remember that your arguments should always include:
- the interests of the team;
- the long-term goals of the company;
- the needs of internal or external stakeholders.
If there are many arguments and they are complex, you need to add a conclusion at the end.
Most presentations are straightforward, with no turning points, introductory dry facts. To have a better impact on the audience, you must first identify the problem. If you move immediately to the solution, the story will not be compelling. To enhance contrast, use phrases such as "it was – it became," "how it is now – how it will be," and "what you do – what your competitors do."
Do not throw the life out of your presentation. A common mistake is to gloss over failures and avoid using the word "problem". The presentation helps to make the relevance of the idea you are talking about clear.
When magic happens
For your idea or product to be "sold" to management, two things must happen: the audience sees the value of the product and trusts you as the expert. If your presentation has only one component, it is unlikely to sell the idea.
✅ So first and foremost, remember the basic rule of any pitch: the fastest way to tell about something is to tell about it.
✅ Second, learn to talk quickly and concisely about your own expertise. Review your CV, admit that you have accomplished a lot, and make sure your colleagues are well-informed about your achievements and the matters you can help them with.
Even if you do not have any luck selling your idea this time, management will likely recognize your ability to experiment without wasting resources. And that will increase the chances that they'll listen to you with more enthusiasm and interest next time.