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Latest Updates: business RSS

  • erik 12:16 pm on January 11, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Book: Blue Ocean Strategy

    “Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant” uses a “red ocean vs. blue ocean” analogy to discuss the risks of head-to-head corporate competition (bloody red oceans) against the opportunities of differentiating your company or service such that your offerings are unique (blue oceans.)

    The book walks through a few techniques for modeling your current market and exploring opportunities to reposition yourself. This analysis focuses heavily on identifying gaps between the parts of a service that businesses emphasize, and the parts that customers value. For example, if a current market has competitors battling over “quality of craftsmanship”, thus raising prices and limited it’s customer base, there may be a blue ocean strategy around simplifying manufacturing, reducing costs, and selling to a wider audience.

    In many ways, the solutions the book promotes are often in alignment with the classic “user-centered design” and product management philosophies of listening to customers and focusing on providing customer value, rather then selling to a fictitious market. However, to get into a blue ocean, a company must react and reinvent itself if the customers it wants need a different offering.

    A few quotes:

    “Effective strategy should be about risk minimization and not risk taking.”

    “Innovative ideas will be profitable only if they are linked to what buyers are willing to pay for.”

    “Unless the technology makes buyers’ lives dramatically simpler, more convenient, more productive, less risky, or more fun and fashionable, it will not attract the masses no matter how many awards it wins.”

    “If individuals are not treated as though their knowledge is valued, they will … not share their ideas and expertise; rather, they will hoard their best thinking and creative ideas, preventing new insights from seeing the light of day.”

    The concepts in the book aren’t too hard to grasp, and unfortunately, this makes the book feel unnecessarily long. It’s a easy read, but without a lot of substance. I do like how the Strategy Canvases were drawn (and I’m definitely going to play with that approach to modeling competition), so I did get some value out of it; But overall, the book isn’t sitting too high on my recommended list.

     

  • erik 10:21 am on December 8, 2008 | 2 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Book: “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”

    What a great book — and difficult to review in a “cut to the chase” manner. “Innovation and Entrepreneurship“, by Peter F. Drucker, outlines a systematic approach for identifying innovation opportunities, and growing a culture of innovation within an organization. He provides a view of innovation as a style of working — a way of paying attention to, researching, and responding to key market changes.

    The chapter on “Principles of Innovation” offers a nice list of Do’s and Dont’s, but this is just scratching the surface of the wisdom in this book:

    Do’s:

    1. “Purposeful, systematic innovation begins with the analysis of the opportunities.”
    2. “Go out and look at the customers, the users, to see what their expectations, their values, their needs are.”
    3. “An innovation has to be simple, and it has to be focused. It should do only one things, otherwise, it confuses.”
    4. “Effective innovations start small.”
    5. “Successful innovation aims at leadership.”

    Dont’s:

    1. “[Do] not try to be clever.”
    2. “Don’t diversify… don’t try to do too many things at once.”
    3. “Don’t try to innovate for the future. Innovate for the present!”

    Here are some of the quotes I highlighted while reading:

    • “The test of an innovation… lies in its success in the marketplace.”
    • “Most of Silicon Valley are still inventors rather than innovators, still speculators rather than entrepreneurs.”
    • “Entrepreneurship… is a behavior rather than [a] personality trait.”
    • “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”
    • “Entrepreneurship is ‘risky’ mainly because so few of the so-called entrepreneurs know what they are doing.”
    • “Anything truly new that looks big is indeed to be distrusted. The odds are heavily against its succeeding.”
    • “The organization must be… willing to perceive change as an opportunity rather than a threat.”
    • “Only when people with proven performance capacity have been assigned to a project, supplied with the tools, the money, and the information they need to do the work, and given clear and unambiguous deadlines — only then do we have a plan.“
    • “To render an existing business entrepreneurial, management must take the lead in making obsolete its own products and services rather than waiting for a competitor to do so.”
    • “The people responsible for an existing business will… always be tempted to postpone action on anything new, entrepreneurial, or innovative until it is too late.”
    • “A business needs only a very small share of a small market to be successful.”
    • “Failure to achieve objectives should be considered an indication that the objective is wrong, or at least defined wrongly.”
    • “The probability of success… diminishes with each successive try.” (In reference to pursuing the same idea multiple times.)
    • “One cannot do market research for something that is not yet on the market.”
    • “The new venture needs to build in systematic practices to remind itself that a ‘product’ or a ’service’ is defined by the customer, not by the producer.”
    • “Businesses are not paid to reform customers. They are paid to satisfy customers.“
    • “The founder has to learn to become the leader of a team rather then a ’star’ with ‘helpers.’”
    • “A product is not ‘quality’ because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money… Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes ‘quality.’”
    • “A ‘premium’ price is always an invitation to the competitor.”
    • “Trying to satisfy everybody… always ends up satisfying nobody.”
    • “Charge for what represents ‘value’ to the customer rather then what represents ‘cost’ to the supplier.”

    If you’re interested in learning how to develop a professional practice of innovation and entrepreneurial management, this is a great book to read. Sure, it’s a little dated (as Drucker’s work is going to be), but it doesn’t get in the way or dilute the message — and offers insightful business history and lessons that are still relevant today.

     

  • erik 3:27 pm on October 13, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: business, ,

    Defining Design Thinking

    “Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”

    (Via Design Thinking.)

     

  • erik 2:40 pm on September 22, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: business, ,

    “FORTUNE: How I Work”

    “FORTUNE: How I Work” isn’t a new piece, but I’ve gone back to it a few times, so I thought I’d share the link and a some thoughts on it.

    The article interviews twelve successful, industry leaders on how they work and what they do to manage their workload. The common themes are that they all tend to work 12+ hour days (and generally weekends); They cut out the noise and distractions; Focus on what’s important; leverage their staff; and spend a large amount of their time emailing or calling people. That’s a pretty good reflection of what Peter Drucker describes in the book, “The Effective Executive“, which is perhaps why it’s so interesting to hear first-hand.

    I pulled a few quotes, but left off the names so you’ll have to read the article to find out who said these:

    On working hours:

    • “I get up about 4:30 A.M. and check out the markets. “
    • “I get up between 5 and 5:30″
    • “I wake up somewhere between 5 and 6 A.M.”
    • “My day starts around 9 A.M. and meetings finish up around 8 P.M. After that I stay in the office to do action items and e-mail. I can get by on four to six hours of sleep.”
    • “I try to get home by 7:30 P.M.”
    • “…head off to work about 5:45 A.M.”
    • “I do marathon e-mail catch-up sessions, sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday. I’ll just sit down and do e-mail for ten to 14 hours straight.”
    • “I usually go home after lunch and then spend the rest of the afternoon and evening, except for dinner, up till about 11:30 p.m., working.”
    • “If I don’t do six hours of sleep I’m in bad shape, but I’m usually up by six.”
    • “I typically don’t sign off e-mail until midnight.”
    • “My day usually ends in the office at about six o’clock, but then I go to two or three parties a night… Then, no matter when I get home at night — and it’s usually late — I do at least an hour or two of e-mail.”
    • “I’m asleep at 10. I’m up at 5:30 and try to work out four or five times a week.”

    On allocating time:

    • “For meetings on a single topic that aren’t regular operational meetings, I’m very strict. The maximum is one hour and 30 minutes. Fifty percent of the time is for the presentation, 50 percent is for discussion.”
    • “If I have a business dinner, people know that it should start at 6:30 and be over by 8:30. “

    On leveraging staff:

    • “I have two assistants now. I have an assistant from 7 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, and then an assistant from 4 to midnight.”
    • “I rely on staff to take care of things that I know they can.”

    On focus and resetting oneself:

    • “Every day at 8:30 A.M., I get up from my desk and walk to a health club across the street. I do yoga and work out for probably an hour and a half…”
    • “Some of my best ideas literally come from standing on my head doing yoga. I’m away from the office, away from the noise…”
    • “I don’t have a cellphone, I don’t have a Black-Berry.”
    • “It is also important to take a distance from the problem. I do not bring my work home.”
    • “I find that meditating for five, ten, or 15 minutes in a hotel room at night can be as good as a workout”
    • “I still work weekends, though not the killer hours I used to.”
     

  • erik 11:52 am on September 20, 2008 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , business

    Thank you for the free book!

    Since I started working through the Personal MBA reading list, I’ve been posting summaries and links to the books on Amazon. If you’re reading this blog, you’re savvy enough to know that those Amazon links are “associate” links, meaning that they generate referral money (well, Amazon gift certificates) for me if you click-through and buy a book.

    I’m happy to say that a few people have bought some of these books, and I’ve made enough referral money now to pick up a free book! I decide to buy “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” by Peter Drucker. Innovation, and the application of innovation as a competitive strategy, is a topic I’m particularly interested in. In addition, I really enjoyed Drucker’s “The Effective Executive“, so I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.

    So thank you! Reading this next book will be even nicer knowing that my friends (and some strangers) were willing to share their “click-throughs” with me!

     

  • erik 11:29 am on September 20, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Quick review, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”

    “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful” by Marshall Goldsmith.

    • The author is an executive coach, generally brought in when a high-level professional is in need of “grooming” (ex., someone tagged as being the next CEO, but isn’t quite ready.)
    • The book outlines the author’s peer-review process for identifying personality traits that are holding executives back in the career advancement.
    • Lists and describes the common issues:
      1. Winning too much — ex., wanting to “win” an argument just for the sake of winning
      2. Adding too much value — ex., always trying to add to the conversation
      3. Passing judgement — ex., quickly reacting in approval/disapproval when hearing new ideas. It’s better to listen with “complete neutrality” and make a decision later.
      4. Making destructive comments — ex., the facial expressions and under-the-breathe comments that generally serve only a negative purpose.
      5. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However” — ex., saying “that’s a good idea, but…” You’ve now shot down the idea.
      6. Telling the world how smart we are — ex., responding with an “I already knew that” when someone brings information.
      7. Speaking when angry — pretty self-explanatory, but yelling at your staff is no way to keep top-talent.
      8. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work” — a devil’s advocate is generally more destructive then helpful. Don’t shoot down ideas, or people will stop bringing them to you.
      9. Withholding information — when you withhold information you put your colleagues at a disadvantage, which naturally, they won’t like. (And eventually, when the don’t like you enough, they’ll stop working for you.) Keep in mind the lessons of the information age — information becomes more valuable (and powerful) when shared. Practice transparency.
      10. Failing to give proper recognition — if you don’t give credit where credit’s due, your staff will resent you.
      11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve — this is a short-term gain, for a long-term fail. Taking credit for someone else’s achievements is a great way to make people dislike you.
      12. Making excuses — they just hold you back.
      13. Clinging to the past — like making excuses, but with historical precedent. Again, it’s holding you back.
      14. Playing favorites — the favorites like you, the other’s hate you.
      15. Refusing to express regret — apologize so everyone can move forward.
      16. Not listening — and specifically, not listening well (ie., not engaging or paying attention.) Not listening is a great way to get people to stop bringing you information.
      17. Failing to express gratitude — saying “Thank you” and recognizing other’s achievements make people feel good, and thus, makes them enjoy being around you.
      18. Punishing the messenger — a negative reaction to bad news will make the messenger feel bad for having brought it (thus limiting your access to information in the future.) Listen with neutrality, thank the messenger, and deal with the problem separately.
      19. Passing the buck — ex., blaming someone (or something) else for our mistakes.
      20. An excessive need to be “me” — ex., letting some mental model of your personality dictate how you work. Doing something because it’s “in character”, rather then doing what’s right.
      21. Goal Obsession — driving so hard to achieve a goal that we lose sight of why we’re doing it.
    • Walks the reader though the discovery process, and addresses how to successfully recover from a bad personality trait. (ie., it’s not enough that you simply get better — what matters, in fact, the only thing that matters, is how your peers perceive you, and your changes.)

    The book occasionally comes across as “selling his services”, but it works. It’s well written, easy to read, and offers many opportunities for self-reflection. Goldsmith describes his process in-depth so that it can be replicated. The book even concludes with an example peer-review worksheet.

    My overall take-away was positive, and I’d recommend the book to someone wanting to advance in their career (particularly in a managerial direction.) It’s a good reminder that once you’ve mastered your craft, interpersonal skills may be what’s keeping you from climbing to the top of your field.

     

  • erik 9:16 pm on September 7, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business,

    Finished reading “The Simplicity Survival Handbook”

    “The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways To Do Less And Accomplish More”

    Not a GTD book — this is about cutting past the typical B.S. you find in a corporate environment. Fewer meetings, quicker communication, more transparency, focusing on what matters. Similar to “Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time“, but with a bit more emphasis on working corporate politics.

    The main themes:

    • You have only 1440 minutes per day. Use them wisely, and respect other’s 1440.
    • Cut out everything that wastes your (or other’s) time.
    • “Do Less” by focusing only on what matters.
    • Identify the real problems (ie., what keeps your boss up at night) and solve them. That’s your best path to career advancement, approved budgets, etc.
    • Don’t tolerate a work environment that wastes your time.
     

  • erik 7:32 pm on August 22, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Two more business books (not too thrilled with them)

    I finished a couple more books off the Personal MBA reading list this week — only this time I’m sharing them with you not so much in recommendation, but to suggest that you flip through them before making the purchase.

    Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

    It took determination to make it through this one. The lessons are good, but the book just seemed to drag on and wasn’t holding my attention. This is the polar opposite of “Cut to the Chase“, and even pretty far on the soft side of “How to Win Friends & Influence People“. If your job routinely requires telling people bad news (ex. firing people, or hospice work) and you don’t think you’re very good it, perhaps this book is a place to start. The book walks through some good examples on defusing hostile situations and handling sensitive relationship topics, which are all valuable to know. It just wasn’t a very engaging read for me.

    The Unwritten Laws of Business

    Not much to this book. Even it’s aggressive line spacing can’t hide it’s lack of depth. Might be of value to someone just starting their career (meaning, first job, right out of school), but you’ll definitely want to flip through it before purchasing. Even though it’s on the Personal MBA reading list, I’d say skip it if you’ve been in business for more then five or ten years.

     

  • erik 9:56 am on August 3, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Quick book review: “The Effective Executive”, by Peter F Drucker

    “Executives are not paid for doing things they like to do. They are paid for getting the right things done.” — Peter F. Drucker

    That quote (from chapter 7) summarizes the philosophy of “The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done” quite well. It’s a book that explores what the job of an executive knowledge worker is — to make the right decisions for the organization being served.

    The book is a fairly easy read, spread across seven chapters:

    1. Effectiveness Can be Learned — Effective leadership is a skill you learn by understanding what’s expected of you, and focusing on the right things. It’s a differentiating skill that has become increasingly valuable as we’ve moved from an industrial- to a knowledge-based economy.
    2. Know Thy Time — Time is a finite resource, and you’re probably wasting more of it then you think. If you want to accomplish great things, you must manage your time wisely. Start by auditing your workday.
    3. What Can I Contribute — Your energy will be wasted if you’re not focused on the right contributions. An executive’s salary comes with an expectation of addressing the right organizational opportunities.
    4. Making Strength Productive — The key to being effective is to leverage your strengths. Position yourself so that your weaknesses are irrelevant.
    5. First Things First — Focus on what’s important now, not in the past. Tackle issues one at a time (multitasking is rarely more productive then concentrated effort.)
    6. The Elements of Decision-making — Focus on the important decisions; Identify boundary conditions; Determine what is right before making compromises; Understand what the decision needs to accomplish; Separate strategic implications from one-off situations; Build-in a plan for action and feedback.
    7. Effective Decisions — Start with your gut; Don’t base future planning on today’s (or yesterday’s) way of doing things; Disagreement is a good thing (it means people are thinking about the problem. Find out why it’s happening or you won’t see the whole picture.)

    In addition to the original (1960’s) text, the edition I have starts with a reprint of Drucker’s “What Makes an Effective Executive”, first published in the June 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review. This introductory piece is actually quite good, and reflects some updating, more clarified thinking on the role of an executive. To paraphrase the introduction, it outlines the behaviors of successful executives as:

    • Understanding what needs to be done
    • Understanding what’s right for the organization
    • Developing plans for getting things done
    • Making good decisions
    • Communicating
    • Focusing on opportunities
    • Runing productive meetings
    • Focusing on the team/organization, rather than the individual (everyone is responsible, and accountable)

    Overall, I enjoyed the book. It provides a very clear opinion on the role of the executive knowledge worker. Sometimes the material feels a little dated (though often it’s amazingly timeless), but the examples add interesting business and political history to the lessons. I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of this book back when I first started my career (where I was focused more on excellence in my craft), but now, the lessons provide a good framework for filtering through all the things I could be focusing on, so that I can select the ones that I should be focused on.

     

  • erik 9:16 am on July 11, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    More reading: “Bargaining for Advantage” by G. Richard Shell

    Summary:

    • Dense, but full of valuable theory and examples.
    • Explores multiple styles of bargaining (ex., personality, cultural, and ethical differences), offering insights on best-practices for each.
    • Enjoyable examples put the theories in context.
    • Good lessons in shaping negotiations into win-win outcomes.
    • Definitely recommended if this is a topic you haven’t had training in.

    Review:

    Bargaining and negotiation are not skills I’d say I’m particularly strong in. Perhaps it’s because I tend to think of “haggling” when I think of bargaining, which is not something I normally do. That said, after reading “Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People 2nd Edition“, it’s more apparent to me now that what I needed was a broader view and understanding on negotiation tactics. The idea of “shaping negotiations into win-win situations by discovering hidden value” sounds much more appealing to me then “haggling” ever did.

    “Bargaining for Advantage” is the second book I’ve read on negotiation. (The first was “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In“, which was enjoyable, and great for learning about “positions vs. issues”, but not nearly as comprehensive.)

    Shell’s book is organized in two parts: The first focuses on the “Six Foundations of Effective Negotiation”, while the second half discusses “The Negotiation Process” itself. The Foundations of Negotiation chapters cover:

    • Understanding your bargaining style (aiding by a “Bargaining Styles Assessment Tool” in the Appendix, in which I was rated as being more competitive then I would have guessed.)
    • Setting your goals and expectations. (Two key lessons: (1) Don’t aim at your bottom line; (2) People who aim high tend to get more.)
    • Understanding authoritative standards and norms.
    • Building, ignoring, and/or leveraging relationships.
    • Understanding the other party’s interests (a key to finding a win-win solution.)
    • Understanding and using leverage.

    The second half of the book takes a deeper dive into the negotiation process itself. The chapters cover:

    • Preparing your strategy. (You’re not going to win if you haven’t assessed the situation and thought through your key issues.)
    • Exchanging information. (Establishing rapport and asking lots of questions. A key point here is to uncover the other party’s key issues and values. Listen more then you talk.)
    • Opening and making concessions. (This chapter explores the age-old question of when you should [or shouldn't] make the first offer, by breaking down negotiations into a matrix of situations and tactical decisions.)
    • Closing and gaining commitment. (A key lesson here is how to ensure commitment to the agreed terms. Shell provides some interesting examples on including terms in a deal to prevent a questionable party from backing out.)

    Finally, the book closes with two “wrap-up” chapters on:

    • Ethics in negotiation.
    • Summarizing and applying the techniques in the book.

    The book was more dense then the previous two business I’ve read (“Little Green Book of Getting Your Way” and “Cut to the Chase“), which made it a longer read, but more enjoyable for someone like myself who wants real information with real facts and data behind it. Overall, I’m happy that I read it, and I’m now curious about Shell’s other book, “The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas.”

     

  • erik 4:57 pm on June 28, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , business

    Finished reading “Cut to the Chase”

    I picked up “Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time“ on the recommendation of Personal MBA reading list. It’s a quick read, containing 100 short (< 2 page) tips on professional behaviors that reduce wasted time.

    In the spirit of cutting to the chase, I’ll summarize with a few bullet points:

    Pros:

    • A quick read
    • The short chapters make it easy to pick up when you have a few minutes
    • The lessons are good, and tend to reflect the habits of effective senior management
    • Feels like the kind of book you could pick up once a quarter to glance over the Table of Contents as a reminder to focus on what’s important
    • If you’re new to the professional world, reading this will definitely give you an insight into the type of behavior you’re likely to encounter when interacting with senior management; And it should help you prepare for the type of communication styles expected of you

    Cons:

    • If you’ve been in business for while, you probably should know this stuff already
    • If you’re new to the professional world, you may have fewer opportunities to practice this stuff (though better to get started now then not know how to manage your time when you are tasked with greater responsibilities)
    • Depending on your work environment, the lessons may be a little too “harsh” — ie., these are techniques for efficient time management, not for making friends

    Overall, my reaction is positive. There were certainly a few lessons in there that I look forward to applying to my working style.

     

  • erik 2:46 pm on June 20, 2008 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: business, , product-management,

    Netflix shows the world how not to treat your customers by dropping Profiles — Updated: Change of plans

    Like many other Netflix customers, I received the “Important News Regarding Netflix Profiles” email this week stating that Netflix “will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.” Upon reading it, the claim sounded so absurd that I assumed it was phishing/spam. Seriously.

    Sadly, the news started showing up with quotes and claims that the statement may actually be true. “Netflix Eliminating Account Profiles” (on hackingnetflix.com) claims that “Netflix spokesperson Steve Swasey said that the decision to eliminate Profiles is a ‘final decision.’”

    Here’s the kicker though; The now famous email ends with, “While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.” Really? How so?

    For those not familiar with Netflix Profiles, the feature was somewhat unique. Instead of having a single persona per account, Netflix Profiles allowed a single account (ie., household) to setup multiple profiles (ie., husband, wife, kids, pets, etc.), so that each profile could manage their own rental queue. It also allowed the main account holder (ie. the parents) to review the other profile’s queue (ie., the kids) and set limitations, like whether the profiles were allowed to rent R-rated movies. The feature was amazingly helpful in eliminating arguments about who controlled the rental queue.

    Removing features from a product can be a tough decision for any Product Manager. Features that are rarely used are easy to toss aside; But (market differentiating) features that customers love should never be thrown out without helping the customers replace or replicate the same benefit in another manner. In this case, Netflix dropped a much-loved feature, but left their customers without an alternative (other then opening more Netflix accounts, which isn’t a likely reaction for irritated customers.)

    For more:

    [Update: 2008-06-30] Complaining works! Netflix just announced that they are keeping Profiles:

    You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.

    We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.

     

  • erik 3:47 pm on February 5, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: business,

    Tips for ASP’s

    I’ve been doing a lot of work lately focused on researching content and Web-service providers, and it’s amazing how differently companies respond to inquiry. As a result, I’ve pulled together a few tips for the budding Web-services entrepreneur’s out there:

    1. Make it easy to contact whomever is responsible for business development. Auto-responders aren’t necessary, but be sure to get back to the person inquiring promptly. A business development manager is the first-line of exposure into a company, and the experience interacting with this person goes a long way in setting the tone for future relations.
    2. If your service costs thousands per month, have some marketing materials. This should include a presentation on your product/service, it’s features, and your approach to pricing. It should be a non-issue to email this to anyone who inquires about your service. (If you don’t have materials on your offering, that sends a message that you haven’t really thought about selling it.)
    3. If your service is used via Web API’s, have some samples and documentation on-hand to send to anyone evaluating the service. Remember, the person on the other end is trying to figure out how hard it will be to integrate with your service. The easier you can make this person’s job, the better.
    4. Follow through. This is a general good-practice, but when you say you’re going to delver a document about your service, follow through. If you can’t follow through up-front, you’re sending a message that things are going to be very difficult in the future if there’s ever a problem. (Sometimes the right business decision is to stay away from a vendor that looks shaky, no matter how good the service sounds.)
    5. Know who your competition is and don’t be afraid to acknowledge them. A potential customer researching your service has probably talked to your competitors too, and you should have some ideas on how your product/service differentiates itself from theirs. Note that this includes not just the people you’d like to be compared to, but also the companies that show up in the same paragraph as you on TechCrunch.
    6. Don’t introduce NDA’s too early. Remember, it’s your execution that’s valuable, not the ideas.
    7. Learn from the experience. Don’t be afraid to follow-up with someone even if your company was not selected as the final service provider. Doing a little win/loss analysis will help you prepare for next time — and maintaining a good relationship may pay off down the line.
    8. Don’t forget that the person asking about your service may have done their homework, and you can use that information. They very well may have researched your leadership team, read their blogs, looked at their LinkedIn profiles, talked to your VC’s, and searched for mailing list posts from your engineers. They may know a great deal about how your company looks from the outside, and there’s no reason not to ask their opinion.