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Consumers can be pretty skeptical of promises made in consumer marketing messages. That's because marketers seek to be as aggressive as possible to win consumer attention and interest. Sometimes the message can cause consumer eyebrows to arch and skepticism to build. For long-term success, it's wiser to keep it real.

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What new opportunities and threats might shifting consumer behaviors and technology trends create for your company? If you haven't thought about this question lately, you may seriously wish to reconsider.

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Securing others' agreement to our proposals can be essential to our professional success. Many of us struggle with this? Do you?

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Many OI managers have shared with me their desire to achieve greater uptake of their technology candidates among internal customers. How can this be accomplished?

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Last week we discussed skills and process factors that can influence open innovation managers' success in their roles. Let's continue on this track, focusing on some ways to enhance one's "batting average". The content is written for R&D personnel, but is pretty broadly applicable to any manager seeking to enhance his or her effectiveness with customers.

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A prospective innovation's viability depends heavily upon personal advocacy and conviction to help it overcome the challenges and threats it will invariably face from varied corporate entities during its gestation. One of the most valuable roles of an effective open innovation (OI) manager is as an active supporter/cheerleader.

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Marketers have long known that dramatic product demonstrations can be enormously effective in eliciting interest from would-be customers. The art of the product demonstration can be highly persuasive, whereas showcasing functionality alone may not be as motivating. I've found that technical professionals tend to be more accustomed to a "just the facts" presentation approach in internal selling situations. Therein lies the opportunity for many technologists and professionals in general, to enhance their approach and increase their effectiveness.

Curious to learn more? Read on, dear friends....

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Much of our business life is dedicated to problem solving. Quite often, this involves overcoming a project obstacle or a technical challenge. Substantial corporate resources get invested in activities associated with troubleshooting existing projects. In contrast, there is limited interest in investing even modest corporate resources to incubate promising innovation candidates and enable them to become viable projects. If I am right about this, there's something wrong.

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"Fail early and fail often" is a common saying in the innovation world. What does this mean, really?

Curious to learn more? Read on, dear friends....

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Every business person should continually consider new opportunities to fuel their firm's growth. Here are some exciting business building ideas I'm entertaining. What do you think of them?

3 Terrific Business Building Ideas!

I've been ideating some new business building approaches. Frankly, I'm pretty excited about them. I'm sharing them below for whatever inspirational value they may offer you. What do you think of them?

Drive-up Innovations Window: It is well known that creative ideas are often conceived away from the office...such as while driving to and from work. If you're looking for a little extra creative assistance, help is available at BFS Innovations' convenient drive up window. Either call ahead, or drive right up and request the type of assistance you require. Assorted coffee drinks are also available at the window, upon request. There's only one location, but I've been told that Ohio is pretty easy to get to.

BFS Innovations Gift Cards: What to give to the person who already has everything...except for a new product launch candidate ready for 1st Quarter 2015? BFS Innovations gift cards, of course. Available in $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 denominations, they're sure to be a hit. Double fuel points, too!

Slightly Irregular Technology Leads: Would you like to license a patented, wrinkle cream that will help you to look weeks younger? Or, a dandruff shampoo that doesn't really work that well, but is made with natural-sounding ingredients? These leads are not quite as good as much more rigorously vetted technologies, but they're a whole lot less expensive.*   

We'll return to more traditional content next week. :-)

*Thanks go out to The Onion for the inspiring this one!

Could your innovation team benefit from coaching tips to help improve its internal selling effectiveness? Consider giving me a call at 614 937-2408.