A common mistake Inventors make when sending out submissions for their new product idea is timing. No matter what category your invention falls into every industry has buying and selling seasons. It is a continuous circle of conventions, trade shows, meetings with potential buyers, suppliers and manufacturers. There is a possibility a trade show or convention for your particular product market is going on somewhere in the world right now.
As an example in January most toy companies are gearing up for the February Toy Fair in New York. They have just returned from the Toy Fair in China the middle of January. So, sending them ideas now will only get you put on their desk in the wait pile.
When they return from Toy Fair the last thing they want to do is go through that large stack of mail sitting on their desk. They also have to return calls, answer emails and touch base with all the contacts they made at the convention.
One way of knowing if your contact is on the road and not just ignoring you is if you call and it says their voice mail box is full or you get emails bounced back. I can tell you that a number of them will read the most recent emails when they get back and mass delete the rest. They figure if it is important that person will write again.
So, knowing when to send your material can be just as important as the material itself. The internet is a valuable asset looking for this type of information. Some companies even list when they will be appearing at certain events. This information is crucial when you are getting your material together for submittal. Try to give your contact person at that company at least a week after an event to get things back to the normal hectic pace.
You will increase your odds of them giving your material a more favorable review over the hurried review you may get if they are leaving the state or country in the next day. Remember they are juggling a number of projects at one time. The easier you make it for them the better for you.
NEVER send a prototype to a company without them requesting you too. They know when they will be in the office, you don’t. Sending a prototype blindly will increase the odds of it getting lost or broken waiting for your contact to get back in the office.
Don’t take for granted the companies mailing address and place you need to send your prototype are the same. A large number of companies have satellite offices that handle specific functions such as legal, shipping, etc.
I have Inventors email me all the time saying the same thing “I sent a package to_________ a week ago and haven’t heard a word. Is this normal?” Most of the time, their contact isn’t aware they were sending them anything and is out of the office. Inventors don’t consider their contact has other meetings, conventions, sales trips, other emails, projects, phone calls to return/make, other Inventors sending product ideas, working on current products and occasionally taking time off. It seems that the majority of Inventors have the attitude that the company contact should magically know they are going to call and be sitting by the phone waiting for them to call. It just doesn’t work that way in the real world.