January 2009 - QVC, one of the few truly innovative companies

 

In my 30 years in sales and marketing, I had never been fired, never been laid off or never spent more than a week looking for a job. Now I found myself laid off and unemployed for the second time in 18 months. What's up with that? Clearly I was destine to do something else and in my mind that meant it was time to finish my inventor's journey and bring my product to market. 

 

The larger unit was ready for production so now I had two sizes, the smaller original unit, ideal for cooking hotdogs and steaming buns together; and the new larger unit great for steaming everything from tortillas to lobster. The two sizes could be bundled together and sold as a set, which was exactly what the QVC agents I had met at the International Housewares Show, had ask me to do. Now it was time to circle back around with them and see if they still had any interest. As so often the case in business, people anxious to do a deal with you one month end up not following up with you the next. Its nothing to take personally its just the nature of enthusiasm and the root origin of the phrase "strike while the iron is hot". Disappointment is part of the inventors journey and you just need to keep pushing forward.

 

Even though I had made several QVC contacts at the International Housewares Show, it turned out to be a personal connection through my mother that helped me present my product to QVC. A former neighbor of hers had relocated a few years early and taken a job with a company that presented products to QVC. A few emails, phone calls and a sample got the ball rolling. On Tuesday January 20th I got the phone call I had been waiting for almost 9 months, QVC was going to purchase 2500 pair and we were in business. This was one of the most exciting events of my life, this was my dream, my invention and now I had my 1st commercial order for almost $20,000.

 

By this time I had sent samples to over 50 companies the vast majority turned me down without even trying out my product from themselves. How can you evaluate a new product without trying it out? When people are handed my product they don't see much more than a round grill. When I tell them what it does and how it works then they think it sounds like a pretty good idea. But when they experience the Hotdogs it makes they think it’s a fantastic product. This is bore out in my market research as 90% of my customers report that the results my product produces far exceeds their expectations. You would think that several companies would be able spot a new product opportunity when presented to them, but surprisingly enough only 1 or 2 of them even tested out the sample I sent them. QVC on the other hand is always looking for new cutting edge products and encourages their buyers to take chances. Their "guarantee sale" policy is good and bad news for inventors and entrepreneurs. Good news because the buyers are more likely to take a chance on a new product, bad news because if the product doesn't sell well QVC will ship the un-sold product back. Either way, I'll take a shot at a sale over a rejection letter any day of the week, that’s just how successful salespeople think.      

Posted by Hotdogbf at 12/17/2009 2:26 AM
Categories: Invention Background
Tags: Inventor Chris Schutte sells his invention product the Hotdog Ez bun Steamer to QVC
 

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