HAVE YOU BEEN DISCOVERED

in a New Product Blueprinting Discovery Session?

The supplier asking you probably decided to invest R&D in a new product for your industry… and wants to first understand your needs. Good! Have you noticed how many suppliers guess your needs… and then develop products that “underwhelm” you?

1. What’s the output of a Discovery session?

Just this: “Whatever you’d like the supplier to know before they try to develop new technology.” Bottom line: You tell the supplier those “outcomes” or end results you’d most like to see.

2. What’s the agenda look like?

1) Current State… 2 or 3 background questions, 2) Problems… any difficulties you’d like to eliminate, 3) Ideal State… what your perfect world would look like, 4) Triggered Ideas… helpful tools to help you think “out of the box,” and 5) Top Picks… your favorite “outcomes” to be pursued.

3. How do I prepare for this?

You don’t… just show up. Seriously, the supplier team will do all the work facilitating the session. Just bring your brain and be ready for some fun. They’ll use special “trigger maps” and “outcome statements” to help you.

4. Who should I invite?

Anyone from your company that has an interest in this topic… and would like to get their voice heard before the supplier starts R&D work. This might include technical, purchasing, operations, marketing, design, safety, etc.

5. Who will the supplier send to the meeting?

They’ll usually send at least 1 commercial (marketing or sales) person and 1 technical expert… to listen hard and understand your needs.

6. Can I get a copy of the notes?

Absolutely! Just ask. The supplier will clean up any typos afterwards, and then send you a PDF of everything you discussed together.

7. Where should we have this meeting?

The best place is a conference room with a digital projector. If you don’t have a projector, the supplier will bring one. You can also invite remote colleagues to join via web-conference.

8. Who “owns” any solutions we develop?

There shouldn’t be any problem-solving taking place. The supplier just wants to know “what” you’d like to have happen… not “how.” That’s why they’ll focus on “outcomes” you’d like to see, and not solutions.

9. Should we have a Non-Disclosure Agreement?

Generally no. This isn’t about developing new solutions that need protection. It’s about your desired outcomes or end-results. If you have confidential information, simply don’t bring it up.

10. Can I see what others have said in their sessions?

No, the supplier won’t disclose to others any specific sources and feedback from these sessions… including yours! But ask if you’d like them to share generalized, “scrubbed” results with you.

11. Can the supplier work on a new product just for us?

In some cases, suppliers create products for one customer at a time. But in many cases, they’re planning to invest significant R&D resources, and need to develop a product for an entire industry to justify the spending.

12. What happens after a Discovery meeting?

Discovery meetings are the qualitative, divergent phase… where the supplier tries to understand all the possible outcomes customers might want. Next they’ll do quantitative, convergent Preference meetings to prioritize. Let your supplier know if you’d like to be part of this step!

1. What’s the output of a Discovery session?

5. Who will the supplier send to the meeting?

9. Should we have a Non-Disclosure Agreement?

2. What’s the agenda look
like?

6. Can I get a copy of the notes?

10. Can I see what others
have said in their sessions?

3. How do I prepare for
this?

7. Where should
we have this meeting?

11. Can the supplier work on a new product just for us?

4. Who should I invite?

8. Who “owns”
any solutions we develop?

12. What happens after
a Discovery meeting?

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

Many companies pursue “open innovation”… finding new external technology from universities, start-ups, etc. That’s good, but your best sources are often your own suppliers… whose R&D staff is already dedicated to innovating for you. A Discovery session lets you tell them what to work on! Beyond this, you’ll likely find the session refreshing: The supplier team has learned creative ways to stimulate your thinking.

WHAT’S A DISCOVERY SESSION?

This will be unlike other supplier meetings… no sales pitch, no boring survey, no problem-solving. New Product Blueprinting methodology is designed for intelligent business-to-business interaction, and respects your knowledge, experience and valuable time. A supplier team will facilitate the conversation, focusing on what’s important to you, not them. If possible, they’ll use a digital projector to display their notes… so you can make sure they’re getting it right.

The AIM Institute