8 Tips on How to Win in Open Innovation

As open innovation becomes more popular in corporate world, technology developers and innovators all over the world get new channel to commercialize their solutions easier and faster. However, there is still a lack of open innovation experience on both sides and therefore a lack of understanding and common language between Solution Seekers and Solution Providers.

 This month NineSigma have organized the webinar, inviting two of many winning solution providers (Erika Zardin, research scientist and business unit manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging from Germany and Erik Andersen, Director of Sales, BBHS – Intelligent Baggage Handling from Denmark), together with Dr. Rafael Peset, program director at NineSigma to share their tips on how to win in open innovation.

 Here is the summary of their tips. To see recorded webinar please go here.

1. Think from the Solution Seeker point of view.

There is a lot of preparatory work, invested into each Request for Proposal (RFP, see examples here). When you read RFP, try to understand what is the challenge described there. Put yourself in the shoes of a company and a person, looking for solution.

1. Ask questions.

NineSigma’s Helpdesk and Program Managers are there to help you. By asking questions, you are not only showing your interest, but might be giving a new perspective to the Solution Seeker and thus positioning yourself as expert with deep understanding of the challenge. Be smart in asking questions. Do not ask just for the sake of asking, especially, if the answers can be found in the RFP document.

1. Your proposal should not be your presentation, but an answer on how you can address the specific challenge.

Of course, in open innovation companies look not only for solutions, but also for partners. Therefore your reputation and long experience are important. However, most probably this information can be already found on your website. The first question, which the Solution Seeker has in mind, when reading your proposal: can this partner solve my problem? Show that you understand their challenge and can speak the same language. Long general presentations can be distracting.

1. Key success criteria will tell you, what are the technical or business limitations of the environment, where the solution to be implemented.

Key success criteria or approaches of not interest are in the RFP not to make your life difficult. They reflect the limitations of the operating environment, where solution to be applied. Prior to publishing RFP NineSigma facilitates the discussion with Solution Seekers on key success criteria in order to make the technology absorption smoother and faster later on. If you have questions, see #2 – just ask and argument your position.

1. Make it easy to start cooperating with you.

 The majority of Solution Seekers at NineSights are large global organizations. Still, this does not mean that they have unlimited resources. Behind every RFP there is a Challenge Owner, representing maybe a business unit or an R&D department. They have their budget limitations and need to promote collaboration with you internally, going through all bureaucracy levels of a large organization. Make it easy for them to take a first step towards cooperation. So writing in your proposal that next phase is piloting with costs of a million euro, will not make their life easier.

1. Navigate the lines of confidentiality carefully.

In order to protect all parties in open innovation exchange, all RFPs and proposals cannot contain confidential information. This might be a thin line for organizations to navigate. Try to think of it such as describing what you can achieve instead of how you are going to achieve it.

1. Do not tell the Solution Seekers what they already know.

Keep in mind that Solution Seekers most probably have strong internal expertise and therefore are already aware of obvious solutions. The representatives of large companies, who submit proposals, should understand that open innovation call is not a procurement exercise. If your company is already a known vendor in the industry, most probably the Solution Seeker knows your existing products. Try to show instead that you are working on something new and would be able to co-develop a unique solution for the Seeker’s needs.

1. Accumulate your understanding of unmet needs.

Many innovators love their solutions as own babies and therefore take negative response as personal offense. However, winning is the process. If your solution is not selected this time, try to learn from it. Maybe your solution cannot be applied in Seeker’s environment (see #4). Take a positive attitude, check #2 and ask questions to understand, why your solution is not selected this time. If you are working on technology commercialization, there is hardly anything, as valuable, as understanding unmet market needs. Following and participating in open innovation calls can help you to improve your market understanding, especially in a challenging B2B environment. Build up on this knowledge and win next time. Good luck!