20 A- Growing your Social Capital

20A

The first person I interviewed for this assignment was my friend who is doing an engineering internship at John Deere this summer. While they are not specifically working on lawn mowers, they are working on tractors which is a similar machine. I also think this is a good interview because I was able to ask them some of the more technical questions about the engineering side of my invention such as the optimum way to power the extra blade. While my friend is not a world-renowned expert, I would call them very knowledgeable in the field. This is my friend so and I knew they are working in an engineering position, so I called them and ask them more about what they did, and then asked some questions about how feasible my product is. The nature of the exchange was friendly at first, just general catching up, and then after about 10 minutes I got into asking the more technical questions and it got a little more serious. Having this person in my network will benefit me from being able to bounce quick ideas off them. They also could potentially help me make computer drawings and simulations to see exactly how the mower would work. When I asked about someone in marketing she passed me along to her friend Jenna who worked on the sales team. This conversation was a little awkward at first, because I was just some random person, but soon the conversation flowed better when I asked more questions about their job and how the marketing and sales worked. Jenna helped me get answer to basic ideas to the way John Deere showcases new products, such as trade shows. Attending conventions and trade shows is something I didn’t even think about before, but it would be a good way to get my product and ideas out there. I also asked her about the supplier part of their business and how they go about that. The thing I found most interesting was how they balanced marketing with servicing older products. Servicing old products keeps customers happy, while showcasing new products can create more revenue. This exercise made me realize the importance of my existing network and friends. With my friend at John Deere I would not have been able to contact everyone else. Overall it helped me become more confident when talking to new people and explaining who I am as well as what my product is.