Blog

05Nov 2023 by cesare ferrari

5 Mistakes In Key Account Selection

Sales

In my previous post, I discussed key accounts and their role in product development. Today I would take the analysis several steps further by sharing a few common mistakes in selecting and categorizing key accounts.  In my experience in medical device marketing, suppliers and distributors are frequently small and medium size companies and I have always believed their process to properly identify and select their key accounts can be improved.   This is because the selection of key customers of a medical company has a fundamental effect on the success of its sales management strategy.   Also, categorizing the customer base needs to be internally agreed upon and normally takes more time and effort than expected. Nevertheless, the impact on sales can be relevant, therefore it is worth it.   With that being…

22Oct 2023 by cesare ferrari

Customer Orientation In The Medical Business

Sales, Upstream marketing

I recently met an ex-colleague and we discussed for a couple of hours several decisions made by the management of a MedTech company that we both felt were not focused on the customer. We agreed that those decisions were evidence of putting the business needs over what was best for the customer.    For this reason, after this eye-opening conversation about how far small and medium-sized medical device companies are from being customer-centric, I decided to return to this topic.   If you follow this blog regularly you should already know that I’m a strong advocate of customer centricity and customer orientation. Read on to find my takes and solution to building a customer-centric medical business. What is customer orientation?  Customer orientation is a business philosophy that puts the needs of the customer at the center of the…

06Oct 2023 by cesare ferrari

How do you find customers to talk to? (Part 2)

Upstream marketing

Remember the first post on customer interactions where I shared essential tips on how to find customers to talk to? Great! Here’s the follow-up and I’ll be talking about how to effectively find customers to interact with. Just in case you missed the first post (part 1), you can go over it here. It’ll help you understand how to define the profile of a customer and the general strategy to approach them. Let’s move right into the focus of this content, which is customer interactions. 5 ways to generate fruitful customer interactions Once the profile of the customer and the approach strategy is well defined the next step is to find an appropriate number of customers to speak with. Here are 5 practical examples that show you how. 1.…

23Sep 2023 by cesare ferrari

How do you find customers to talk to? (Part 1)

Upstream marketing

From my writings, you can tell that I believe meeting, talking, and observing the customer are critical steps in any new product development. I’ve also shared with you the importance of customer interactions. However, for example, when discussing with some healthcare start-up founders, I found out that many still have some difficulties accessing “customers.” And that’ll be the focus of this article. You’ll learn more as you read on. Possible challenges with accessing customers Here are a few, yet common examples where access to customers can be challenging: You are a start-up or small company You have an extremely limited budget You are addressing a completely new segment You are targeting new stakeholders You need customers in a new geographic area You have no KOL network In these situations, for…

09Sep 2023 by cesare ferrari

The importance of cultural factors in international sales of medical devices (Part 2)

Sales

In the last article, I suggested the importance of cultural sensitivity in international sales, adding that high-performer international sales managers are those who show essential characteristics of cultural skills and cultural sensitivity. (Read the full article here). Today I will cover a few key elements of a country’s culture that I consider fundamentals in international sales, so keep reading to find out more. Some elements of a country’s culture and their impact Language I found that language is probably the most important factor of a culture when selling in a market. Speaking the customer’s language is a clear advantage and helps to reduce common barriers. A key skill in international sales is the command of foreign languages and not only English Language. “If I am selling to you, I…

25Aug 2023 by cesare ferrari

The importance of cultural factors in international sales of medical devices (Part 1)

Sales

Small and mid-size MedTech enterprises (SMEs) contemplating entering international markets will need to develop knowledge, competencies, and expertise in some areas such as cultural sensitivity. Already, some sales managers think that international selling is challenging, while others think it is somewhat easy. However, most who have tried it, see international sales as simply different and no more demanding than selling in the home market. International sales success depends on multiple factors. However, two elements can largely influence the progress of internationalization. These are the attitude and approach of the MedTech company and the personal qualities and skills of the international sales managers. Unfortunately, not every salesperson is suited to accomplish a complex task such as the management of several foreign markets. Hence, I think to properly execute the multifaced role…

15Jul 2023 by cesare ferrari

OOO-Summer Break

Other

It’s time for my yearly summer break and the right time to enjoy the summer vacations with my family. How about you – are you planning one too? For a while my regular schedule (every two weeks) will be taking a little bit of hiatus. As usual, in my last post before the summer break, I would like to share a few posts in case you missed them. Customer complaints Customer complaints is a hot topic in the medical device business for marketers, quality and regulatory people. I’m convinced that customer complaints are not a good indicator of customer satisfaction and I have discussed why in this post. Product flops Product flops are an incredibly good source of learning for product managers. In this post I analyzed 2 flops, their…

30Jun 2023 by cesare ferrari

Are Business plans useless or useful?

Downstream marketing, Sales

In the MedTech community, there are 2 common positions regarding business plans and business cases. Some people consider business plan and business case the “compass” of the business, the new venture, or the new project. They rely on it, and they use it to evaluate business opportunities, new projects, and new ventures. Others are more skeptical regarding business plans considering them less useful and some extremists consider them totally useless. So what then is true? Let’s start with a proper definition of what a business plan and business case are. Definition of business plan and business case According to Friend and Zehle in their book Guide to Business Planning, “A business plan describes the business’s vision and objectives as well as the strategy and tactics that will be employed to…

13Jun 2023 by cesare ferrari

Change this common mindset to develop better medical devices

Upstream marketing

If you have worked in the MedTech business or even in Pharma for a few years, you've probably heard some variations of this common mindset: "The user will benefit greatly from this technology that a good enough product will be okay. There is no need to investigate customer's need further." "The patient would die if they are not using our product, so the user will not consider how the product looks." "These stakeholders (nurses, scrub techs, sterile processing technicians, etc.) are not so influential; therefore, their needs will be satisfied by this basic design." "In the next generation of our product, we do not need to develop a new design because our current product's aesthetics and perceived quality are considered okay. Actually, nobody complains about it." Does this sound familiar?…

28May 2023 by cesare ferrari

These are the Best Methodologies for Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Downstream marketing

Measuring customer satisfaction is a cost-effective way to build brand loyalty, increase word-of-mouth marketing and differentiate your business from the competition. While large MedTech companies are systematically measuring how they are perceived by their customers and identifying the factors shaping customer satisfaction, small and medium businesses are still picking up. The benefits of customer satisfaction are enormous, and you should measure it regularly because it is one of the key elements to producing customer retention and loyalty. According to Philip Kotler, it has also been linked to better performance in the stock market. I'll discuss more on this here. Methodologies for measuring Customer Satisfaction The concept of customer satisfaction and its assessment is complex. It encompasses many different factors, and you can expect it to be more complicated than measuring…