Customer Relationships in Medical Devices Industry

Customer Relationships: Fulfilling the Customer's Needs in a Medical Company

2007-02-08T21:22:00.000+01:00

Introduction
Customer Relationship Management is one of the most popular issues in business nowadays. It is almost like a mantra. Unfortunately not everybody understands what this term means and what philosophy is hidden behind. It is important to realize and understand what is meant by relating with business organizations, especially from the customer’s perspective. The question is if every client wants to tie him/her with companies they purchase from. Companies should try to understand how the clients wish to relate to the firm. Some clients just purchase products/services but do not want to have stronger relations with those companies. The client is the one who decides what relationship should be established, if any at all. It is the client who controls the relationship. The company can only create a friendly environment for building, developing and retaining such relationship.

From a company perspective it is pretty logical that it wants to establish long term, positive relations with its clients, because it leads to a greater profitability . On the other hand the client wants a good service or product and may even will to interact and cooperate with a company to obtain what he/she wants. This may lead to a relationship with a company if it means better product or service; but firstly the clients must need something a company can deliver. I understand that in this perspective a relationship means facilitating the fulfillment of clients’ needs. The more the products / services are important for the client the greater possibility the client may want to establish a positive relationship with a company.

In this article I want to create the strategy of building the customer relationships for “Dent” Company.

General Information about “Dent” Company

Company „Dent” is a distributor of dental implantologic systems manufactured by the American Company „S” (exclusivity for Poland). „Dent” is tied also with the Swedish distributor of company „S”. The Swedish and the Polish distributors have their own production of prosthetic components that can be used together with the implants produced by competitors. It means that those companies have not only their own clients for implants but sell a lot of products to competitors' clients. The main competitors of „Dent” are global companies: „N”, „S”, „I”. They have been operating in Poland for at least 10 years. It means that „Dent”, with its own dental implant system, is very „young” on the Polish market.

Positioning: “Dent” in the eyes of the clients

We are seen exactly as we want to be seen: as market follower. Our company is considered as a dynamic organization that sales dental implants and prosthetic components compatible with other systems. Customers think of our products as of cheaper, but of good quality substitutes to expensive products of our competitors. They appreciate a few factors: lower prices, availability of many products in one company, fast delivery, and consignment offered to the biggest clinics, educated employees who are familiar with almost all dental implantologic products available in the market and can serve with advice; the staff never depreciates the products of competitors; the organization offers also educational programs addressed to dental professionals (dentists and dental technicians) known as ImplaDent Academy.

Summing up, our main strength lay mainly in a competent staff, vast range of products offered and prices. Our main weakness: we do not introduce too vast range of new innovative products. We prefer to check thoroughly all innovations before marketing them. Thus we are far behind the market leaders but we sell only safe products.

Market Segments

“Dent” company operates in three different segments: General Dentists, Specialized Dentists and Dental Technicians.

Segment
Total
(people)
A. General Dentists
20374
B. Professionals
Dental and maxillofacial surgeons
6112
Prosthodontists
2037
Periodontists
1000
Other
2234
C. Dental Technicians
45000

Each segment requires different approach and “treatment”

Problem Defined

I relate here to the theory called The Customer Relationship Pyramid[1], (see the appendices) proposed by professors of marketing at INSEAD, France. This theory relates to the way customer relations are handled by “Dent” company, though the company does it more intuitively and partly based on sociological psychology. The Customer Relationship Pyramid Theory may be compared to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (see the appendices).

Theory Operationalized

Due to limited length for this assignment I will present methods of building and retaining customer relationships only in one segment, Segment C (Dental Technicians and Dental Laboratories).

Segment C: Dental Technicians, shifting from level 1 to higher levels of relationship

Step 1: Utility

Customers’ portfolio of “Dent” shows that segment C (Dental Technicians) fall into the first level of the Customer Relationship Pyramid (Utility), when they start purchasing from that company. They simply want to purchase the products that are cheaper than originals, fit different implantologic systems and are always available. The customers are satisfied when they can buy what they want; when they want it for the price they would like to pay (we have no price competition in this segment). Those purchases are mainly rational; it is a simple exchange of goods and money.

The company can respond to the clients’ needs at this level but do not push any relationship. When this very simple “relationship” stabilizes at the basic, utilitarian level, there is a chance for deeper relationship (especially if they get additional service when in trouble; in such a specialized medical devices industry it is pretty common that medical professionals need help and assistance; in such a case we always help; it is only 10 minutes' conversation with the client during which Dent’s medical consultants can help to choose the right product).
Anyway, it is still a simple utilitarian relationship, when a client has no investment into the relationship. Such clients can be easily tempted by competitors.

“Dent” company can strengthen such relations in 2 different ways:
· By establishing shifts (technicians in Poland usually work almost round the clock, so the
company established a special customer 24h phone land line; they can call any time and
order the goods they need and get the delivery within 24 h since the order has been
placed).
· By providing customer help; the clients can call and ask for possible solutions when they
encounter a very difficult medical case.

Step 2: Convenience Need

When the process is successful the relationship moves to the next level, the Convenience Need. When the clients have easy access to the products desired, they want to make their purchases more convenient. In such a case, when a certain client purchased goods for at least 10 000 PLN within the last 6 months, the company can offer more. It is important to realize what the costs of acquiring a new client are. In the medical industry those are really high and can account even to 2000 PLN. The longer the company keeps the client, the more revenue the client brings. It is worth noting that: “(…) another economic boon from long – time customers is the free advertising they provide. Loyal customers do a lot of talking over the years and drum up a lot of business”.[2]
The special offer addressed to clients should be appropriate, meet the client’s expectations and be economically reasonable. This requires a really deep understanding of the market, dental industry, the style of work of dental technicians and the problems they encounter in everyday professional life. In other words: deep understanding of the purchase and consumption process is essential. Dental Labs always work under time pressure. They prepare the dental crowns and bridges for dentists who always want them “for yesterday”. In such a case, “Dent” can send more products than really needed by the dental lab, especially in a situation when the technician does not know which products should be used. When they use what they needed they can always return the surplus products or pay for the used ones.

Step 3: Feeling at Ease

It was observed that when clients had the ability to purchase products easily and got additional service when needed, they very often started to seek for another experience. Such an experience can be called “feeling at ease and comfort”. Such a customer expects a purchase ambience that is relaxing but still his experience is impersonal. “It is important to note the (…) difference between convenience-oriented relationships and feeling-at-ease relationships: there is a transition from rationality to affectivity. Both convenience and feeling at ease relationships are impersonal, but whereas convenience relationships offer to reduce problems and stress, feeling at ease relationships offer comfort by providing a welcoming interaction environment.”[3]
All CRM efforts on this stage focus on identifying and delivering comfort (as opposed to stage 2-convenience, where company identifies the inconveniences and tries to reduce them). “Dent” company should identify such clients mainly thanks to interpersonal contacts on the line salespeople-clients. The key indicator is also a value of a customer, counted on a 6 months interval. When a client spends more than 25 000 PLN within a 6 months interval and purchases quite regularly (places at least one order every 2 weeks) the company can offer more. In such a case, the client does not have to pay for the delivery; moreover the company can even guarantee express special delivery (time differs according to transportation possibilities: it takes 3 hours to deliver a parcel from Krakow to Warsaw, 4 hours from Krakow to Lodz, 7 – 9 hours from Krakow to Gdansk). Such clients really appreciate this service, especially when the need for the products is really urgent (e.g. they have to prepare dental prosthesis within 24 hours; it happens very often because Polish dentists and dental labs have many patients from abroad who come to Poland for only a couple of days).

Step 4: Personal Recognition Need

Long term clients who place their purchases regularly (the value of their purchases accounts to 50 000 PLN within 6 months interval), expect a special treatment for loyal customers. At this level they have proved that they are quite loyal to the company. They are seeking for reassurance that it is worth working with the company. For both sides it means personalised service and rewards. At this level the company may offer them two incentives:
· Special consignation that includes the products they order most often.
· Special discounts (15%).

Professor Malaviya and Spargo compare such a transition from level 3 to level 4 to a first kiss. The relationship is now personal. Anyway, in this industry it is easy for a company, because so specialized medical devices must be sold to a dental professional personally, so the company has the personal details of each clients and it is easy to gather and analyze additional data, such as buying behavior, etc. Moreover, the company is legally obliged to trace all the products sold to dentists and dental laboratories. Then it is even possible to track products that have been implanted to patients (because dentists have to keep records).

All the clients who belong to this group receive a special membership in ImplaDent Academy. This is a special training department specialized in organizing events for clients. The Academy organizes conferences and lectures for them. The customers receive invitations for different events according to their specialization and interest. For example when a certain dental technician makes mainly bridges based on at least 6 implants, he/she will be invited to a lecture or conference that covers such problems. Clients belonging to group 4 are not charged for participation in such events.

Step 5: Self – Expression Need

At this level the clients want to be rewarded for who they are. Those clients are very demanding and expect that the sales people know them personally, and can even recognize clients’ voices over the phone. The company considers them as very valuable. They give the company 30% of revenue. The analysis has shown that they are with the company since its establishing in Poland (around 3 years) and order for at least 500 000 PLN a year.

One might think that there is not much more to offer them. We have to keep in mind that they expect an environment that allows the discovery and expression of self-identity; their experience with the company is mostly personal and affective, but also some rational.

The company can offer them another special service: provide them with special educational materials and dental models which they can present to dentists when discussing different solutions for a dental case. They may also get a highly specialized scanner that enables them to scan the dental impression without any charge. Such scans are then e-mailed to a company’s dental laboratory located in Sweden, where prosthesis is being cut out of one piece of titanium by CAD CAM machines. In such a case they do not have to cast the titanium themselves. It saves them a considerable amount of time. They get charged for the cutting process, but the price is similar to the price of using similar techniques, yet the quality and accuracy is superior. They do not need to improve the dental prosthesis which is almost always the case when using traditional casting techniques.

Step 6: Co-Creation Need

Analysis shows that the company has a few clients who could be shifted from level 5 to the level 6. They seek to interact as partners. They want to participate in something bigger, beyond the self. For the company it is the most fertile collaboration. The customer’s experience is personal, and both rational and affective (rather balanced). Loyalty and trust are very high. Such clients do not expect more rewards from the company. They have a rather philanthropic attitude and want to create something big. They do it with a company they trust because it is easier than on their own. Such clients are usually scholars. They share their ideas and projects for new products’ developments or existing products’ improvements with the company. In such a way the company has great projects, while clients get the products they really wanted to have. When a product based on a clients’ idea or project is being produced, the client gets financial reward.

Conclusions

The Customer Relationship Pyramid Theory relates to the Reciprocity Rule by Professor Robert Cialdini. The rule says that one person tries to repay what another person has provided.
“By obligating the recipient of an act to repayment in the future, the rule for reciprocation allows one individual to give something to another with confidence that it is not being lost. This sense of future obligation within the rule makes possible the development of various kinds of continuing relationships, transactions, and exchanges that are beneficial to the society. Consequently, all members of the society are trained from childhood to abide by the rule or suffer serious social disapproval. The decision to comply with another's request is frequently influenced by the reciprocity rule. One favorite and profitable tactic of certain compliance professionals is to give something to another before asking for a return favor.”[4]
We might say that the customer relationship management is based on this rule. The company offers to the clients more without asking for their consent and, when the offer is being accepted, the client should repay the company by different means. Such means of repayment are mainly increased purchases. It is perfect and very beneficial for the company when the customer starts talking positively about the company and its offer. The word of mouth is very powerful. Now, we can mention, that when a client starts to ramble positively about the company, it means that his/her esteem need has been fulfilled.

Building a customer relationship strategy is not an easy task. It requires a deep understanding of the industry the company is in, thorough observation of the external environment and analysis of company’s resources and potential.

The most difficult task is to estimate lifetime value of the clients. Computing these values is not an easy task however the exercise is worth it. The “Dent” company is looking for the best formula to calculate these values. The ones available do not include such a value like a word of mouth. There is a very interesting formula developed by professors Reinartz W.J. and Kumar V[5] who invented 4 step method of measuring profitable customer lifetime duration.
They propose to base the calculations on Net Present Value of expected contribution margin (ECM). Yet this formula and method should be adjusted to the special requirements of medical industry. This is the task for “Dent” company.

What is the lesson I have learned by preparing this strategy? Treat your clients with care but have also costs in mind. Yet, the company should develop the proposed strategy of handling, developing and retaining relations with its clients in more detail. More thorough analysis is required, as well as defining the details of economical background for this strategy. The “Dent” needs a formula for evaluating value of the clients.

[5] Reinartz W.J., Kumar V., “The Impact of Customer Relationship Characteristics on Profitable Lifetime Duration”, INSEAD, Fointainebleau, France, 2001/108/MKT

[4] Cialdini R., “Wywieranie wplywu na innych”, Gdanskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne, Gdansk 1997

[3] Reichheld F.F. and Sasser W.E. Jr., “Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services”, Harvard Business Review September-October 1990

[2] Reichheld F.F. and Sasser W.E. Jr., “Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services”, Harvard Business Review September-October 1990, p. 107
[1] Malaviya P. Spargo S., “Relating to Customers: How and When to Strengthen your Customer Relationships”, Working Papers R& D of INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, 2002/41/MKT

Still in London

2007-01-29T23:31:00.000+01:00

I am still in London. What a wonderful city!

2006-12-13T21:57:00.000+01:00

What a suprise. I've been writing about digital business enhancement for a few months. Today I also work in that area... on an Oracle project in London. We never know what the future will bring.

Time is over

2006-09-24T20:58:00.000+02:00

Today is the 24th Sept. The time when our blogging activities are to be evaluated. I just want to say, that thanks to this assignment I managed to see my work from a different dimension. Thank you all, Rille and MBA mates. It was a really great experience.

Technology Enabled Innovation-a presentation by Jack Shaw, Vice President of Commercial Systems for Applied Systems Intelligence

2006-09-21T17:46:00.000+02:00

Now, something more serious. Jack Shaw discusses examples of how technology-enabled innovation has dramatically impacted several major industries. At first sight it seems so trivial, but it is not, in fact.

Cybermen Call Centre - sometimes it is true, isn't it?

2006-09-21T12:05:00.000+02:00

Great source of knowledge for MBA students

2006-09-20T20:55:00.000+02:00

Today I have discovered a nice site for MBA's:

http://www.netmba.com

Enjoy:-)

Voice Self-Service Offloading Calls Before They Reach Your Agents

2006-09-19T13:55:00.000+02:00

In most organizations 60 to 90 percent of all customer service inquiries occur via phone. What if you could reduce these incoming phone calls and still deliver exceptional customer support?

Cost Per Customer Interaction

Source: Gartner Research

SAP CRM in a dental manufacturing company

2006-09-11T15:57:00.000+02:00

Here is a story that really interests me. I have to integrate field sales representatives, internal sales, and the Web. Let's see how the others did it:

Crowned with Success
Heraeus Kulzer is a world leader in dental manufacturing. The company's motto, "Partnership First." shows that it sees customer orientation as a driving force for its business processes. With its implementation of mySAP Customer Relationship Management, Heraeus Kulzer has succeeded in establishing an integrated, customer-oriented organization.

Interchangeable products and declining customer loyalty make life in the dental industry very difficult. For this reason, Heraeus Kulzer decided on a strategic reorganization to put the focus on customers and their needs and to retain customers by providing superior service. Implementing this far-reaching initiative - in which customer satisfaction is the bottom line - required extensive internal and organizational restructuring and a transformation of the widely diverse sales organizations. The company's goal was to support its new customer-driven strategy with the most powerful information and communications technology available.

Efficient customer care
In the highly competitive dental market, it's no longer enough simply to provide excellent products. Cleverly devised service strategies and a customer-oriented approach are what count - and they require a company to have complete details of its customer base and the ability to analyze the information effectively.For Heraeus Kulzer, introducing the mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) solution represented a strategic pillar in its efforts to reorganize. In Germany alone, the company maintains a customer base of approximately 45,000 dentists and 9,000 dental technicians and laboratories. With such large numbers, customer data can only be processed efficiently with the support of a sophisticated CRM system. Using mySAP CRM, Heraeus Kulzer makes sure that customer service is efficient and effective throughout all its channels. It uses informative customer profiles with detailed information on customer history, main points of interest, and service requests to build lasting customer relationships and win new customers - and gain market share.

Integration is key
As part of its strategic restructuring, Heraeus Kulzer reduced the number of sales organizations from four units to two units and oriented them toward two customer groups - with one division for dentists and another for dental technicians and dental laboratories. The strategy was to present "one face to the customer," which meant the company needed a central database linking all customer information, to which all employees would have equal access. Because in the past the company had made several acquisitions, data had been stored in different places. For this reason, a new and consistent database was crucial.Implemented in only 12 months Heraeus Kulzer decided to implement mySAP CRM for all contact channels simultaneously. The first step involved tailoring the company's business processes to customers' needs and aligning the organization of the company with the market. The group's IT department, Heraeus Information Systems, implemented the complex project in close collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC Consulting) and the CRM consultants of SAP Germany. It took only 12 months from kickoff until the project went live.

A single CRM system for all contact channels
The company first focused on ordering processes involving its two main customer groups. With mySAP CRM, dental laboratories can place orders through three contact channels: in person through a field sales employee, by calling the customer service center, or by ordering over the Internet. Dentists can make purchases through field sales representatives, or they can contact the customer service center. The purchase orders are then placed with wholesalers. mySAP CRM helped Heraeus Kulzer meet the needs of both customer groups.Heraeus Kulzer was the first SAP customer in Europe to seamlessly integrate field sales representatives, internal sales, the Interaction Center, and the Web throughout the company and its subsidiaries. In addition, Heraeus Kulzer uses the data warehouse solution mySAP Business Intelligence (mySAP BI) along with mySAP CRM, so that users have access to an extensive range of flexible tools to analyze customers and sales.The system was first implemented in Germany. A roll out is planned for Europe and, later, for the United States. Currently, nearly 230 users work with mySAP CRM: 120 sales representatives, 80 internal sales employees, 25 customer service center employees, and four external employees.

Support for marketing and sales
Today, at the touch of a button, all employees have access to up-to-date order data, individual conditions, customer history, sales data, and extensive statistics. This is especially beneficial to the field sales representatives, who now have access to informative customer data that can be easily analyzed. With the mobile sales capabilities of mySAP CRM, sales representatives can display all the data they need on their notebook computers while they are in the field. This helps them prepare for customer visits; they can analyze the needs of customers and give advice accordingly.Internal employees can also use the mobile sales capabilities of mySAP CRM for processing orders. And personnel who carry out telesales campaigns for Heraeus Kulzer can use campaign management functions during mobile sales activities.

Automatic caller ID and specific routing of incoming calls
The customer service center takes orders, gives information, and deals with service tasks. Heraeus Kulzer has given each customer group its own toll-free number. When a customer places a call to the customer service center, the caller is automatically identified, and the call is redirected by the system to the relevant customer agent. With the integration of the SAP system and the telephone system, Heraeus Kulzer can be sure that customers always talk to the same contact person - an important means of achieving customer satisfaction.With mySAP CRM, dental laboratories registered with Heraeus Kulzer can place orders from the catalog of some 2,500 available items at any time over the Internet. The purchasing agent at the lab can automatically track the status of the orders. Moreover, customers have access to product suggestion lists and can set up their own "favorites" lists for order processing.

Future plans
Without mySAP CRM, Heraeus Kulzer would not have been able to achieve its goal to present "one face to the customer." Today, company employees can advise customers and attend to their needs from any place within the organization and at any time - which helps Heraeus Kulzer increase customer satisfaction and build lasting and successful business relationships. Building on this success, Heraeus Kulzer plans to implement additional mySAP CRM marketing functions to help it analyze customer data more thoroughly.

Source: www.sap.info

Health instructions and on-line communication

2006-09-11T15:01:00.000+02:00

As reported in the Washington Post: "A new report by the National Center for Education Statistics found that most adults have intermediate health literacy. But intermediate is far from good, because so many health instructions are written in a way that is foreign to how people talk and think, said Rima Rudd of the Harvard School of Public Health."

Mu question is:
Do medical devices eMarketers know who they are talking to on the Internet? How health literate are Internet users vs. TV viewers?

Pharma Marketing Forum

2006-09-08T11:02:00.000+02:00

"The Pharma Marketing Forum is an exclusive e-mail networking community of pharmaceutical marketing professionals and experts. The forum operates via the PHARMA-MKTING listserv.
Forum members benefit from the experience of other members by posting queries to the list, sharing information with other members, or by merely "lurking" or reading e-mail communications from other members..."

http://www.pharma-mkting.com/PMNetwork-forum.html

The Medical Marketing Association

2006-09-08T10:55:00.000+02:00

Found recently:

"The Medical Marketing Association (MMA) provides a stimulating forum for the professional development of marketers of medical products and services.MMA is an association of members who make it their business to stay in touch with what's happening in medical marketing today. Join with the industry leaders who have taken advantage of the power of MMA for over a quarter of a century.The MMA is the national organization devoted to the professional enhancement of its members. It is a non-profit organization comprised of over 1,200 medical marketers from the pharmaceutical, device, diagnostic, and marketing/advertising industries."

http://www.mmanet.org/

On-line consumers in medical devices industry

2006-09-08T10:35:00.000+02:00

Recently I've noticed that more and more consumers seek for information and medical knowledge in the Internet. Those people are not only professionals but also the final users of those devices. It is a great opportunity for managers: they should market to those clients. Yet, the clients search the net for health information, possible solutions and non-commercial, credible sources. Such web surfers are usually well educated.
Today, most advertising compaigns focus on healthcare professionals. Maybe it is the time to redirect those money and turn towards final users? But how should it be done when the users are often sensitive to any kind of commercial information?
I see one solution at the very moment: medical devices producer should create an interactive campaign addressed to final consumers. The product presentations should be backed up with credible, medical information that come from non - commercial environment, medical professionals preferably.
I am curious what is your opinion about that? Do see any other solution?

Oracle Solutions for E-business in medical devices industry

2006-09-07T22:30:00.000+02:00

Oracle offers another solutions to boost operations of companies operating in medical devices industry:

http://www.oracle.com/industries/life_sciences

They promise that the system:

1. Improves product development and manufacturing efficiency
2. Reduces risk via process validation and compliance
3. Increases marketing, sales and service effectiveness

Well, all those companies promise that their systems create miracles... Unless they have to work with our medical authorities when registering new products...

What are the CRM solutions?

2006-09-07T21:29:00.000+02:00

Market competition in medical devices industry is really fierce. Usually the first one who enters the market is the winner. But it seems to be no longer the case. We can observe many mergers and acquisitions in this industry. Those mergers create additional data and system integration issues; in addition those systems ought to comply with medical authorities and regulations (e.g. FDA in the USA).
How can such a company overcome those dirty obstacles? How CRM systems can align sales and order-entry systems and also accelerate time-to-market with effective market segmentation, optimized sales operations and marketing campaigns? Let's see what Innover Solution can offer:

http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1155296993_157.html

Customer Relationships Strategies in Medical Device Industry-Role of CRM & Knowledge Management

2006-08-30T13:46:00.000+02:00

It is predicted that "Customer Relationship Strategies in Medical Device Industry" will be of particular value to business development, marketing and top-line corporate personnel in the medical device industry who are seeking to gain competitive advantage through enhanced knowledge and relationship strategies.

The medical device companies have to use those strategies to better:

- identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities
- identify partnership and collaborative agreements for new product development
- identify creation of profit from interaction with key opinion leaders and influencers
- realise increased collaboration with distributors to promote channel efficiencies
- create more highly trained, motivated and pro-active sales forces
- apply customer segmentation strategies to positively impact the bottom line and manage employee knowledge to drive innovation.

In the age of cost control, capitated payments and the need for health technology assessments and evidence based medicine the healthcare industry is now looking towards customer relationship management and information technologies (IT) to give them the strategic/competitive advantage within the marketplace.
The most "high profile" business tool for this purpose is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. In just a few years CRM has evolved from a single-function "point-to-point" solution for applications such as Sales Force Automation (SFA), Customer Service (CS), or the call centre to more sophisticated multi-functional integrated, out-of-the-box "suite" CRM solutions.

Knowledge transfer processes within an organisation need to be streamlined and rather than include just a customer relationship management strategy, the initiative must also incorporate employee and customer knowledge within an all-encompassing programme which also takes into account corporate culture change at all levels from senior management through to the most junior of sales representatives. An assessment of knowledge and relationship management strategies within the medical technology sector highlights a number of key findings, one of which is that companies are addressing their knowledge transfer efforts in order to optimise the sales and marketing performance of their businesses as well as promoting a culture of "innovation" and ideas sharing. A company which is seen advocating this concept quite aggressively is Siemens, and as part of this company's corporate strategy the Medical Systems division has in place a system which seeks to detect new trends in customer preference, purchasing habits, and faster identification of cutting edge technology and solutions offering for customers.

The analysis of the methods used by medium-sized and major corporate bodies to tackle knowledge transfer requirements suggests that great strides have been made in implementing processes which aim at identifying the barriers to greater knowledge sharing and, most importantly the promotion of innovative practice amongst employees. It must be stressed that improving knowledge and relationship management requires a "champion" of the process within the company who acts upon a clear and direct vision based on goals which are achievable and can generate a visible ROI. Within the medical devices sector it is imperative to afford sufficient attention to communities of practice and networks involving early adopters and opinion leaders.

Medical device companies have established that the principal benefits associated with the implementation of CRM solutions in the medical industry are:

1. Centralised Repository of Data and Information (CRDI): CRM provides an opportunity to establish a single data warehouse for the entire organisation whether this is a multinational based company such as GE Medical Systems or Johnson & Johnson or smaller med tech players. It provides a database with a complete view of all customer interactions, from sales and marketing to customer service and support.

2. Potential Cost Savings: There is considerable potential for cost savings to be made in the medical industry through more efficient use of resources by:

- Consolidation of contact centre/front-office operation
- More effective/efficient balance between front and back office staff
- Integration of information databases leading to more effective (more accurate and quicker) revenue
collection
- More productive time on customer facing activities and more productive staff time
- Improved resource planning and scheduling, based on accurate data collected over time
- Insights into the drivers of calls, and therefore ideas for call avoidance.

Innovations

2006-08-30T13:27:00.000+02:00

I am wondering how we could build the company with and for our clients. It would be great if they could share their ideas with us, give us tips how to:

1. Create a service which would be satisfactory for them
2. Create the products they wish to work with

As professionals the clients have many great ideas regarding improving the products. Maybe it is worth building such a system that will anable them to work with us. Today all the companies operating in the industry I do have their websites. Yet they only give their clients opportunity to download the product catalogues, promotional materials and sometimes scientific articles. But is it enough? Do they feel it is enough for them?All those companies organise their own scientific congresses, yet the clients can be only the audience. There are not many organisations that listen to clients' advice not even mentioning close cooperation with them. In Poland the producers are mainly focused on sales; competition is severe and extremely dirty. On the other hand we have a lot of great doctors with great knowledge and experience willing to share their ideas with the companies that produce items they have to use.There is also another site of this idea: competitors; but such a company that welcomes innovation can build the brand awareness and loyalty. So there are many pros and cons to be considered.Maybe I should invite a few of best trusted clients to this blog to share their opinions? Or maybe somebody has different point of view? I'd like to discuss it more thoroughly.

Negotiations

2006-08-30T13:24:00.000+02:00

Another interesting podcast:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/hbsp2/July_1_HBR_IdeaCast.mp3

Customer relations: defining the problem and setting the searching direction

2006-08-29T12:13:00.000+02:00

I've decided to discover what could be done for my customers in the industry I operate. The clients of the organisation I work for belong to a group of highly specialised professionals. Yet they are not the final users of the products we sell. Anyway, the final users have almost no impact on the products they get. This is medicine; a specialised part of medicine, to be more precise, where a doctor decides what is best for the patient. We can only persuade them that the products he/she wants to use are our products.

As a company that produces and sells products to the doctors (medical devices) we are also obliged to give them knowledge in this particular field we deal with.
Then, all the products that are produced by us ought to be produced according to the clients' advice and ideas.

My aim is to design such a customer service and create such customer relations with my clients that will help us keep them loyal, grow them into bigger & profitable customers. We want to serve them more efficient yet ensure that we are not only the company they buy products from but we are also the ones who care for them, who are vividly interested in knowledge spreading. They should know that they are not only "buyers" but also creators of those products.

Yet I have to remember that a balance has to be remained between cost efficiency and revenue in customer service. I think that success in this field means an incremental strategy that starts with efficiency and which steadily incorporates a range of revenue-driving activities enabled by technology, improved processes and cultural change.

Just returned from France

2006-08-01T15:06:00.000+02:00

I have just returned from France. I had spend a whole month at summer University in Strasbourg learning......... French. Uff... Anyway, it was great. Wonderful people, great new friends, a lot of adventures especially those related to language. I had to speak French because people there either do not know English or do not like to use it. For a real "debutant" it was a hard and demanding task. E.g. once I went to buy fish for dinner. I said to the shop assistant: "Je voudrais deux poissons, s'il vous plait". The man looked at me and started to laugh. Then he asked me why I intended to poison myself. He said that the poisonous fish can be found in Japan. What is the clue? Pronounciation! I pronounced the word "poisson" wrongly, so he understood that I wanted poison, not fish! Since that time whenever I shopped there he kept asking me if I still wanted to poison myself and why:-)

Another experience was CDG Airport in Paris. I just had to get to Gare de l'Est from the Airport. It took me over an hour to get the information! And another hour to get there! I was almost ready to call a taxi! Finally - reached my destination by bus.

In a few hours I arrived to Strasbourg where I drove a car. There wouldn't be anything special about that except ... parking the car. I had an apartment in the strict city center. It took me over an hour to find a place for my car.... 2 km from the apartment. When I finally found one I had to squeeze into an extremely narrow space. Today I might be able to park a car almost everywhere.

But now: back to work!

2006-06-07T18:14:00.000+02:00

Have you ever had to work with an alpha male manager? Or maybe you are alpha males? Better to know what it is and how to manage such species:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/hbsp2/May_17_HBR_IdeaCast.mp3

BelaMBA

2006-06-07T16:48:00.000+02:00

BelaMBA

I've just come across a very interesting interview podcasted by Harvard Business Review. It is about avatar based marketing and developing marketing tooles addressed to individuals operating in 3D virtual word. The link to that interview can be found under the subtitle "Useful links to multimedia".
In a few words:
"Marketing to Avatars: Companies spend vast sums of money trying to segment, reach, and influence potential customers. They should think about targeting those customers' online alter egos as well."
http://media.libsyn.com/media/hbsp2/June_1_HBR_IdeaCast.mp3

BelaMBA

2006-06-07T14:28:00.000+02:00

BelaMBA

Today I managed to adjust the blog layout to my needs. To start with, I decided to add link to INSEAD Knowledge. It is a good source of knowledge for every MBA student. Maybe it will be useful also for my fellow MBA students?

BORYS DBE blog

2006-06-06T21:33:00.000+02:00

BORYS DBE blog

Hello!

Nice to see you in virtual reality. I am so happy to have that assignment in operational research done earlier... We just understood one point a little bit differently than prof.

Now, I am trying to register my blog at blogline. Do you know the password? Could you send it to my e-mail? That would be great!
In the meantime take care
Iza T or simply IT (the latter doesn't sount like in a criminal record)

AE DBE blog

2006-06-06T17:17:00.000+02:00

AE DBE blog

Hello Everybody! I am not sure, but it seems as I've finally arrived...