Mediquip

By: Brad Sovich, Zachary

Cambron, Karl Swanson and
Trent Modis
Describe the Focal Firm
● Sales medical devices
○ Products include Computer Tomography (CT) Scanner, X-Ray, Ultransonic, and Nuclear
diagnostic equipment

● European based company

○ Case is centered around a German based subsidiary

● Subsidiary of Technologie Universille (French Conglomerate)

Describe the Focal Firm:
Competition
● Competition is from European countries
○ Mediquip is newer to the scene compared to rivals
○ Learning very quickly
○ Sigma is their main CT scanner competitor
○ Others include Piper, Magna, Eldora, and FNC

● Company is still growing and catching up to the competition

○ Due largely to their relatively recent introduction into the European medical device sales
field
Set the Stage
● All three technological, behavioral and managerial forces impact the firm
● Superior product, technologically advanced, 2 years ahead of competitors
○ Able to update system software, unlike their competitors
● Trying to sell a new CT Scanner to Lohmann University Hospital
○ Professor Steinborn made initial contact with Mediquip about a CT Scanner
○ Dr. Rufer the hospital’s physicist
○ Carl Hartman the hospital’s general director
● Lohmann University Hospital ultimately decides to purchase from
Mediquip’s competitor, Sigma
Set The Stage: Factors That
Affected the
● Disconnect between buyersSale
of the organization
○ Kurt (seller) was told not to discuss their price with anyone else after meeting with
Hartmann
○ Next meeting with Dr. Steinman, he was very unhappy with this lack of information flow
● Mediquip is newer to the market, and their competition has more of a
history within the territory
● Price reflected quality and innovation of the product
○ Other CT Scanners were cheaper
● Never showed a demonstration of the product
○ Only included specs and brochures
The Customer
● Luhmann University Hospital located in Stuttgart, Germany
● Relationship Selling between:
○ Professor Steinborn - radiology department head (nationally known)
○ Dr. Rufer - hospital physicist
○ Carl Hartmann - interim general director
○ Another person not named - in final decision making with Steinborn and Hartmann
(possibly Dr. Rufer)
● Functional Relationship
○ Mediquip serves as technical advisors and support the products sold to ensure customer
satisfaction and repeat business when systems become obsolete.
The Sales Force
● Consists of eight Europe sales subsidiaries
○ Each managed by a managing director
● We are unsure of the composition of the sales force and its organization
● Advantages are that medical sales will always be relevant because people
will always need medical equipment
● A disadvantage is prices can get very high and overwhelming for buyers
● Mediquip does not outsource sales people or engage in team selling
● There are no role partners
Compensation and Motivation
- If Thaldorf gets commission then he would be motivated to sell the
scanner
- Would increase customer base which is essential for the businesses relatively early stage
in the life cycle
- “In the first seven years at HubSpot, we used three different sales compensation plans,
each of which was appropriate for the stage our business was in at the time.” (Mark
Roberge, HBR)
- They used a compensation plan that would support growing their customer base at the
early introduction of their start up
- Mediquip could do the same with commission and repeat business in order to increase
customers when most needed
Compensation and Motivation
- Mediquip is not as established as their competitors

- Future business with the hospital

- Providing a great service

The Problem
● Kurt Thaldorf (Seller) lacked the proper communication needed to
successfully sell to a group of decision makers
○ All three stakeholders in the buying process for Lohmann University Hospital were on
different pages throughout the whole buying process
○ Hartmann insisted that Kurt not talk about price with any other decision makers
○ Hartmann also objected to price and couldn’t wrap his head around it
○ Rufer, Steinbornn, and Hartmann were never consulted together
■ Lead to aggravations between all three due to different knowledge and
communication
The Problem
● Making the Consensus Sale
○ “The implication for suppliers is clear: The bestway to build customer consensus isn’t to
do a better job of connecting individual customer stakeholders to the supplier but to
more effectively connect customer stakeholders to one another.” (Schmidt, Adamson,
Bird, HBR.org)
○ Kurt should have taken the time to connect each stakeholder making the decisions
■ Ensured their concerns were met
■ Ensured they were all on the same page
● Hartmann was not convinced
○ Hartmann felt that all companies claimed they had the latest technology
○ The price was not on range for the services offered to Hartman
The Solution
- Train Salespeople on how to properly sale to a group of stakeholders
- Kurt should have connected all stakeholders who were making the decision for Lohmann
University Hospital
- Ensures all stakeholders have the same information
- Kurt then knows all of the exact objections
- Decreases the scope of uncertainty between all individuals
- Thaldorf could have prepared a better hands on experience for the buyer
that helped separate him from his competition, and justified why his
price was so much more for the CT scanner
The Solution: SWOT Analysis
● Train salespeople for the company on how to properly sale to a large
group of stakeholders
○ Strengths
■ Better prepared for the unknown
■ Don’t leave information withheld
■ Buyer satisfaction would likely increase
■ Stronger salesforce
■ Directly addresses Kurt’s failure
○ Weaknesses
■ Costly
■ Every selling situation differs
■ Lacks immediacy in change and correction
■ Some participants may not get as much out of it as others
The Solution: SWOT Analysis
● Opportunity
○ Corrects a weakness in Mediquip’s selling habits
○ Makes salespeople better prepared when compared to competition
○ Will prepare for future selling situations
○ Opens possibilities for future trainings
● Threats
○ Lackluster training
○ Takes too much time
○ Competition already has the strength over Mediquip
○ Salespeople will find the training boring and useless
The Solution: SWOT Analysis
● Craft a hands on experience with all stakeholders to show off the
equipment
○ Strengths
■ Stakeholders know benefits of the product
■ More impressive in person
■ Lessens the salesperson's role to talk about the product
■ Quick and effective, not costly
○ Weaknesses
■ What if equipment fails?
■ Stakeholders aren’t impressed
■ Salesperson doesn’t accurately depict it’s worth
The Solution: SWOT Analysis
● Opportunity
○ Generate new sales leads
○ Impress the customer so much for repeat business
○ Increase orders on the spot
○ Gain suggestions while showing the product
● Threats
○ Better products on the market
○ Technical failures
○ Stubborn stakeholders
○ Time constraints or unwillingness for a proper hands on experience
The Choice
● Train salespeople on how to sale to a group of stakeholders
● Solves the direct problem Kurt encountered of communication flow and
stakeholder interference
● Will use a sales volume quota
○ Largely to ensure that Mediquip is selling products consistently and not letting potential
sales slip to competitors like Sigma
○ A number of sales will be set per area that needs to be hit, will be based off of past sales
and trends in the sales field
○ Will show if there is any effect from the training
Work Cited
● Roberge, M., Steenburgh, T., Ahearne, M., Onyemah, V., Pesquera, M. R., & Ali, A. (2017, July 20). The Right Way to Use
Compensation. Retrieved November 4, 2019, from https://hbr.org/2015/04/the-right-way-to-use-compensation-2.

● Bird, K. S. B. A. A., Adamson, B., Dixon, M., & Toman, N. (2017, July 20). Making the Consensus Sale. Retrieved November 4,
2019, from https://hbr.org/2015/03/making-the-consensus-sale.