Mediquip Case

1) The major strength that Thaldorf possesses is that the model of the CT scanner is the latest one. It is two years in advance, so that, there would be no risk of obsolescence for a long time. Moreover, they enjoy the word-of-mouth from their current consumers, i. e. other hospitals in the similar size of LUH. However, unlike their competitors, they do not understand the market situation and decision-makers well. There are more than one person involving in the decision making process but they do not know which one possesses the most of the power. Also, their price is not competitive enough.
The price range of a CT scanner is wide and Mediquip charges at the upper end which could not meet expectation of price-sensitive buyers. 2) There are altogether 3 people in the decision making process. Professor Steinborn: a nationally-known radiologist. He is the one who use the scanner so he cares the quality and functions the most. Though he shows his favor to Mediquip, Mediquip still lost the order, so it seems he does not own a great power. Dr. Rufer: a physicist. His primary concern is the patients’ safety if the scanner could meet the technical specifications that he raised. Mr.
Hartman: the general director of LUH. He put price as the top priority and also the durability of machines and delivery. It seems like he possesses the greatest power in the whole decision making process since price is the very major reason of the loss of order. 3) Generally speaking, Thaldorf could have effective and positive interaction with the above-mentioned persons. Though Professor Steinborn was once shocked that the price could not be discussed, he was soon pacified and even talked about his vacation. And he even told the Sigma’s price to Thaldorf, it shows his favor to Mediquip. ) September 3 Firstly, it was told by the secretary that there were a lot of heated discussions. It implies that there might be even arguments between Hartman who concerns price and Steinborn who favors Mediquip. And obviously, Steinborn lost from the discussions. And so, Hartman just like put-off Thaldorff asking him to give a final offer but the decision was made actually unless Mediquipp could really offer a competitive low price. 5) From this case, we should understand that, sometimes, possessing the newest model may mean nothing and we have to understand our customers better.

You may encounter a lot of people during the process, but the important thing is to get the most powerful decision-maker pleased and favor to your product. Only that could bring you the order. Cause sometimes even your product is the best among the competitors, your customer may not know it. Therefore, the best practice is to formulate different strategies according to different customers, like if he is price-sensitive and do not know much about the product, different models with different prices could be introduced. And the customer could just choose whatever within his budget.