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Knock Right Doors At Right Time
Advises Mr. Leendart Santema to Medical Device Exporters From Developing
Countries
 Mr. Leendart Santema
Mr. Santema has visited and mentored more
number of Medical Device Companies from India than any other professional.
By holding their hands tightly in his hands , he made them get converted
into successful medical device exporters to European Markets.
A hard to find combination of medical background and expertise in medical
devices marketing, he now thrives on the combination. Because of his medical
background , he is always eager to keep up with all the latest medical
discoveries and developments. Over the years he has taken countless courses
on everything from intensive care to orthopaedics. He works as a consultant,
CBI Medical Expert and as director of a company that produces intensive care
products and products for total pain management. |
Alertness is a key quality in any business, but
especially in the shifting sands of the medical industry.
The medical world is constantly changing, as
technological advances and shifting social currents close some doors and open
others. Producers from developing countries, whether hi-tech innovators or
second-quality commodity suppliers, face many opportunities- as long as they
knock on the right doors at the right time.
Social and Structural Changes
Medical and technological demands are not the only
thing exporters should constantly be listening for. Social and structural
changes influencing the market are at least as important. As an example, changes
in the medical insurance branch in the Netherlands are affecting the income of
doctors: rather than getting a fixed monthly paycheck, more and more Dutch
doctors find their incomes vary with the number of operations they perform.
Obviously, they’re interested in new technologies that can boost their position
on the medical front, for instance by providing effective solutions for problems
otherwise handled outside the hospital. The possibilities offered by the new
so-called minimally invasive surgery (MIS) are of great medical interest, but
also of great interest to Dutch surgeons looking for new, fast surgical
solutions. With MIS, a surgeon can perform a bypass without even opening up the
patient’s thorax. The cost savings are huge, so an MIS qualified surgeon can
handle far more patients. It’s good for his wallet but even better for the
healthcare sector. Innovation is a hot item and a lot of participants of CBI’s
Export Coaching Programme from countries like South Africa, India and Pakistan,
have the wherewithal to be on the cutting edge.”
Sponsoring is the big issue in the UK medical
sector. Large pharmaceutical firms are sponsoring or buying up many hospitals.
Boot, the pharmacy chain, already owns five or six hospitals. Naturally, those
products used in those hospitals are now dictated by Boots. These are important
trends for exporters to be aware of, as they can heavily affect your market
entry strategies.
Another trend, particularly visible in more conservative countries like Germany,
France and Switzerland where hospitals still tends to be run by doctors and
surgeons, is the rise of private clinics. Again this trend opens up new channels
for exporters.
Selecting The Right Distributor
In the CBI programme , offers a complete range of
products that for many buyers we are almost a one–stop shop. Our range is one of
the factors that make buyers not yet familiar with the CBI visit our pavilions
at European trade fairs like Medica 2007. And the range definitely included
commodities manufacturers.
The 68th Expro seminar, part of the CBI’s Export
Coaching Programme (ECP) for manufacturers of medical devices and supplies, took
place from September 17 to 22 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The exporters
participating in the programme, representing Colombia Egypt, Jordan, India,
Pakistan and South Africa, supply a wide range of medical products and are
undergoing through training in all things related to exporting in general and
the European medical industry in particular. Most of them, following the Expro
seminar, are now preparing for Medica 2007, a leading European trade fair for
this sector set to take place in Dusseldorf, Germany, this November. The purpose
of the Expro seminar was to help them dot the i’s in their individual Export
Marketing Plans. Says CBI external expert.
The key in accessing the EU market whether your
product is a breakthrough innovation or an old familiar commodity lies in
finding the right distributor. A lot of exporters try to access end users. But
end users don’t usually direct buying in this sector. It is not likely that the
Dutch hospital will send someone to India to purchase supplies. But a
distributor will. The key to sales is to find a reliable distributor who knows
your product and understands its particular market segment. The benefit of
contacting end users like doctors during trade fairs and conferences is that you
can convince them of the quality of your product and then use them as a
reference in contacting their distributor. But the distributors usually do the
buying and selling.
(Abstracted from “CBI News” , the bulletin ( 317 )
published by Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries ( CBI
, www.cbi.eu ), an agency of the Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs )
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