THE INTEGRATION AND SALES SUPPORT DEPARTMENT: BACKBONE OF THE IBA SALES PROCESS, PART 2

There is a lot more to the IBA sales process than meets the eye. To be able to offer a proposal that fits the needs and expectations of all customers, IBA’s local sales teams, sales agents and distributors are supported by a hardworking ten-member team of skilled staff members. This series of four articles expands on its core task and its scope of work, presents the team members and highlights its pivotal role in IBA operations. The second article describes the lengths to which the team goes to fulfill the customer’s wishes.

Amplifying documents The ISS department starts with an idea of the potential customer’s expectations and infrastructure and financial possibilities, and draws up a budget quotation, which outlines the budget and specifies the basic project and product scope. The customer responds to this budget quotation with a list of questions and requests. IBA’s responses to these questions form the actual proposal, which will continue to expand throughout the negotiations.

The proposal contains the project background, executive summary, planning and pricing, the time to market, operation, validation and verification provisions, maintenance plan and service agreement, the project team that will be involved and a reference list. In addition, multiple specifications, add-ons and attachments may be involved, depending on the options and configurations.

Customer requests can be varied, ranging from indigenization clauses, which ask IBA to look for local suppliers with the capacity to deliver the right quality in time, to training programs or additional third-party equipment, to a customized Acceptance Test Protocol (ATP). Requests for co-ownership are denied as a general rule. It would be too great a risk, as patient recruitment is totally out of IBA’s hands. Otherwise, each request is evaluated and investigated thoroughly and specifications may change considerably in the course of negotiations. IBA also includes an overview of impending technological evolutions to confirm upgradability during the installation’s 30-year lifespan, and the guarantees IBA offers with regard to dose distribution and the like.