Case Study – Biomérieux

A new solution-selling strategy delivers a 22% increase in multi-product sales for bioMérieux, a world leader in microbiology

bioMerieux Tradeshow Booth
  • Positioning

  • Messaging

  • Event Planning

  • Content Marketing
  • Advertising

“Our portfolio of solutions effectively doubled over 5 years. While this was a good problem to have, our messaging and position were being compromised and becoming very fractured. 

We brought our new challenge to Forma and we emerged with a compelling story, one that included not only instruments but software and services, clearly differentiating us from the competition.”

allan mohessAllan Mohess, Director of Marketing Communication | bioMérieux

Biomérieux – a provider of instruments for hospital microbiology labs – needed a theme for an upcoming trade show.

Our diagnostic process uncovered a larger challenge than just developing a theme for one single trade show. A shift in focus was indicated: the sales team was used to selling individual instruments. The organization desperately needed a more patient-centric, holistic and consultative sales approach. If successful, this would position the organization as an expert provider of more than just instruments. This would support their growing services division. 

During the diagnostic process, we analyzed the competition, went along on sales calls and talked to every level of the organization, as well as customers. It became clear that customers were not aware of the breadth of the entire line of products and services. To enable the sales team to communicate this clearly, we developed a graphic: The Microbiology Pathway: from Collection to Care, which communicates the breadth of bioMérieux’s offering and depicts the flow of samples from patients through the entire microbiology lab. The graphic depiction of the Pathway accommodates both bioMérieux’s consultative services and all their products into a single, unified whole. The Microbiology Pathway became an organizing tool for several collateral pieces and the booth layout, with video screens highlighting individual Pathway stations.

We supported this differentiated strategy by implementing key tactics, including a new website, email blasts, banner ads, interactive diagrams, interactive demos, videos, brochures, direct mail, sales sheets, print ads. The entire process was so successful that we were asked to develop and deliver an entire day’s worth of sales training for bioMérieux’s North and South American sales teams. We delivered this at their annual sales meeting in Las Vegas.

Results

With record-breaking booth attendance, the show presence was a resounding success. In addition, a prominent (dare we say famous) New York hospital walked into the booth and asked if they could purchase “the entire Microbiology Pathway,” showing the value of a solution in tune with the needs of the marketplace.

  • Service projects saw a 32% increase over the previous year
  • Cross-selling increased by 22%
  • The Microbiology Pathway microsite traffic averaged 10% higher per month over any existing bioMérieux microbiology focused microsite
  • At a key industry trade show, the leads generated quadrupled over the previous year