We have handled the challenges of the crisis very well

What have teams around the world done to get them through the crisis in good shape? ZOOM MED found out more.

ZEISS Korea Team 2019

IOL User Meeting

SMILE forum 2019

Positive factors in consumer goods and private sector for ZEISS Medical Technology in Korea

Gongha Moon, Head of Sales and Service of MED in Korea, is cautious about committing himself to saying success has been secured. He points out that in Korea the government reacted very quickly and comprehensively – the experience with the MERS coronavirus from 2012 was certainly influential in this. Since then the 3Ts have been in effect: “Tracing-Testing-Treating”. This makes it possible to ensure that outbreaks of infection remained purely regional and could be best limited. “Life has been going on relatively normally to start with,” reports Gongha Moon. “This, of course, had a positive effect on our business.” However, the longer the global crisis continues, the more restrictions the government is putting in place. Currently, investment in equipment is rather subdued. “We changed our strategy years ago,” says Gongha Moon reflecting on this, “and concentrated more on consumables. These recurring revenues did not collapse during the crisis.” This is because ZEISS Medical Technology’s customer structure in Korea had also changed – the team focused on the private sector, which continued to treat patients during the pandemic in Korea. “Our customer proximity, coupled with our resilience, stood us in great stead,” Gongha Moon sums up.

Quickly switching from offline to online activities – the MED team in China

“Our first priority during the COVID-19 pandemic was the safety and health of our employees and especially our service technicians,” said Elaine Xu, Head of Communications of SSC China. One of the measures the team introduced in China was to make more use of online training for customers. The team in China acted quickly and transferred offline activities to online ones. “In the meantime, our business in China has returned to normal,” reports Elaine Xu. She continues: “The market environment has changed though. For example, customers are more open to remote service. MED now hosts many live virtual streams to meet customer needs and share best practices. This will be the ‘new normal’ in the post-pandemic period.” However, the pandemic has slowed down business growth in China, so the team has launched various initiatives to meet sales targets despite all this. These initiatives include:

Reducing the global impact of COVID-19: building up stock contingency to reduce the potential risk of an unstable global supply chain
Digitalization: increase business through online training for doctors and users, practice development programs as well as user meetings and marketing
OPT: focus on OCTA and Premium IOLs
MCS: focus on KINEVO 900 and EXTARO 300

On world maps and recipes for success

Since the start of the pandemic he's been on the phone non-stop, talking himself blue in the face: Andreas Frei is responsible for Business Management and Global Projects at MED Service. So far, he has held over 100 COVID-19-related phone conversations with service heads worldwide. His goal is to keep a handle on the current situation as it evolves in different countries. On top of that, his job is to recognize challenges and provide the support that is needed. Due to the fast-evolving and unpredictable nature of the situation, at the start of the pandemic he has been making six international calls a week – three for APAC and three for EMEA and the AMERICAS.
"Initially, there was huge uncertainty all round. But by putting our heads together and keeping a positive attitude, we were able to find the best way to support our customers. And, of course, one of our main concerns was to protect the health of our colleagues in the field all around the globe," Andreas Frei explained in an interview with ZOOM MED. Together with his team of central logistics, Frei made sure that the worldwide Sales & Service teams (SSCs) were supplied with essential PPE equipment.

But the calls were also about engaging in a worldwide exchange of knowledge and sharing approaches that had proved successful regarding these current challenges. “It is about learning from the situation how to respond to future threats by choosing appropriate approaches”, said Andreas Frei.

The goal: Supporting local customers with their business and anticipating the most urgent issues to tackle. This is to ensure on a global level that customer business is up and running to therefore preserve stable service business.

Eyes and ears in the market

At a central point during these international calls three world maps evolved. Based on input from the SSCs, these maps gave a graphic, color coded depiction of the worldwide coronavirus situation with regard to Service activities. This meant, for instance, that you could see at a glance where in the world it was still possible to do customer installations. Today the map showing the general status of the MED Service organizations and the two business unit maps for Ophthalmic Devices and Microsurgery continue to be updated, with the color of individual countries continually adjusted to reflect local developments.
What was initially conceived as a graphic guide for the MED Service teams only spread rapidly throughout the organization. In Operations for example the maps help make it possible to plan and control production. The same maps are even shown during virtual staff meetings to illustrate the current situation around the world. Frei explains: "Our very first intention was to support, and I deeply acknowledge the effort everyone in service invests throughout the pandemic! We were not only able to assist our customers, but also could optimize our central production and planning. Without the fantastic input from the MED service teams around the world and from our colleagues in the countries, all this would never have been possible. They are our eyes and ears in the market."

The country calls with the worldwide SSCs have become a central element for exchange and decision making. And Andreas Frei is still keeping up with the calls, inviting all of the SSCs around the world: “I am sure that these calls are a great platform to drive the operational and business development in the future.”

Success stories from Spain and the UK

So what were the successful approaches adopted by the organizations in the countries that coped well with the crisis? Manish Udas, Head of Global Service & Customer Care for MED, reports: "The teams and the managers played a critical role in this. We have a lot of wonderful teams that are highly motivated and work with great dedication. And there is a very close exchange between Sales and Service. Spain is a good example of this."
The SSC in the UK came up with another successful approach. The ZEISS organization there has one of the highest coverage rates for service contracts. "This is from what we call recurring revenue – which is important for our company in times where we are facing an economic downturn," explains Manish Udas.

ZOOM MED wishes all teams every success in continuing to manage the crisis.

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