33
STATISTICS ABOUT
SALES & MARKETING IN
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT COMPANIES
The following statistics
are based on the response of
86
CEO`s, Sales &
Marketing
executives
working for
61
different scientific
companies
...collected during the DFG spring meeting 2012 in Berlin
The educational background of
all respondents
No
Science
Reading Note:
This and all following
statistics are based on 86
respondents.
86
Statistics answered by
sales force only are based
on 69 respondents.
(Those statistics are specially
market).
Science
The educational degree of all
respondents
University degree
PhD
Professional
education
The average size of scientific companies
Number of companies
up to 10 employees
up to 20
up to 50
up to 100
up to 200
more than 200
Number of respondents
Business with scientists tend to be more complex
than business with industry customers
Yes
No
No difference
It depends
* The definition of ‘complex’ was left to the respondents
Industry versus science:
The respondents serve ...
mainly scientific markets
mainly industrial markets
more or less equally
The average lead time of a sales cycle
from first contact to sales
Number of respondents
less than 3 months
3 months to half a year
half a year to 12 months
12 months to 18 months
more than 18 months
Average time spend to
prepare a quote
more than
one hour
between
30 min and
one hour
less than
15 min
up to 30
min
Number of respondents that make cold calls
more than
two per
month
No cold calls
one or two
per month
(Sales force only)
Number of sales cases won by cold
acquisition versus customer`s initiative
Initiative by customer
Cold acquisition
Number of respondents
(Sales force only)
The last sales case got lost because...
Price was too high
Specification was not sufficient
Competition did a better job
Customer didn`t trust
I don`t know why
Other reason
The price of scientific equipment is
an issue in...
no issue
almost all
sales cases
few sales
cases
half of all
sales cases
The technical specification of
scientific instruments is an issue in...
few sales
cases
no issue
almost all
sales cases
half of all
sales cases
Emotional aspects play a role in
selling scientific equipment
Yes
No
Sometimes
Number of respondents that have received
an internal or external sales training
Sales Training
No
Number of respondents that got
trained on competition
Sales Training on Competition
No
Number of respondents
(Sales force only)
How sales force respond* to an email
inquiry from a potential customer
Send a quote immediately
Give a call to get more information
Send an email to get more information
Others
*Sales force that sell capital-intensive equipment (e.g. > 50.000 EUR) did not respond
differently from sales force that provide low-cost equipment .
Number of companies that provide
different brochures for scientific and
industry customers
Different brochures
Same broschures
Number of respondents
Respondents about the strategic
positioning of their companies. We are...
Technology leader
Quality leader
Price leader
How sure respondents are about
the strategic position of the
companies they work for
I know the company's strategy
I don't know the strategy but I
have my own guess about
I don`t know
Number of respondents
How often respondents represent their
company on conferences and exhibitions
(per year)
not more than
2 times
about 3-6
times
up to 10 times more than 10
times
How often respondents report
their sales forecast to their boss
Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly
On request
Never
I`m the boss
(Sales force only)
Number of respondents that
use CRM software
Yes
No
Number of respondents
How respondents keep track on leads and
open sales cases
I use Excel
I use CRM
I use my emails
I use paper and post-its
Its all in my brain
Others
A choice of CRM tools in use
Act! SAGE
AG-VIP SQL
Axapta_ (MS Dynamics AX) Channel
CTM Deleco Exact Genesis
Goldmine Lexware
MS_Dynamics
Selfmade
Outlook BCM
SAP
SLX Sugar
Superoffice Wincard
How respondents with access
to CRM software use it for
tracking leads and sales
opportunities
Refuse
CRM
Use CRM
Business travel time
up to half
of the
working
time
up to 30
percent
less than
10 percent
of the
working
time
up to 15
percent
Number of respondents that say
the purchase decision of scientific
customers depends on ...
mostly technical aspects
both technical and emotional aspects
mostly emotional aspects
Number of respondents that say
the purchase decision of industrial
customers depends on ...
mostly technical aspects
both technical and emotional aspects
mostly emotional aspects
Marketing for scientific
products means...
Marketing = Advertisment
Somewhat more
Number of respondents about the
importance of scientific tools for
their scientific customers
Our product is the main tool
for their scientifc work
Our product is important but
there are other important
tools too
Our product makes scientific
life easier but it would also
work without it
The respondents about the importance of
various information sources for potential
customers
The Top 5
The Flop 3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. Test Measurements
2. Application Reports
3. Scientific Publications
Recommendation
Website
Data sheets
Personal contact
Exhibition
Raman Spectrometer
Spectrometers
Lithography
UHV Systems
Surface Analysis Equipment
Vibration-Systems
Laser
Electron
Ellipsometer
Nanopositioning
Anti-
SPM Controller
Vacuum components Effusion cells Optical Components Cryostats
Evaporation Sources
Cells
This is what the respondents sell Effusion
Thin Film Deposition
Vacuum mechanics
Diffractometer
Metrology Sensors
Wafer Handling Tools
Temperatur Equipment
Electronics
Components Vacuum Pumps
Laser
Photonics
Piezo components
QCM
SNOM
AFM
Optomechanics
Mass Spectrometer
Potentiostats
Power supplies
Nanoindenter
Low
Beam line
Femtosecond
Monochromator Components
XRay Technology UHV Valves STM Plasma Process Technology ALD
Number of respondents that intent to
exhibit again at the DFG Spring meeting
if hosted at the TU Berlin
Exhibitors with booth in the main
building
likely yes
likely no
Exhibitors with booth in the
adjacent building
likely yes
likely no
www.b2science.de
For scientific companies only