Sarastro – Pioneer in Confocal Microscopy & 3D Reconstruction

The Challenge

This confocal Pioneer held the original patent for 3D construction from confocal sections.  Their initial attempt to penetrate the US market via a local but well-respected microscope dealer resulted in little national visbility and, in 18 months, the sale of only ½ of a system.   The question:  How to create immediate visibility in the US arena that would drive sales.

The Impact

T/MIP’s President & Chief Strategic Consultant, Barbara Fsoter, joined the Sarastro team full time, as Technical Marketing Manager, contributing to dynamic and sustained growth.

  •  Within 6 months, rose to successfully compete with top tier, with high national and international visibility
  • Within 6 months, Frost & Sullivan ranked Sarastro as “…a strong second in an aggressive international field of five”
  • Within 3 years, sales escalated from $0 to a projected $3.5-5M

Of note:  Sarastro was acquired twice, at the end of Y1 and in the early days of Y3.  Both acquisitions were structured by the Swedish parent company.  The US sales & marketing organization stayed in place after the first acquisition and continued their meteoric drive.  However, the second acquiring company disbanded the US sales and marketing organization.  The result: within 3 months, they all but disappeared from the confocal market.

What we did

  1. Devised and implemented a Strategic Plan
  2. Partnered with antoher key manager to open & manage the US office and demo facility
  3. Created and implemented a full FlightPlan  (integrated marketing & sales support program)
  4. Wrote seminal article on confocal which appeared in multiple trade publications (American Lab, American Clinical Lab, 1990, and International Biotech Lab)
  5. Developed and implemented extensive collateral program including brochures, mulitple Preshow mailers
  6. Organized & delivered dealer training
  7. Conducted field demonstrations & installations
  8. Developed and delivered tradeshow tutorials and technical papers
  9. Created and presided over Full day / Pre-conference workshop  (Within 2 years, doubled conference attendance from 350 to over 700!)
  10.  Acted as “COO” for US management team, structuring an alternative North American buy out
    ·       Co-authored business plan for alternative North American buy-out
    ·       Presentated to acquiring management : “How we got so far so fast”

Examples of work:

Navigate the Microscopy Market