Isolde represents Siiquent which targets hospitals and large diagnostic labs as its main customers. To work around the limited budgetary constraints of these customers, Siiquent tailored its business model to sell test instruments at-cost while selling biological compounds and consumables at a high profit margin. Hospitals and larger diagnostic labs are operationally complex, and thus have extremely limited time to adopt steep learning curves for using new instruments and compounds. Therefore, Siiquent’s thorough (and free!) customer service fulfills an important customer need. The ability to adapt to the customer feedback is critical, especially in this case where hospitals and labs need to eliminate inefficiencies as fast as possible to prevent operational bottlenecks.
Emmanuel represents Teomik which targets research labs and universities as its main customers. Since universities are well-endowed and depend on cutting-edge research breakthroughs to bring notoriety to the university, Teomik was able to sell patent-protected instruments at high profit margins while selling consumables at competitive prices. Similar to Siiquent, Teomik also provided free customer service and scientific expertise when needed.
Imposing the structure of a single revenue model provides the benefits of a unified strategic focus, simplified operations and sales streams, and cost savings from consolidating functions (sales, HR, legal, etc). However, this model also eliminates the company’s ability to serve customer-specific needs across a wide range of customer segments; this could potentially lead to customers being driven away to competitors and loss of top-line revenue. On the other hand, letting the company continue to run as-is provides the company with a competitive edge since it can cater to a wide range of diverse customer needs. It also maintains internal harmony between Emmanuel and Isolde by allowing them to continue leading their respective units. However, as the company scales, this dual business model will likely lead to a blurred product/sales vision and increased costs to maintain both divisions.
If I were the PM of the merger, I would first want to communicate with stakeholders (especially Emmanuel and Isolde) the importance of the merger to continue delivering on the shared goals of customer satisfaction and overall company growth. After aligning stakeholders, I would then conduct a thorough market assessment of the different customer segments (hospitals vs large diagnostic labs vs university labs) and evaluate size and growth rates. I would complement this research with user interviews from each of the customer segments to see the extent to which our product can serve and adapt to future customer needs. Additionally, I would like to evaluate the competitive landscapes in each of the target markets and think about how to increase penetration in our revenue-driving markets. Before making a decision on the merger, I would attempt to find synergies between markets that would allow us to hone in on the specialties of both Siiquent and Teomik alike. Finally, I would communicate and justify the decision with stakeholders and discuss/brainstorm integration strategies with both Emmanuel and Isolde.
