Integrity in Marketing Part Deux: Evaluating RTLS Vendor Claims

Integrity in Marketing - Deux: Evaluating RTLS Vendor Claims. Can you believe everything you read?

Continuing with the theme of Integrity in RTLS Marketing, I'm curious in Part Deux how healthcare managers, evaluating RTLS vendors, interpret vendor claims -- something we take very seriously at Awarepoint.

Case in point: I recently came across a press release from a healthcare RTLS vendor with a very engaging headline announcing more than 200 healthcare RTLS deals in 2010. Sounds like a fantastic first half of 2010 … but is it? Intrigued as usual by success in the RTLS market segment, I read on to discover that the “story” they tell outlines that in the first half of 2010, (vendor) received more than 200 orders for its healthcare solutions. Sounds impressive on the surface, but after reading the release, I’m left to wonder what constitutes an “order”, since the definition is never detailed.

When you read that headline, what do you assume? From my perspective, it seems a little misleading …

I love this article from Valley of the Geeks.com titled Marketing Spin about marketing in the technology industry, marketing spin and how the story about market share can be manipulated.  It’s pretty funny, in a tongue in cheek kind-of-way, and describes how marketing in the technology industry first began:

“Marketing in the technology industry first began in 1943 with IBM Chairman Thomas J. Watson Sr's famous market prediction: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." The marketing department immediately issued a press release announcing IBM as the worldwide leader in computers implying that they had already sold two units giving them forty percent market share. Unfortunately, sales remained relatively flat since IBM's Marketing team also pre-announced OS/2 by forty-two years.

Nonetheless, IBM's marketing team managed to prove that there was a huge untapped need in the market place. Unfortunately, the need was for market research. Companies like Gartner Group, Yankee Group and others fell about themselves selling IBM's marketing team research reports showing that there was a market for six or even seven computers and offering to write up fancy reports segmenting the market.”

Awarepoint receives hospital client “orders” every day – for new asset tags, replacement tags, temperature monitoring tags, network expansions to outlier buildings, etc. However, we believe the most relevant metric for hospital managers in evaluating vendors is referenceable customers with documented outcomes. Awarepoint has documented proven success in the healthcare RTLS market segment and recently created a report entitled: Awarepoint Real‐time Location System Value Metrics in Healthcare. This report outlines specific customer examples of healthcare results and reports actual savings realized.

If you’re intrigued and would like a copy, simply email us at AwarepointBlog@gmail.com and I’ll connect you with the Regional Vice President in your area who will be more than happy to review our documented results and return on investment drivers for RTLS in healthcare. These documented results represent our Phase 1 value drivers in Tracking and and locating assets, Rental equipment savings, Utilization improvements, Shrinkage reduction, and Temperature monitoring (T.R.U.S.T) in hospitals.

So really, I’d love to hear what matters to you as a buyer of healthcare technology?

As a healthcare manager evaluating RTLS vendors, what research and metrics are important to you when reviewing vendors in a market segment? How do you select whom you’re going to invite to the table when you are assessing a new technology for your hospital?

What really matters to you and how do you sift through the marketing spin to validate the real story?

I would love to hear from you. Perhaps I'm too much of a realist (possibly not a great trait for the role of a marketer), but I'm confident authentic stories and real results will speak for themselves, without the idealistic "spin".