E-PARTNERING
Enterprising Web site at heart of cardiology
software firm's sales
By Kathleen
Gallagher
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Appeared
in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jan. 3, 2000.
Mortara
Instrument Inc. recently got its biggest customer ever,
Datex-Ohmeda of Helsinki, Finland, because of its Web
page.
Mortara's
cardiology software caught Datex-Ohmeda's eye in June
1997, and this November the two companies signed a joint
venture agreement that makes Mortara the Finnish
company's cardiology technology provider.
"For us
it's significant because it reflects another major
company buying into our technology and using it to enter
a new market for them and for us," says Brian L.
Brenegan, Mortara's vice president of operations.
But that's
not the only business the small Milwaukee-based medical
devices company has pulled in off the Internet.
Three other
companies - on the East Coast, and in Brazil and Israel -
have visited Mortara's Web site and ended up as
customers.
"Some of
these companies, like Dixtel (in Brazil) we never would
have heard of," says Brenegan, who screens inquiries
that result from the company's Web site.
He says many
of the calls and e-mails from people who've viewed the
Web page go nowhere. But it's clear more people are doing
research on the Web, and Mortara's 3-year-old Web site
has been an advantage.
"As a
small company without a big marketing budget, any time
you can get your name out there, it's good,"
Brenegan says.
He thinks the
key to online success for Mortara - which has 70
employees in Milwaukee and 50 in Bologna, Italy - has
been a site that's set up with the right links.
"The key
is not just putting it up, but how you make it accessible
to people who are searching," Brenegan says.
One of the
real advantages of having a presence on the Web is that
customers find you. That's particularly useful for a
small company like Mortara, which big companies don't
often invite in to make sales pitches.
"It's
easier when they're knocking on your door," says
Brenegan, who firmly believes a well-set up site that's
continually updated will bring people back again and
again.
Despite
Mortara's online success, Brenegan thinks there's much
more the company could be doing online.
"We've
been kicking ourselves saying, 'Look what happened from
just the little we put up," Brenegan says.
That's led to
lots of ideas, none of which Brenegan wants to share.
"We have
some more ideas about marketing our products on the Web
that will certainly be implemented in the year
2000," he said coyly.
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