Special situations require special measures. In times of travel restrictions and command of distance, Black Forest Medical Group relies on virtual training courses for customers and partners around the world. With success.

"It is important to us to have a very close and personal contact to our partners and customers," says Roman Maier, Managing Director at Black Forest Medical Group. Employees of the medical technology specialist for neurosurgery regularly travel long distances to customers worldwide. “It is important to us to be close and approachable for our customers and partners. In many countries, the personality of the contact person is crucial for good business relationships. Corona presents us with new challenges”, explains Maier. Already at the end of January, the innovation leader in the field of cranial stabilization and retractor systems was careful about travel, but since March 12th, all travel is prohibited for employees.

Black Forest Medical Group, headquartered in Freiburg im Breisgau, found the ideal solution to continue educating its customers without exposing them and its own employees to an increased risk of infection in webinars. A cross-functional team provides an extensive and worth watching program with numerous virtual events on different days. Experts from different departments of Black Forest Medical Group are talking about topics from their distinct fields of knowledge, covering content from the areas of research and development and product management as well as sales and marketing.
With an average of around 100 spectators, mostly participating out of their home offices, a large audience is trained in every webinar and questions of the participants are addressed in detail. The feedback received from the participants is overwhelmingly positive and attendee capacity was just expanded up to 500 possible participants due to the high demand.

“The success of this new type of training is a great motivation for everyone involved and encourages us to continue. It also shows us a path for possible developments in the future. I am thinking of digital sales processes and the opportunities these would bring. An increased flexibility in working routines, especially during parental leave, is just one example”, says Roman Maier. “This might still be in the stars, but just in time for our 25th company anniversary, we are setting foot on new ground and start shaping a new world of neurosurgery in this area, too.”