hey, Being recruited by medline, and the guy said average comp is 240k-260k, but the rep is responsible for all expenses, including car??? What is the real deal?
Real deal... $60-100k first year if you're lucky, contingent on territory, freight, etc... and how bad the company wants to bend you over and give you the gift of regret. I'd consider other options, this is a last resort at best.
It depends on the territory, the quoted income or more is possible primarily in an acute care territory but usually only to those with 10-20+ years in the same territory. A few make more, sometimes much more, many make much less. These days many suspect upper management want the average rep making closer to $100,000-$150,000, to keep the 80% motivated who make up the average leadership needs the other 20% to make significantly more so they can dangle the carrot how much money the 80% can earn if they work harder. I suspect many find the $250,000+ range at Medline is not worth the effort and decide to move on to other companies which max out at $150,000-$200,000 but offer a better work life balance. If you do make $250,000+ at Medline you will be on straight commission and will work very hard, possibly at the expense of your personal life. There are "dings" to your pay but way less than there have been historically and the numbers I'm referencing take dings into account. There is no company car or reimbursement of car expenses for a straight commission rep, there is a car stipend for a newer rep on a salaried "pay plan". If you are on a pay plan you will likely make less than $100,000 until you move to full commission. It would be rare for a new rep to earn $250,000 starting out because managers get paid on gross margin growth. If an open territory has $250,000 in commissions many managers will try to hire a rep for way less, say $100,000 (there are a lot of people you can hire for $100,000). The $150,000 difference is no longer an expense and goes right to the bottom line of the hiring manager's and their manager's gross margin growth formulas which is where a majority of a successful manager's income is derived from. Many will read what I've written and bash Medline; don't though, it works for Medline and the company is very successful. For the record Medline has many good things, too many too list here. It is a very demanding company to work for, some thrive in the Medline sales environment and are well rewarded for their efforts, some get by but should probably leave, many figure out Medline is not a good fit and move on.
Do ya feel a bit bloated? Like someones been blowin up your ars. low margin=low commission. Is Medline a streetwalker or a high dollar gal? Methinks streetwalker. It doesn't surprise me that the recruiter is less than honest, birds of a feather flock together.
Ask to see commission reports to prove the pay and have them document what accounts will be yours. If they had an open territory that was bringing in this much they would either split it into 2 territories or take the largest account that has been paying the most commissions and make it a house account. I was a rep with Medline and saw this happen many times, including in the territory I had. Most likely you will make around $100k on the acute side.
