Academic Account Managers note

Executives meeting this week and next to determine the fate of a few Alcon divisions. The first group on the chopping block is (and should be) the Academic Account Management team. They're useless to say the least. I'm sure they'll be gone by the end of Q2.

 

Yes please cut them first. That team is completely useless. In fact, they hinder my surgical selling trying to always poke their noses in my cases.

 

I thought this group was well thought of no? Sort of the crem dell crem pulled from the Pharma reps? They would need to find homes for the reps at least, cause it would KILL any minimal amount of motivation left for the sales force that they can move into a position like this and get a good bump in pay / prestige. What happened to Rick H? He still part of the group or did he refire?

 

i heard the exact opposite.

 

Rick h recently "disappeared"

 

These people are useless. At least the one in my area. No one at the academic accounts even know her name. Think about it, what have any of them done to help your bottom line?

 

"Good bump in pay"? "Prestige" what? You my friend obviously don't know the job or what it pays. Most AAM's barely make 100K salary. And as for "Prestige" ask their surgical counterparts how they are perceived in accounts.

 

This team is useless. If the company is looking at trimming the fat, here you go.

 

What is AAM? Is that the same as HAM? The HAM in my area is great and brings tremendous value to our academic facilities.

 

Don't confuse the surgical HAMs with their useless pharma counterparts the AAMs. Yes the surgical HAMs are good. The latter not so much.

 

Pharma reps have ruined my business and relationships in my accounts. I've had 2 big deals completely fall apart bc a Pharma rep comes in on their own agenda. Cannot wait for them to go away so I can finally do my job without babysitting.

 

Key Account managers are right there with AAM's. They give presentations to offices about customer service. They are not allowed to tie it into an Alcon brand though. There is zero selling in this role. They are suppose to bring value to accounts by "partnering up" with them.

I can't think of 1 account that sees this role as a value added service and chooses to stay or use an Alcon product as a result. I know of office uses the KAM for a few years now. They haven't used 1 Alcon product yet. Totally useless in helping to drive sales.

Instead of investing in manufacturing, distribution, R&D, managed care and customer service, Alcon continues to waste millions on this position.

I'm not saying to fire these individuals. Their talents could be used doing something else.

The position is inherently not valued by customers though. It brings zero value to any of the sales divisions.

There should be a survey sent to their targeted accounts Alcon reps asking if they have seen any benefit to this position.

 

Supply Chain department should be next. Useless! I spend at least half my day talking with customer service about back orders.

 

Clearly you miss the point of long-term investments in advocate development. Not every action is going to result in immediate use of Alcon products, but if you have the ability to see beyond what's directly in front of you, you can understand the importance of account management. You may be an excellent Pharma rep, or perhaps DM, but with that short-sighted view you will never go any higher in this company. Continue making 8 calls a day, and asking if your doctor will write PAZEO for the next 10 allergy patients. Meanwhile, leave the grown ups to handle the big picture items like product and advocate development.

 

The HAM role is academic advocate development that brings long term growth.

I do understand your point & the importance of long term advocacy. However, I have not seen this transpire in my territory. I hope someone would say that I'm wrong and truthfully tell me how a doctor became an Alcon advocate due to a KAM giving a presentation a few times a year.

It sucks, because I really want doctors to see how hard we (Alcon) are trying. Unfortunately, most see this as just a free lunch.

Novartis only gives alcon a certain number of dollars a year. My point being, is a KAM really what Alcon needs at this specific point in time or would the funds be better spent elsewhere?

 

what is the best way to make an advocate? Rank these in order...
A)have great products
B)have Doctor involved in clinical trials to see benefits early on
C)develop Doctor as a speaker
D)Being a patient advocate by explaining managed care & new technology
E) giving a staff presentation on reading body language

 

AAMs are useless. I wish this company would poll the reps to see what they think. I know of at least two AAMs that I guarantee hurt our business. One is in the Northeast and the other in Southern Cal.
I think these two do more harm than good.

 

Allison?

 

These positions are just more examples of the executive teams idea for long term growth. Unfortunately it is disconnected from reality of any real benefit. Measurable or not.