CCS Medical from Pharma?

you must be drinking the ccs koolaid! Never ever leave pharma for CCS Medical. In fact, never leave any job for CCS Medical. Only the top ten reps make more than $100,000 per year and this is out of 130. If you do happen to make good your first year you won't the second year as your quota goes up as soon as you get close to it. Upper management is a joke! Sales are way down and heads should be rolling soon. Last year the ceo was sexually harassing a sales rep and was forced to resign because of it. He texted her every day and wouldn't leave her alone. Heard he also harrassed many women over the years and at Bayer. This company is messed up. Enter CCS at your own risk but remember what you were told here. Run!!!!!!!!

 

I had to laugh at the post that said CCS is medical sales. Believe me, CCS/Liberty and all of these types of businesses are considered below pharma. And pharma is below (way below) medical sales. I am not talking quality of life, because medical sales sucks there. But in the pay/respect food chain, CCS is not even on the chart from the point of view of those outside CCS. Please.... It is nice to have any job right now, but be realistic about what you are doing and don't encourage others with bad information. Having now been in all three of these businesses, pharma may be the best choice for all-around happy life. less money and respect than medical but way more time to actually have a life. Yes, it is a catering job, but if you can suck it up and just do it, you have a car, benefits and lots of time. As for CCS, it is only going to get worse. And there is absolutely NO respect from ANYONE when you work at this type of job. It is really rather humiliating.

 

I have been with CCS for about 2 years and have been happy with both the financial and personal benefits. If you have a good territory and work hard you can do well (no, you will not bank but yes, you can make about 100k). CCS does have its fair share of issues but from what my pharma and med sales friends say so do their companies. In most cases you are just trading one set of baggage for another. Before accepting a job make sure you confirm what insurance plans CCS accepts from that territory. If the list is limited you might want to think twice. If there are options then you have the ability to play. As for "respect", you are wrong as many physicians and diabetes educators love the fact that CCS carries a variety of products and has the ability to leave samples of all meters(definately not something a pharma rep can do). Also, CCS and Liberty may be in the same market but have completely different reputations with physicians. Just ask an endo and they will be happy to throw Liberty under the bus any day of the week. Finally, my job is far from "humiliating", I have great report with my clinics and diabetes educators which is more then I can say for the majority of reps hanging out in halls waiting for signatures.

 

I currently work at CCS Medical and I love it. John Miclot is our new CEO and I am excited at what he is going to do. Also, Mike Iskra is now in charge of sales and he is awesome! This is a company to watch in the future. I have seen the annual plan and it will take us to the next level. Yes there have been challenges in the past. You will usually get that when you grow from 60million to 500 million in 3 years. Just a thought.
The field sales position is hard work. Not for lazy Pharma folks. If you want to work for your money and feel good about doing it, then CCS is the right place to be!

 

I agree - proir executive managment was checked out and left the sales team hanging out in left field. The new CEO has done great things in his past roles and many of the sales folks are much happier now. They have a good sales managment team and all of the "hokey-pokey" that was going on went out with the old gaurd. Still a tough industry and you earn your $$ but a better place to work now for sure.

 

Compelled to chime in - I work for CCS's medical products division, Sanvita, and the job is largely what you make of it. CCS is a privately owned company that experienced significant growth & change in a relatively short period of time, so we're catching up. Mike Iskra, new EVP of Diabetes for CCS & Sanvita, is wicked smart & a great leader, & some new management blood throughout both divisions is setting us up for a solid 2009. To be satisfied working here one does need to be patient and flexible with the change and uncertainty that comes with a start-up. Not many pharma folks successfully make the transition to glucometer sales for various reasons - we're the new kid on the block so the famous 10-2 schedule is not enough to get the word out. What I can say is that I work hard, I am respected at CCS, and I would caution peeps from relying heavily on the negative attitudes on this lengthy post. Just my opinion, but I am on the inside!

Good luck to you all in 2009.

 

Whatever you do, get in touch with current CCS reps and I am sure that most of them(if they are honest) will tell you to run for the hills. That is unless you call the few names that the hiring mgr will provide. Do your homework, use social networking sites, message boards, call CDE's and clients and get the facts.

The fact is that the turnover at CCS is insane and that pretty much sums it up. Unrealistic quotas, incompetent inside team that F's up most of your sign-ons. It is not a real sales job...but it is a real screw job. BE CAREFUL! I know from experience. I bought the hype and jumped into the hell hole and 95% of the people I know left the co. within 12 months. It is honestly a big scam to get the co. to go public so the top execs can cash out and retire as fat cats. They tried in summer of 07, but got shot down as economy started to trend downward. They would change comp package constantly...sometimes monthly and even retroactively once. So reps that hit their #'s were expecting a monthly bonus of at least a few thousand $'s were told after the fact that the comp plan changed...for last month! WOW!

 

Regardless of new management ( yes I worked for the old managment- Dave Quick-what an imbecile), CCS is selling a mail order service- a service - you are not selling a product.
Look at sales as a pyramid- bottom of the pyramid is service sales, next level pharma, next level medical supplies, next level medical equipment, next level system sales, next level capital equipment. Lowest level of pyramid is lowest pay.
If you are in medical sales for a career think smart and get into any level above service sales.- I have CCS on my resume and recruiters and companies laugh at it.
CCS sells a mail order service- you have to convince referral sources to refer their patients to you. You are trying to convince someone who has no vested interest in caring where their patient get their supplies.
Plus you have to be careful because they (ccs ) can do a bait and switch. You sell a Bayer meter and they ship a cheaper meter. This is medicare fraud and you don't want to be involved with that.
If you are unemployed and have 6 months to look for another job take the job with CCS but don't stay for more than 6 months and leave it off your resume.
Because of the huge sales rep turnover recruiters just laugh when they see CCS on a resume

 

If you are reading these post you will see that 98% are not happy with this company. At the national sales meeting in Florida last month we found our from the replacement of our new CEO the new new guy in charge that CCS has over 50% turnover. I recently changed to another company. CCS is not good nor fair to employees. Below is a cafepharma link with more on CCS. Not all, but many managers are not good and some have little experience. Internally and externally the company has a lot of problems. The above post are correct for all divisions. The ethics of this company lack, the bonus are cut usually before Christmas and the sales methods are as cheesy as you can get especially in the wound care arena. As posted above this far from sales. A while back the company was going to go public and bailed out on the IPO the night before. Very weird place...hope this helps.


http://www.cafepharma.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1571824

 

CCS Medical- Clearwater, FL DIABETES DIVISION

Here's the truth about the Diabetes Account Executive role: $50k base salary, comission for an average rep $20k, $600 car allowance, fuel card, cell phone, laptop, CIGNA benefits, $25/month for internet and $25/month for home office fax. Quotas did change in 2009 and are reasonable IF you live in a STATE that has good managed care contracts! There is a REVOLVING door at CCS for a reason! Recruiters will see that you worked for CCS and laugh- no questions asked about WHY you left- they have seen hundreds of people come and go. Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July '09 = BAD NEWS for vendor "partners" & CEO no showed to National Mtg in 2010! Oh did I mention a "corporate falling out" with the #1 vendor/partner Lifescan? IF you want to be a glorified MAIL ORDER REP competing with Liberty and Byram go for it- my recruiter SOLD me and I learned the hard way! Try explaining what you do- "I work for a Diabetic Supply company selling a SERVICE that helps people with Diabetes get their testing supplies (glucose meters, test strips, lancets etc). SO what I really do is ASK providers to STOP sending their diabetic patients to the local Pharmacy with an Rx for test strips INSTEAD refer them to CCS because it's CONVENIENT and COST EFFECTIVE" HUH? WTF Dr. is going to do that? They went to Med School to write Rx's not refer their Diabetic patients to your SERVICE because you hit it off at your "lunch and learn" and they liked your suit! OH and by the way- be prepared for the inside customer service reps to switch your referred patients out to a GENERIC piece of shit product because it's CHEAPER than the name brands! Your Dr's will LOVE that :-0 The TOP 10 Reps out of a sales force of 110 make over $100k, the rest are "average" making mid 70's and being threatened with "performance plans" if they don't turn things around. HAPPY PLACE TO WORK

 

Here is the problem:

With a base of $52k, $4000 commission per month gets you to $100k, which is what most reps aim for and were told was attainable.

According to the current comp plan, in order to make $4000 a month in commission, you need 130 total sign on credits.

Number of reps with 130 sign ons or more in 2010:

January: 8
February: 10
March: 12
April: 24
May: 13

If you average the numbers above, this year it looks like 13 reps will make $100k or more, out of 103! Not terribly motivating.

The current commission plan just doesn't work, and costs reps about $1500 to $3000 a month over the previous plan on average, some more if they are in good pump territories. The only people it benefits are those top 10 reps. Experienced reps will tell you their salaries have gone done by as much as 50% on this plan. CCS needs to make a change, or the turnover will never slow down. If they have seen some recent stability, it is only because there isn't a whole lot else out there in this economy. Options are few.

That being said, you could do worse than a job where the average rep makes $65 to $70k, but you need to know what to expect, or you will be greatly disappointed. Most people feel they were misled at hiring. There are good things to be said about the job and the people, but the money is where CCS falls short.

 

CCS MEDICAL

I AM TELLING YOU FROM EXPERIENCE..........DO NOT, I REPEAT...DO NOT GO TO CCS MEDICAL. I WORKED THERE FOR 5 YEARS, AND I AM TELLING ANYONE WHO IS THINKING ABOUT GOING THERE TO WORK....THINK AGAIN. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY THE WORSE COMPANY I HAVE EVER WORKED FOR IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. THEY TREAT PEOPLE LIKE IGNORANT SLAVES WHO NEED TO BE THANKFUL THEY HAVE A JOB. IF THEY COULD HORSE WHIP YOU LEAGALLY, THEY WOULD, AND IF THEY COULD TREAT YOU WORSE THAN THEY ALREADY DO, THEY WOULD. THE H/R DEPT IS THE WORSE AND WILL SIDE UP WITH WHATEVER THE MANAGERS DECIDE TO SAY ABOUT YOU. THEY HARRASS, AND THEN TURN IT AROUND TO LOOK LIKE YOU ARE STUPID AND UNWORTHY OF THEM. I AM NOT KIDDING.....THIS IS THE HONEST TRUTH, AND I DONT KNOW HOW I LASTED AS LONG AS I DID. WHEN I FIRST STARTED I THOUGHT THAT PLACE WAS WONDERFUL, BUT THEN WHEN THEY KNEW THEY HAD ME, THE TABLES TURNED AND THEY STARTED TO DOWN GRADE AND TRY THEIR BEST TO INTIMIDATE YOU INTO DOING MORE MORE MORE, WITH LESS PAY. AT REVIEW TIME, THEY ALWAYS PUT YOU DOWN AND THEN SAY, BUT IF YOU TRY HARDER, MAYBE NEXT YEAR YOU WILL GET A BETTER RAISE.....HAAA I BETTER RAISE IS 15 CENTS OR SO. I ALWAYS HAD EXCELLENT AND EXCEEDS RATINGS ON MY REVIEWS AND HAVE NEVER GOTTEN OVER 15 CENTS, AND EVEN ONE YEAR, I DID NOT GET ANYTHING BECAUSE I HAD, ACCORDING TO THEM, NOT MADE MY QUOTA AS GOOD AS BEFORE. THE QUOTAS THAT THEY HAVE ARE UNREALISTIC AND IF YOU DO REACH THEM, THEY RAISE THEM UP MORE THE NEXT YEAR. IT IS AN UNJUST, INHUMAN, AND JUST A POOR COMPANY TO WORK FOR AND I DO PITY ANYONE WHO GOES THERE AND MORE SO THE ONES THAT ARE STUCK THERE BECAUSE THEY NEED THE JOB SO BAD. I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE SIT AT THE DESK AND CRY BECAUSE THEY HAD NO CHOICE. SAD BUT TRUE AND I HAVE HOPES THAT THIS COMPANY WILL FAIL ASAP. THE VICE PRESIDENT, THE CONTROLLER, THE CEO, THE MANAGERS, SUPERVISORS AND TEAM LEADS, EVEN H/R MEMBERS HAVE LEFT IN THE LAST YEAR OR SO AND IT MAKES YOU WONDER WHY. THEY FIRE QUITE EASILY BUT FIRST TRY TO MAKE YOU QUIT, SO NO UNEMPLOYMENT WILL BE INVOLVED. THEY FIGHT ALL UNEMPLOYMENTS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME THE EMPLOYEE WINS BECAUSE THEY CAN PROVE WHAT CCS SAYS ARE ALL LIES. I WAS FIRED BECAUSE THEY STATED THAT I WAS INCOMPETANT IN MY JOB, BUT YET A MONTH BEFORE THAT, I WAS RATED EXCEEDS ON MY REVIEW WITH A 98% RATING......OF COURSE I WON....AND THEY DID NOT EVEN SHOW UP FOR THE PHONE INTERVIEW TO CONTEST MY UNEMPLOYMENT. PLEASE LISTEN AND BELIEVE THAT THIS PLACE IS HELL AND WILL TREAT YOU LIKE AN UNIMPORTANT WASTE OF TIME....BUT THEY EXPECT YOU TO MAKE THEM TONS OF PROFIT WITH YOUR HARD WORK
GOOD LUCK IF YOU DONT LISTEN TO THIS......SEE YOU IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE SOON

 

YOU ARE NUTS IF YOU BELIEVE THIS......YOU MUST BE MANAGMENT.....
THIS PLACE IS ABSOLTELY THE WORSE PLACE FOR ANYONE AND IF YOU THINK OTHERWISE YOU ARE EITHER NUTS, LOVES TO BE ABUSED OR JUST NEW.
GOOD LUCK IN YOUR FUTURE WITH THIS HORRIBLE PLACE

 

Re: CCS MEDICAL

Dude, if they ever got to score you on real stuff instead of the sissy stuff they're doing now your ass would have been out the door sooner.

 

I love CCS Medical!

I don't think anyone on this post had drank enought of the koolaid! LOL

 

The CIO just left after it was discovered he was stealing. Beat Rychner continues to cover for Fran Lanham who has a criminal record because they are having an affair.

 

Was contacted by a recruiter about a Medical Supply Liaison position (looks like it deals primarily with the wound care division). Can anyone give me any information about salary, job requirements, current management style (since I see that several key personnel have been let go), etc?

Also, any information about their interview process would also be greatly appreciated.

 

WOW! Really? Dan a thief? That is hilarious! The fact is that the previous CEO asked him to come work with him for more money.

 

If you are smart, you will keep looking.

 

I highly doubt Beat is having an affair with Fran. You are fantasizing.