What do you REALLY wear in the field?

Discussion in 'MSL Board' started by Anonymous, Sep 7, 2006 at 9:48 AM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I'd like your help. I have been wearing suits to KOL visits for the past few months because that is what the company said was the dress code. I have always felt like I am fighting the sales rep image dressed in a suit. Do you really wear suits or are sport coats and ties the norm?
    Tanx
    SP
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I am an MSL (gender: female) and I always wear a pants suit. Business attire/dress codes encourage you to dress one level above what your customer may be wearing. Therefore I always wear business attire-not business casual.
    My opinion only.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I personally don't feel that anyone cares how you dress, as long as it isn't tacky. Business casual seems fine, and who wants to wear a suit when it's freakin hot outside? What customers DO care about is how you present medical information, not whether it's in business casual or a suit.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Disagree........dress codes call for dress one level above how your customer is dressed. We need to be "experts" yes in our discussions but also in our apprearance.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    Maybe if you are living in 1965 you would dress one level above the customer, but that is no longer the case. And to which dress code are you referring? Those policies are specific to each employer and there is no universal dress code in any industry.

    Yes we do need to be experts in our discussions, but dressing should be appropriate to the situation. If I showed up at a managed care client wearing an expensive suit, they believe we are charging too much for the medication. If I dress down, the opposite might be inferred.

    This is not IBM circa 1962 with the white-shirt only crowd. Get over it.
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I usually wear "foam domes" (hard hats equipped with beer can holders & 2 flexible straws) and NO FAT CHICKS t-shirts. No one has complained so far.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Funny.......sounds like you were in Waterboy.

    Dress codes for business are well established. You dress how you want--but I am wearing suits.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I get even greater laughs when I show up wearing a snorkel and a leopard-skin speedo.
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I agree to some extent with a prior poster "dont wear what reps wear".

    I rarely would be in business causal in the field, but usually have a sport coat on, usually with a tie. sometimes, I will do no tie and a jacket, sometimes the full suit. It depends on the customer and situation.... if I present for an audience, its a suit, if I'm meeting with some academic folks, its no tie and a blazer.

    But you really dont want to be wearing a nice suit with fancy shoes and carrying a little sample case on wheels behind you.
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you show up in a hospital or clinic in a suit and tie everyone automatically assumes you are a rep, the doctor, the patients and the staff. I have had everyone from the parking lot attendant to the receptionist shaking me down for "freebies" back in my early days when I wore a suit. Now, I try to mimic what the physician wears, if he's in gaberdines and a polo shirt, I'll be in serious business casual. If he's in full "southern drag" (I cover the deep south and this means Dockers, white shirt starched stiff and bow tie, suspenders, etc) I might wear a sports coat and a nice knit shirt, but never a suit.
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    DEPENDS on your specialty. I am oncology and I ALWAYS wear a suit. Medical oncologists (She/he) average $400K -800K a year. (Even after Medicare Modernaization Act.) So YES I will be in a suit. You should ALWAYS 'up' dress your customer by one dress level. If you expect her/him to business casual--wear business attire. If business attire=business attire. I will AWLAYS be in a suit.

    You make over $100 (w/w/o benefits). Act like it!! All D's or no D's get over $100K with benefits. We should ALL dress like it.

    Signed--Proud MSL
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Just dress appropriately for your audience. If it means a suit, so be it.

    I work with a very small medical specialty, and they also do very well. As a group, though, they don't dress to impress. I am usually in a jacket and shirt/tie, but when I travel to other parts of my territory that would be inappropriate. Just know your customers and act accordingly.

    I don't need anyone else thinking I'm a rep, damnit! I don't carry pens, pads or other freebies.
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Speedos and jack boots: one step up from the KOLs!
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    "suit and tie" or "sports jacket and tie"
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    i suggest wearing your grandma 's clother and hat... really throws the KOLs off and gives you the clear upper hand... you should see the LOOKS on their faces... i just know I have them right wear i want them!
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Thong sometimes G....I bend over alot......for a 350LB dude
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    john varvatos suits
    no ties, never a tie
    gucci sunglasses and a cigarette while i present rituxan data
    it's tight dawg
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I think of it this way.

    The main reason MSL positions usually require a Doctorate is not because that gives up permission to talk off label, or that the FDA says so. It's because KOLs will (more likely) take us seriously. At least until we say something stupid.

    If a physician wears a suit to work (office, hospital, wherever), the first thing he does when he gets there is take of the jacket and put on a lab coat, but he still has on a tie. So, I wear a dress shirt and tie but no jacket.

    The added benefit is that when I'm walking through a hospital I look like a physician or an administrator and not a sales rep.

    Oh, and the "dress one level above your customer" dogma has always been the format for SALES. I AM NOT S SALES REP!
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I do the Barack Obama thing and wear a jacket with no tie.

    I only wear suits if I am formally presenting to a group of people, or some big deal managed care meeting.
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I throw in my opinion on this, I have been doing this job for six years and I have found the best combination for me is a sportscoat and no tie. I believe I have earned the respect of my KOLs and they don't seem to be the least bit put off by not wearing a tie. Very few of them wear a tie anymore. In the summer when it is blazing hot, I will wear nice dress slacks and golf shirt.
    But I do not wear a suit and tie, ever