I was trying to be an encourager. We do the same with our children when they have doubts.
I am one of the lucky ones that walked away (retired) with a decent lump sum and my own 401K after 30 years.
It was not wasted. Merck gave you the foundational knowledge so you can deal with a group of highly educated and at times, difficult clientele. Now hopefully your colleagues would help you along with how each customer is like...unless they are clueless and cannot help you. Part of the process is time. It can be frustrating but eventually, with street smart, you will learn a lot about your customers. Of course we gather more information from the nurses or the pharmacist down the street. Some docs will never click with you. We are in sales. Rejection is a daily thing. You don't want to be like my dumb partner who, after spending most of her time talking about the food, could not answer a simple question like what was the t-value of the study you were talking about and was it a double-blinded, cross-over or not?
It was not wasted. Merck gave you the foundational knowledge so you can deal with a group of highly educated and at times, difficult clientele. Now hopefully your colleagues would help you along with how each customer is like...unless they are clueless and cannot help you. Part of the process is time. It can be frustrating but eventually, with street smart, you will learn a lot about your customers. Of course we gather more information from the nurses or the pharmacist down the street. Some docs will never click with you. We are in sales. Rejection is a daily thing. You don't want to be like my dumb partner who, after spending most of her time talking about the food, could not answer a simple question like what was the t-value of the study you were talking about and was it a double-blinded, cross-over or not?
I'm glad for you. I really am. My timing wasn't so good. I don't expect much of anything from this toxic dump of a company.
As for your words of encouragement, they are hollow and without value. The reality is that Merck has been a terrible mistake for tens of thousands of good people. There is virtually nothing to salvage from this worthless position.
in 6 years of selling Cardiac meds, I never used the terms "action potential" or "t waves" or "sodium influx, potassium outflux in phase 3"...all this shit we were tested on,everyone stressed every night worrying about the test the next morning...3 months into my job I realized ALL that studying, testing, agonizing over learning all this was WASTED because NO Cardiologist wanted to discuss Sotolol's effect on Phase 1-2 of the cardiac cycle...really?? Why not? I became a top trainer for my company because I TAUGHT reps what they NEEDED to know to get TRX's- not technical medical jargon...I was # 1 in my product, so the DM made me District Sales Trainer...first thing I told EVERY rep was to forget everything they learned in ST..I was going to teach them everything they needed to know to be successful ( I was a rep 9 years by then..)..2 of them are still with Merck and still keep in touch..I was released on Black Thursday Jan 2010 during the SP takeover...I still get calls from those 2 reps asking advise...in fact, I still get calls from docs asking how I am and even questions about WHC products we sold.... 98% of sales training was never used, at least by me, in ANY office I called on...
I got pushed out on Black Thursday 2010...I knew it was coming. What I didn't realize was how fresh and agile my mind became after 7 years of being a food delivery boy and sample dropper. The brainwashed ones will tell you this job is still important and how they have back door privileges and whatever but they just don't want to admit that they aren't competent to make 1/2 what they are making outside of pharma.
Glad I got out when I did.
Well, well, well!!!! I think I have found LOR- THE LORD OF THE RINGS!!! OP- are you in fact, who I think you are- the INFAMOUS NUVA-RING KING...AKA- LORD OF THE RINGS? I believe you were THEE only rep in Organon history to be # 1 in all EIGHT parameters- Current month, current 3 mos., current 6 mos, and current 12 mos in BOTH Market Share AND Volume??? I chased you every month for the 4 straight years that you were # 1, you son-of-a-bitch,lol....I can remember when NR the first year was at 1.7 MS, and you were at something like 6.2...the 2nd highest in the NATION was only 2.7...I remember thinking at our first POA breakout in Orlando, that you couldn't posssibly be THAT good, or that much better than all of us..then in a Regional breakout meeting, you stood up and gave a lecture on NR and how we must believe it is THEE best birth- control option available and then proceeded to discuss advantages NR had over BCP's and why the Progestin in NR was superior to all the others...you were awesome, and after a 30 minute lecture, I understood why you were kicking ass...my DM after the breakout went up to you and thanked you for all the help & ideas...most important my MS & volume started growing as soon as I got back into the field...I had heard you got released along with 1800 others when Merck took over SP...are you OK? Have you worked Pharma again? You would hate Merck, they know NOTHING about Women's Health and contraception..please respond if this is you, OP...
Agreed. You would have hated Merck. All of my SP colleagues who were downsized with the enormous severance package of 2010 be very grateful you were not folded into the mediocrity that is Merck. Your brain not only atrophies but your paranoia of violating a compliance policy (which could be as trivial as sending an email) is on heightened alert. Your autonomic nervous system becomes out of whack as your cortisol levels increase from your new baseline state of mind, "fight or flight." I was folded into this disaster in 2010. My selling skills were slowly chipped away from the dumbing down from the Stepford Wives mentality at Merck. Senior leadership has no balls. Everybody is covering their own ass, afraid they will lose their job. Merck equals low rent sales reps, management, and most of all senior leadership. This place is where those who are too afraid to leave stay. I admit I stayed because it is the easiest job in the world. The bar is incredibly low.
It has been just over 3 years since Merck took over Schering-Plough, released ( polite way of saying FIRED) 2000 of us, including myself, and thus pretty much ended my pharmaceutical career. I got a very nice severance package ( about 11 months pay = $100,00+)..with that, I was able to pay off the rest of my mortgage of $13,000, pay off my credit cards ( $5000), and purchased the company Ford Escape for $12,700.
I was in my late 50’s and I knew finding a job in a business that hired young people ( 25-35) who were willing to start at much less money than myself, all worked against me. I thought I was in serious trouble both financially and emotionally..what was I going to do now? Could my wife & I make it on one salary if I couldn’t find work? How long would this severance pay last? I had been a Pharma rep for 21 years, starting with Berlex, then on to Organon ( which was purchased by Schering-Plough). Would I miss the Pharma life & culture? I am happy to say….not in the least!!!!
Pharma sales was great until COMPUTERS came into the business, around 1994-5 for most companies. After that, the bullshit started: business plans, spreadsheets, e-mails, endless & mindless lists of physician calls & market shares, RX volume.etc.,etc. If you joined this business after 1996-97, IMAGINE what it would be like to go to work, make your 8 calls a day, THEN GO HOME AND RELAX- SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY,FRIENDS,GO OUT,ETC…..No e-mails, no spreadsheets, no business plans to update, no VOICEMAIL to check, NO COMPLIANCE VIDEOS to watch- sounds AWFUL, doesn’t it?
After speaking with friends who either survived the Merck firing squad, or who went to get a job with another Pharma company, I am sooooo glad I don’t have to tolerate all the corporate bullshit and nightmare DM stories I still hear…DM’s checking to see what time you leave your house. DM’s checking what time you got your 1st signature, and last signature. Conference calls every week/ every other week ( what a waste of time that is- this business does NOT change on a week-to-week basis, so not much is so important as to require CONFERENCE CALLS!!). DM’S riding with you and constantly criticizing you, even when your numbers are great…stupid deadlines to meet on “Core Competensies”……
9 out of 10 Pharma reps believe that the Pharma industry is not doing well and maybe a dying business. 7 out of 10 are contemplating leaving the industry. The way I see it, there are 3 important factors why the Pharma industry is getting harder by the day:
1) Increasingly difficult to have meaningful interactions with doctors
About 30% of doctors no longer see reps. This rarely happened when I started..I could see 95% of my targets. As the workload increases and patient volume increases, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a rep to get a piece of the doctor’s time. Often it has become a quick signature, or just 15-20 seconds, hardly enough time to provide information to help shape or change their prescribing habits.
2) Lack of substantial value to offer doctors…hate say this guys & gals,but the fact remains that pharma reps don’t have much to offer in exchange for their time and attention. Back in the day when I started ( just after the Jurassic Period) , doctors used to rely on reps for information on the latest medications, happenings in the pharma industry, how other docs were using drugs,etc. Now, with information freely accessible through the internet, the role of the rep is becoming redundant. This makes building relationships with docs very difficult that would drive sales.
Now, with all the restrictions on off-label usage, or experimental breakthroughs for their medications, reps are now severely limited on what they can say. Now this stuff goes to the “medical liaisons”.
3) Finally..tighter controls & regulations on doctor-pharma interactions
It used to be that reps could provide various benefits and incentives such as speaking opportunities, sponsorships to conferences,etc. Now, tighter controls & regulations have made it difficult to even pick up a tab for lunch whilst with the doctor. Dinners are now almost unheard of, without a clinical presentation. I used to take out doctors ( and their wife) just to meet them, and it gave me an hour or two to get to know them and tell them about myself & my product ( s). Now you’d be fired, arrested, put on probation, who knows? Combined with point # two I mentioned above, I believe it has become increasingly difficult for doctors to see any value in entertaining reps through their doors.
I miss the docs themselves, though I still visit my favorites when I’m near by. I miss the $$, for sure. I miss the benefits, of course. And I miss our district the most. I still try to keep in touch with many, but they have another life now. No more seeing who has the answers to the tests. No more calling each other up to see what the DM is up to. No more copying each other’s business plan ideas. But I have no stress anymore. No more testing, role-playing, business plans, role-playing,conference calls, role-playing, spreadsheets, role-playing, POA’s, ride-alongs that were meaningless ( I was # 1 in my district for 66 months in a row in MS, and 27 months in a row in the region, and only rep in company history to be # 1 in both market share & volume NATIONALLY for 12 months straight- how much help does it sound like I needed??)…I am looking for something that has little stress- I’ve paid my dues in this business…gotta go to the pub & have a beer…don’t forget to communicate & check voice mail & e-mail later…
As much as a miss the money, I had to get out of that madhouse…I was seriously going to lose my mind, because the place is so dumb…(and so phony.) Hard to believe that a company built on such a bullshit shaky foundation can survive longterm, but they have tons of cash.
Well, well, well!!!! I think I have found LOR- THE LORD OF THE RINGS!!! OP- are you in fact, who I think you are- the INFAMOUS NUVA-RING KING...AKA- LORD OF THE RINGS? I believe you were THEE only rep in Organon history to be # 1 in all EIGHT parameters- Current month, current 3 mos., current 6 mos, and current 12 mos in BOTH Market Share AND Volume??? I chased you every month for the 4 straight years that you were # 1, you son-of-a-bitch,lol....I can remember when NR the first year was at 1.7 MS, and you were at something like 6.2...the 2nd highest in the NATION was only 2.7...I remember thinking at our first POA breakout in Orlando, that you couldn't posssibly be THAT good, or that much better than all of us..then in a Regional breakout meeting, you stood up and gave a lecture on NR and how we must believe it is THEE best birth- control option available and then proceeded to discuss advantages NR had over BCP's and why the Progestin in NR was superior to all the others...you were awesome, and after a 30 minute lecture, I understood why you were kicking ass...my DM after the breakout went up to you and thanked you for all the help & ideas...most important my MS & volume started growing as soon as I got back into the field...I had heard you got released along with 1800 others when Merck took over SP...are you OK? Have you worked Pharma again? You would hate Merck, they know NOTHING about Women's Health and contraception..please respond if this is you, OP...
I can't wait to put this sh!thole company behind me.
