anyone have any info on surgical principals?

[anonymous]

I'm considering a position with Surgical Principals. Everything the hiring manager had to say seemed fairly promising, with a great opportunity to increase your salary after three months. There is no way the stuff on this board can all be true... how can a medical company still be in business with that many product failures and horrible management? Any honest advice would help.. Thanks!

 

[anonymous]

I'm considering a position with Surgical Principals. Everything the hiring manager had to say seemed fairly promising, with a great opportunity to increase your salary after three months. There is no way the stuff on this board can all be true... how can a medical company still be in business with that many product failures and horrible management? Any honest advice would help.. Thanks!

Previous Employee Here, who left on his own terms:

99% of what has been posted here is correct. Products are extremely problematic (some dangerous), sold on cost, and management is the worst. If you have no medical experience, and no one else will even offer you an interview, then consider this company. Otherwise, run as fast as you can. You will not have a pleasant experience at SPI. Everything is sold on price, however, their prices aren't the lowest. Management will continue to say the price is the best, but you will continue to lose on price. The famous excuse management uses every time, "I've never seen that anywhere else, that can't be right..."

Also, don't expect to make a lot. After you pay for all your own office supplies, your own training material(yes you get to print out your own training manual and buy your own binder to put it in, and its not reimbursed), gas, car, insurance, hotels, doctor lunches, supplies for the OR(That's the best, you pay for the products used in trials), it doesn't leave much left over. If you kill it, expect somewhere around 70-80K. If you are average, which is normal, expect around 50K.

My best advice, email past reps thru LinkedIn

Don't believe the hiring managers. They have one mission, turn and burn

 

[anonymous]

I'm considering a position with Surgical Principals. Everything the hiring manager had to say seemed fairly promising, with a great opportunity to increase your salary after three months. There is no way the stuff on this board can all be true... how can a medical company still be in business with that many product failures and horrible management? Any honest advice would help.. Thanks!

Always a red flag when I hiring manager is trying to sell you on a position. I know nothing about this company, I just came across this posting.

I've never continued to pursue a position in the interview process when a hiring manager is working harder than I am in the interview to impress. AND those companies always seem to be the ones that go belly-up, or continue to get poor employee reviews.

Do your research, best of luck.

 

[anonymous]

This company used to be worth something, but the last several years they have lost their good lines of products. And now they only have ME TOO products. And its a shit show. Management is threaten first, support never. Midwest manager is a joke, and should be fired. All the old senior management jumped shipped a few years ago, and they promoted the non-selling ass-kissers who never sold anything to managers.

All of SPI products are made so cheap they fail 10-20% of the time. Would you want these used on you or your family members? How do you sell something knowing its going to fail? The manipulator needs to be recalled before they kill someone.

Their price points are the same if not higher than the other distributors that carry the same product(s) out there. Don't let them fool you, SPI is a distributer. Not a manufacturer. This is not the experience you want if you want to get REAL med device sale experience. Because you will not receive any actual training like the big companies offer. You will quickly learn this when you get hired at a real med device company and see how far behind you really are from a training and knowledge basis after leaving SPI.

I can't wait to hear when this company goes under, I will sleep better knowing patient's lives will no longer be affected by SPI products.

 

[anonymous]

This company used to be worth something, but the last several years they have lost their good lines of products. And now they only have ME TOO products. And its a shit show. Management is threaten first, support never. Midwest manager is a joke, and should be fired. All the old senior management jumped shipped a few years ago, and they promoted the non-selling ass-kissers who never sold anything to managers.

All of SPI products are made so cheap they fail 10-20% of the time. Would you want these used on you or your family members? How do you sell something knowing its going to fail? The manipulator needs to be recalled before they kill someone.

Their price points are the same if not higher than the other distributors that carry the same product(s) out there. Don't let them fool you, SPI is a distributer. Not a manufacturer. This is not the experience you want if you want to get REAL med device sale experience. Because you will not receive any actual training like the big companies offer. You will quickly learn this when you get hired at a real med device company and see how far behind you really are from a training and knowledge basis after leaving SPI.

I can't wait to hear when this company goes under, I will sleep better knowing patient's lives will no longer be affected by SPI products.

Knockoffs? That's an understatement. I love the fact their main brand they sell is the OR Company, and they end each product with OR...Which means...or you can choose any of the other obvious choices:

SuturePassOR... or...Any of the other knock offs like PMI who sells for 30-50% the cost
AntiFogOR...or...Any of the other 100 companies that sell this in every lap kit known to man
ScopeCleanOR...or Not choose to spend $10-$20 on a piece of clothe that costs $.25 cents
ScopeHelpOR...or Use a product that actually heats the scope to PROPER TEMPERATURE
HolstOR... or just use the holsters that came with your energy device
ManipulatOR... or just use a product that costs the same, that surgeons love, that have more features
Liquid Scope WarmOR... or use the 100 other exact other products out there that cost the same if not less

 

[anonymous]

Wow, in all my years as a device sales person I have NEVER seen such bad postings about a company or their products. I interviewed for the hell of it, and quite frankly, was worried more about accepting the position than not. Unbelievable. Seems like this company preys on new, less experienced sales people. Don't know why they don't clean their act up and get it together. Would appear as a blemish on anyone's resume. Who would pay their own gas, wear and tear on their vehicle and expenses? You might as well start your own distributorship.

 

[anonymous]

For those that are anxious to get into medical sales a bit of advice. The products you are selling are your reputation in the market. If you represent a shit product, you will be associated with it and it's hard to overcome the stigma. It takes a long time to build trust and business. Choose your company wisely.

 

[anonymous]

Wow, in all my years as a device sales person I have NEVER seen such bad postings about a company or their products. I interviewed for the hell of it, and quite frankly, was worried more about accepting the position than not. Unbelievable. Seems like this company preys on new, less experienced sales people. Don't know why they don't clean their act up and get it together. Would appear as a blemish on anyone's resume. Who would pay their own gas, wear and tear on their vehicle and expenses? You might as well start your own distributorship.

Ding Ding Ding!

We have a winner!

Start your own business. It's the same risk, and more reward! Don't let the ass bags from SPI ruin your life.

 

[anonymous]

The best thing SPI has done is bring the cost down for hospitals where they do work. However, we all know they don't help bring down Healthcare cost. That's not there fault, that's on the hospitals.

But the worst part of what they do is offer a product low enough in cost where a hospital chooses to use them, and they do. That's when the hospital makes the uninformed decision to deliver subpar medical care. They are sold magic beans from the revolving door of SPI reps on a "new" product. But that product is nothing more than a cheap knockoff that will cost the hospital in the long run.

I value my reputation, TW doesn't, his management doesn't, do you?

 

[anonymous]

I just interviewed with this company awhile back. I backed out on the interview process on my own. Based on what I heard from previous employees via LinkedIn. Nothing I heard was positive. I heard the manager from the Midwest was completely incompetent.

I also heard, don't expect to learn anything, and expect to work behind the 8-ball. One person compared this company to selling asbestos...

That's scary!

 

[anonymous]

Owner: A monkey fucking a football

Management: The smartest kids with down syndrome

Products: Something you would find in the rubber turd aisle in Walmart

Why would you ever consider this company??? If you want to make 40K and be on probation and make nothing on your last 2 months of paychecks, sign on up! These guys are criminal and their products should be recalled with the FDA!!!

 

[anonymous]

RUN RUN RUN FROM THIS COMPANY!

 

[anonymous]

I tried to contact past employees through linkedin. I reached out to 8 past employees. Only 1 responded. That is red flag #1.

Red flag #2, the 1 past employee that did respond told me nothing but negative things. And everything he said was exactly what was outlined here.

From what I heard, I can't believe this company still exists. There is a reason they are not a public company, Wallstreet would rip them apart.

I have no desire to work for a distributer and pay my own way while pretending I am an actual medical device rep. I have worked too hard to be this disrespected. When I was doing my research on this company, this site kept popping up. How can I take pride in what I do, when everyone I know can plainly see how bad of a company I may work for?

I will pass!

 

[anonymous]

5 years ago I left SPI, best move I ever made. I can't believe TW hasn't been arrested.

 

[anonymous]

Considering one of the jobs on Medreps for Surgical Principals Inc.? Everything that has been said in the previous posts are true.

Leadership: There is none. TW is absolutely worthless and delusional. He is the most condescending person I have ever met, and truly has some bad things coming to him if there is Karma in this world. People have been talking about his criminal behavior, I have seen it first hand. Its called territories 00 and 07. They have more capital sales in them then all of the other territories combined. Why? Because he uses these to steal from his reps. I had several occasions where my customers received quotes from me, and were shipped product, only for them not to show up on my sales report.

Training: One week in Tacoma where you will be threatened and belittled all while learning the "Sales Process". Which is basically taken directly out of "How to sell vacuum cleaners in the 1980's". But TW thinks he is the only one doing this sales process. This is one thing that is true, he is the only one still using it... And it doesn't work. If it did, this company would actually have growth, not recession.

Tenure: The average reps stick around about 4-6 months. Most quit, the rest are fired or forced out after one of their famous probation letters that states they no longer have to pay you. So again, you work in fear and TW plays God with your livelihood.

Management: A JOKE. Its not the managers fault though. None of them have any previous management experience, and you think TW is going to pay to get them the proper training they need? Hell no! This is where TW and his cheap ass ways will consistently keep him chasing success. TW just teaches his managers to work with fear and hire and fire. But as one of the Glass Door reviews says about this company, the biggest benefit of this shit hole company is that you can probably work somewhere else at the same time and pocket two checks(I know 2 managers doing this right now).

Customer Service: None existent. But that is a good thing, because you do not want these people talking with any of your customers. They must all be rejects from Walmart, because they have no clue how to treat people with respect. Skyhigh turnover in Customer Service as well, but why wouldn't there be? You have to work around TW all day while making $8.00 an hour...

Benefits: LOW, flat reimbursement each month. No reimbursement for gas, hotels, lunches for docs, cell phone, ect. You will quickly learn just how cheap TW is from day one, and it only gets worse. But this is another lie they will cover up in the interview process.

Pay: What they post on medreps is a complete lie. $110-130K, no way. I can tell you first hand the top reps are making more like 90K, the other 90% are making somewhere between 30K-60K. That's right, 30K! I know several people that received less than 3k for there last several months of work, and these are good sales people. One guy made less than $500 one month, and that was in no way his fault. The 4K monthly starting salary is actually a draw(again, they won't disclose this in the interview process). The 4K a month "salary" they say you start with quickly starts to get the TW tax once you need supplies and samples for the OR. That's right, you get to pay for the products used in cases! What type of REAL medical device company does this? It would make sense if you were a 1099 and making 200K, but not while making less than 50K and w2. Comp plan is a joke, not 1 person is at plan. Believe me when I say this, not 1 person is at plan, not even the top 2-3 reps will be close to hitting plan this year!

Contracts: No GPO contracts, just another sign of the lack of support and cheapness.

Products: Most are cheap knockoffs or just not needed. Almost all have issues. I literally would sit in the OR during a trial and pray that the products wouldn't fail. Below are some of the products and why they don't sell or have sky high attrition within accounts

Uterine Manipulator: Joke of a product, needs to be recalled. If TW actually reported all of the issues this product had, the FDA would recall it immediately, and probably put him in jail. Instead, he covers up all of the issues, or just ignores them and makes his wallet the number one priority instead of patient safety. The product lacks features the customers clearly want, and is 100% a cost sell, but the problem is the cost savings are minimal. Most accounts that do actually convert will quickly go back to their previous product before you will get paid a commission on them.

Endo Bags: Decent product, however nobody actually wants it. The cost savings are minimal, no GPO contracts support it, and surgeons won't back it.

Lap Scissors: Shit product. Constant issues, handles will cost you a paycheck every month if you sell them. Staff hates them, high turnover product.

Suture Grasper(Carter Thomason Device): ME TOO product all the way. No real strategy on how to sell this produt, its a race to the bottom, and SPI already lost the race. On top of that, TW's "cost" for this product, limits reps to capture that bottom price to actually compete. And when all you have is price to compete on, and you can't win with price, of course you won't get that sale.

LapPakOR and CTS: Answer to questions nobody asked. Plus both have several product failures and won't work in 90% of cases.

Lap electrodes: Cheap knockoffs, sold on price, but still can't win on price. Worst in the industry.

Electric Scope Warmer: Shit product. Consistantly over heats and under heats the scope. Scopes are always fogging, but of course management says its a great product and this never happens anywhere else, so keep selling it.

HolstOR: Answer to question nobody asked, plus most of the newer energy devices either do not require, or come with their own (Another example of how TW is living in the dark).


Mediflex Retractor Systems: So rarely used because so few docs are doing open surgery. And if they are, their old systems are still working just fine and don't need your $50 replacement parts.

Sunoptics and Carewise: Decent products, however both are behind the technology curve and will be obsolete in the next few years.


To sum up, if you desperately want to get into medical sales and can not get a job anywhere else, these guys will take you. Just know going in you will not be respected, not paid what is promised or deserved, you will not be well trained, and you may burn bridges with OR staff after your product failures cause some major issues.

This is how things have been with SPI for over 20 years, nothing will ever change. But if you want to take the word of the hiring manager, go for it. You will be back here to warn the next guy...

I found this post to be the most detailed outline of any company I have ever heard. I interviewed with SPI recently and asked several questions not directly around this post, but I was able to figure out at least 80% of what was written was accurate. Most of the "positive spins from the hiring manager around the negative remarks" were all BS, in my opinion.

My guess is, it's possible to be 100% accurate. I decided to not move forward after talking with 1 rep thru linkedin. They confirmed all my concerns.

My advice, do not necessarily believe what is on here, but DEFINATLEY do not believe what the hiring manager is saying. Ask the previous reps. Nothing was positive and it sounds like this TW guy is a complete narcissist. And the hiring manager I spoke with sounded like someone who would be fired from Burger King.

 

[anonymous]

Looks like Tim is still up to his old ways. Why won't he just treat employees with respect and pay them what is fair?

I was called recently by a recruiter. He asked about my past experience with SPI. He knew all about TW and how jacked up this company is. We had a good laugh and talked about how lucky everyone is to leave this place.

 

[Mike A.]

Sadly almost everything said about this company and "leadership" group is very spot on. I have not spoken badly about one company on these boards and this company is by far the top 3 worst in the business. Crazy how they are still IN business.

 

[anonymous]

Sadly almost everything said about this company and "leadership" group is very spot on. I have not spoken badly about one company on these boards and this company is by far the top 3 worst in the business. Crazy how they are still IN business.

This company had 1 product that sold itself up until about 2-3 years ago. Then the FDA figured out the LINA was turning possible cancer patients, into having life-threatening cancer and death. During this period, TW was still in Sell Sell Sell mode. He only thinks of his wallet. What happened to medical sales? It used to be about the patient, with TW, the patient comes last! Looking at the products they have now, I would never sign up. Good Luck!

 

[anonymous]

Do the guys in Chicago all still have second jobs?

 

[anonymous]

Do the guys in Chicago all still have second jobs?

What???

That's awesome! Only at SPI!

If you are referring to the mangers (if you can call them that), those 2 are too lazy to have 1 job, let alone 2. But, maybe that is why I never saw them work or produce any sales for SPI, it's because they were double-dipping. Interesting, makes you wonder.