I don't really understand why there's this toxic narcissism and negativity coming from people who are responding to those trying to discuss this issue anonymously with their colleagues. This is obviously affecting some folks negatively, so minimizing it to "you just can't get your doctors to write enough prescriptions" is just going to result in arguments. Besides, everyone in here is working hard. To assume otherwise is just a rude and unprovable allegation, so why even go there, especially under the cloak of anonymity?
As somebody who has worked in pharma, device, and other medical sales in the OR, IR and Cath Lab, it is pretty clear to me that pharmaceutical sales is much different than the type of sales that these other medical sales reps do. Sure, everyone still is working hard and coming up with their sales strategies. But if you're being honest with yourself, you'd know that the job a pharma rep does on a daily basis is not truly sales.
I'm not going to be like the "You're Never Even Getting a PO" guy, but pharma sales is in effect "In-Person Marketing", not sales. You're marketing the features and benefits of the drug to a doctor just like a commercial they see on TV does. You're not selling anything to him that requires a follow up or a quote. You have no impact at all on the actual buying process, and can't change the nature of what the patient pays for their medication. Those things are decided independently from you and there is no way for you to strategize around making the medication more or less affordable for the benefit of your territory's business. The doctor is going to make a decision about whether or not to change a patient's diabetes treatment based on his own requirements; that the drug is safe, effective, easy to use,
and affordable. Your personal charm may seem like the X factor, but it isn't. Your preparedness may seem like the X factor, but in reality it isn't going to make a doctor who doesn't want to write Tresiba, Victoza, etc. prescribe it to their patients. You may think that the last call you had with Dr. Smith was great and that you definitely convinced him of why he should be prescribing Tresiba to his next elderly insulin patient who has a higher risk for severe hypoglycemia, but in reality, he forgot most of what you told him within a couple hours of you leaving. So unless "Perfect Tresiba Patient A" walks into his office for their appointment 10 minutes after you speak with him about Tresiba, the doctor isn't going to all of a sudden decide that he's going to start that patient on Tresiba just because of what you talked with him about. It's just not the reason. At best, your constant Tresiba discussions and meals motivate the doctor to google Tresiba and learn more about it on their own. That's pretty much it though when it comes to getting the doctor to prescribe a new drug. They'd eventually have some clinical use of that drug with their patients regardless of whether you continue to bug them or not. That's the reality.
So when I come on here and I see people bragging about how many prescriptions they get, and how people who "don't sell enough" are just complaining, I just can't help but think how sadly naive their pride is. The reality is, unless you're doing something illegal that you shouldn't be doing to consistently control how much and how often your doctors write your drug, you're really not having a significant impact. So in effect, if you're following the law, you're not having a significant impact unless you just get plain lucky. If you can describe a sales strategy you use that clearly is your X Factor, please share because I highly doubt your results are being greatly impacted by it in reality.
It is crystal clear that these people with the attitude of "Well you just suck and can't get as many scripts per week as me...." are just acting immature and ignoring the reality of their daily impact. I don't at all wish anything bad against anyone, and I really do hope you're successful in whatever you're doing now or you end up doing in the future. But to those who are rudely self-praising themselves for "their performance" and chastising others, give it a rest. You're only kidding yourselves with your pride and ignorance.