Interviewing

[Anonymous]

And of course I have read the horror stories about cutting commissions and the mediocre sales of Livalo but is there any good aspects about this company? Pipeline? Stableness? Good gas mileage in the cars? Great Company Meetings? JK!! In all seriousness I understand that this company is very small and doesn’t have good products right now but a base of 65 plus car and even the potential of 20k bonus is good in this market right now. Open to any thoughts or criticisms about my post so flame away but before making a change I would like current reps input. Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I've been with KOWA for some time now, and I have to say I love it. I've done big and small pharma for quite some time before and comparing; KOWA is great. We may not have the most sales yet, but in this economy it's still ok. The comapny is here to stay. The Japanese won't just shut it down or sell it. They want it to grow. So do I. If you want to make a difference, here you can. If you don't like it, leave and go somewhere better if you can find it. It's that simple.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks alot for the input. Very much appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Speaking from experience (former Kowa rep) you would be doing yourself a disservice in making a career move to this company. Kowa is resume poison. Small time with no future, completely incompetent management and home office personnel, lame me-too products that will never have significant market share, nothing in the pipeline, DM's 2-day "co-travel" bullshit, bonus adjustments (as much as 60% to the negative) after the bonus was earned, chasing doctors that don't want to hear about your products that only see you if you feed the entire office, dealing with Lilly partners who have no interest or motivation to co-promote a lame-ass statin, etc. I have never been happier now that I don't have to contend with their small-time politics. My DM even got me banned form THREE of my most influential offices, and then asks me why I am not getting any business out of them . . . HELLO??? Think long and hard about this decision. Sorry to sound so negative but I wish someone had been this blunt/honest with me before I signed on with this company. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

What is the salary range that they offer? And what type of company car as well? How much marketing money do they give for the year to "feed" the offices so that you can talk to a doc?

 

[Anonymous]

Speaking from experience (former Kowa rep) you would be doing yourself a disservice in making a career move to this company. Kowa is resume poison. Small time with no future, completely incompetent management and home office personnel, lame me-too products that will never have significant market share, nothing in the pipeline, DM's 2-day "co-travel" bullshit, bonus adjustments (as much as 60% to the negative) after the bonus was earned, chasing doctors that don't want to hear about your products that only see you if you feed the entire office, dealing with Lilly partners who have no interest or motivation to co-promote a lame-ass statin, etc. I have never been happier now that I don't have to contend with their small-time politics. My DM even got me banned form THREE of my most influential offices, and then asks me why I am not getting any business out of them . . . HELLO??? Think long and hard about this decision. Sorry to sound so negative but I wish someone had been this blunt/honest with me before I signed on with this company. Good luck.

Thanks for the insight and I didnt ask the question about the car and salary below I already know that information.

 

[Anonymous]

Find a rep - people go on cafe Pharma to be negative

Kowa is a good company. For the most part they allow you some autonomy and let you do your job. It seems the salary is in the 60-65k range and the bonus money is ok. Look, if you can sell the two products Kowa has, you can sell ANYTHING, hence not a resume killer. Livalo is a GREAT drug, is new and will be one of only two branded come 11/2011. Yes on company car. Stable job, two drugs to sell, not too micro (unless you don't sell). I am a rep here and I like my job. Not home office and not blowing smoke. We have had cuts in bonus, but I still have a job, and I appreciate it. Seriously - most folks go on this site to complain. Dont get too wrapped up in it.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree to the comment above. If you do your job you should have no problem.

 

[Anonymous]

With this company it is all about the manager. For that matter, that applies to this entire industry. If you can work with the local DM, then this is a pretty good place to be.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Find a rep - people go on cafe Pharma to be negative

Kowa is a good company. For the most part they allow you some autonomy and let you do your job. It seems the salary is in the 60-65k range and the bonus money is ok. Look, if you can sell the two products Kowa has, you can sell ANYTHING, hence not a resume killer. Livalo is a GREAT drug, is new and will be one of only two branded come 11/2011. Yes on company car. Stable job, two drugs to sell, not too micro (unless you don't sell). I am a rep here and I like my job. Not home office and not blowing smoke. We have had cuts in bonus, but I still have a job, and I appreciate it. Seriously - most folks go on this site to complain. Dont get too wrapped up in it.

What's "good" about this company? Every pharma company allows autonomy, you see your manager once or twice every month or two. Bonus money is not OK, it sucks. What's fair about not getting paid on products that you sell, shouldn't matter if it's the first sale or 100th sale. Two me too drugs, one that will soon compete with a generic Lipitor, all the bands, smoke machines, and motivational talks at a poa can't change the one constant, market dynamics!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Find a rep - people go on cafe Pharma to be negative

What's "good" about this company? Every pharma company allows autonomy, you see your manager once or twice every month or two. Bonus money is not OK, it sucks. What's fair about not getting paid on products that you sell, shouldn't matter if it's the first sale or 100th sale. Two me too drugs, one that will soon compete with a generic Lipitor, all the bands, smoke machines, and motivational talks at a poa can't change the one constant, market dynamics!

Amen to the above. If you have nowhere else to go or are unemployed, take the Kowa gig and suck that teet as long as you can until you can find something better. Otherwise, run away.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Find a rep - people go on cafe Pharma to be negative

Amen to the above. If you have nowhere else to go or are unemployed, take the Kowa gig and suck that teet as long as you can until you can find something better. Otherwise, run away.

where are all these great jobs you are talking about? big pharma? medical device?

you people are nuts.

stick with a company that treats you good and pays decent (that's kowa). these bigger companies and big shot medical device companies may pay more (not much more), but you are going to have to sell your soul and be a real corporate idiot.

money is important, but it is hardly everything.

 

[Anonymous]

Money's pretty da@# important when the light bill comes due.

 

[Anonymous]

R u kidding, Kowa pays almost as much as medical sales, this is the biggest joke and funniest thing that I have ever read on this site. To the original poster, the base salary is not$60-$65 it is a max of $60 no matter how much experience you have, the bonus potential is poultry, if you are REALLY good/lucky you might make $8-$10K for the year on bonus due to the way your bonus is based vs the last rolling 3 month avg instead of month over month. There are some good managers but for the most part management is inept. They just did away with the $25 cash pay option with Livalo, these patients will now pay an average of $65-$85 for Livalo and this simply won't happen with lowewr cost generics, I am willing to bet that one third to one half of Livalo's business is cash pay which a lot of this business will go away by the end of the year causing Brad Hardy to have another conference call and tell the sales team they suck.
Otherwise, company is not too bad.

 

[Anonymous]

If you have a good manager, Kowa life is wonderful. Could they pay more? Yes. However, there is much less headache and reports, unless you have one of those micro-managers. If that's the case, all bets are off.

The commission structure pretty much sucks. Brad Hardy can posture all he wants and put out MIH and THFDDIOFD or whatever the acronym of the month he chooses, I will never fully believe again.

 

[Anonymous]

Speaking from experience (former Kowa rep) you would be doing yourself a disservice in making a career move to this company. Kowa is resume poison. Small time with no future, completely incompetent management and home office personnel, lame me-too products that will never have significant market share, nothing in the pipeline, DM's 2-day "co-travel" bullshit, bonus adjustments (as much as 60% to the negative) after the bonus was earned, chasing doctors that don't want to hear about your products that only see you if you feed the entire office, dealing with Lilly partners who have no interest or motivation to co-promote a lame-ass statin, etc. I have never been happier now that I don't have to contend with their small-time politics. My DM even got me banned form THREE of my most influential offices, and then asks me why I am not getting any business out of them . . . HELLO??? Think long and hard about this decision. Sorry to sound so negative but I wish someone had been this blunt/honest with me before I signed on with this company. Good luck.

Spot on. the reps we just hired are in for a doozy. I wish I was not so naive when I joined on, this has been a huge step backwards in my career. I bet the new people on boarded last 30 days max, some fired, some will sober up and leave on there own.