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Local branch

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Anonymous

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I am interviewing for a position with Patterson and have a few questions. First, the hiring manager mentioned a local branch. As a sales rep do you have to check in at local branch or do you work out of your house? Also, what is the time off like, vacation, sick...? Are the medical benefits good? I'm in pharma now and just curious if dental is similar.
 












There is a "local" branch that the branch manager works out of but the reps aren't required to work out of there, especially if you are not on the east coast where the branches are closer geographically. You may live 100's of miles from your branch.

But you should already know your local branch because you have to take your 2nd assessment test there. The benefits are decent but probably not better than pharma. Medical will definitely cost more and vacation is ok. But just remember, after 2 years, you go to commission only so if you choose to take time off, you technically aren't selling anything. It is much different than pharma where you can disappear from your territory for 2 weeks and your script levels don't drop.

This is a real sales job that requires closes for actual orders on a daily basis. If they give you a "scratch" territory(basically all the trash offices the tenured reps don't want to bother with), you are going to be working your ass off to try and grow that territory enough to survive in 2 years.

Patterson is a turn and burn company. Very tough to get in at this stage and succeed unless you are lucky enough to come in when a tenured rep retires and they give you a piece of that territory. The first question you should ask is where is this territory being carved from.
 




Anonymous said:
There is a "local" branch that the branch manager works out of but the reps aren't required to work out of there, especially if you are not on the east coast where the branches are closer geographically. You may live 100's of miles from your branch.

But you should already know your local branch because you have to take your 2nd assessment test there. The benefits are decent but probably not better than pharma. Medical will definitely cost more and vacation is ok. But just remember, after 2 years, you go to commission only so if you choose to take time off, you technically aren't selling anything. It is much different than pharma where you can disappear from your territory for 2 weeks and your script levels don't drop.

This is a real sales job that requires closes for actual orders on a daily basis. If they give you a "scratch" territory(basically all the trash offices the tenured reps don't want to bother with), you are going to be working your ass off to try and grow that territory enough to survive in 2 years.

Patterson is a turn and burn company. Very tough to get in at this stage and succeed unless you are lucky enough to come in when a tenured rep retires and they give you a piece of that territory. The first question you should ask is where is this territory being carved from.
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This guy is right on. Only thing I would add. Once you are hired anything could happen to change that scratch territory-a senior rep leaves-either for another branch or for another company. Then his territory is either given as a whole or in part to someone the branch manager likes, or feels is competent enough not to loose that existing business.
Patterson is a good company-doesn't even compare to pharma. Patterson is tough, you have to be smart, competitive and on your game. No pods, no partners, no part time contract reps in your group, no formulary or insurance to deal with. You sell or you die.
 




Anonymous said:
This guy is right on. Only thing I would add. Once you are hired anything could happen to change that scratch territory-a senior rep leaves-either for another branch or for another company. Then his territory is either given as a whole or in part to someone the branch manager likes, or feels is competent enough not to loose that existing business.
Patterson is a good company-doesn't even compare to pharma. Patterson is tough, you have to be smart, competitive and on your game. No pods, no partners, no part time contract reps in your group, no formulary or insurance to deal with. You sell or you die.
Click to expand...

Worked at Patterson for a number of years. Stick with Pharma for stability.
 




Anonymous said:
Worked at Patterson for a number of years. Stick with Pharma for stability.
Click to expand...

DITTO! You are probably making a nice base between 60-80k and get bonuses of some capacity every quarter, with good benefits, and most likely a comp car.

This would be a step back for you in terms of income and sales career. This is a " turn and burn", put in your time to get experience job. You realistic income will be 60-80k total. and that is before expenses.

The grass isnt greener over here, its burnt! I would trade you jobs in a second no matter what the current situation is, other than a possible layoff.
 




This job has a lot of pros versus pharma but I would not even consider coming on board unless they offer you a territory with at least $500,000 in actual sales.

You will have 3 years to get this to at least 1.2 M. If you do reach this goal you will not take a major drop in your income when you go onto the commission only plan.

Let’s say you only end up at $900,000 / year in sales in 3 years, you yearly pay will be in the ballpark of $60,000 minus expenses. Your expenses could range from $10,000 to $20,000 per year depending on your territory.

Do you want to work your ass off for 3 years to run the risk of only making $45,000 / year – working 50-60 hrs/ week?

My description is very accurate and it represents the boat I am in now. I really like Patterson and this market, but it was probably a mistake for me to come on board.

It is a fun job though if you like selling.

Good Luck!
 




My Two Cents-

Another thing to consider is your account breakdown and where they are located. Would you be given a bunch of zero-dollar accounts or would you get at least 50% that are buying a significant amount (say over $15,000 per year) as a base.

The other item to understand is how spread out your accounts will be. Are you physically going to be able to visit all (or most) of these accounts every two weeks or are they going to be so spread out that you will end up only being able to call on half.

I would absolutely not take this position if the accounts are spread out all over the place. It will set you up for failure.
 




Anonymous said:
This job has a lot of pros versus pharma but I would not even consider coming on board unless they offer you a territory with at least $500,000 in actual sales.

You will have 3 years to get this to at least 1.2 M. If you do reach this goal you will not take a major drop in your income when you go onto the commission only plan.

Let’s say you only end up at $900,000 / year in sales in 3 years, you yearly pay will be in the ballpark of $60,000 minus expenses. Your expenses could range from $10,000 to $20,000 per year depending on your territory.

Do you want to work your ass off for 3 years to run the risk of only making $45,000 / year – working 50-60 hrs/ week?

My description is very accurate and it represents the boat I am in now. I really like Patterson and this market, but it was probably a mistake for me to come on board.

It is a fun job though if you like selling.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

This post is spot on. Why would ANYONE ever work for this company long term. At the end of the day we go to work to make the most we can to provide. This job does it on a very small scale. Take the job if you absolutely need it, otherwise leave these positions open for college grads and car salesman
 








Expenses of 10-20k??

Even when you come off base you expense mileage at .55 per mile with the company. ISo it's not like you're having to pay gas etc.

I'm just starting and realize the mess I'm in. Complete scratch territory with zero sales.

Averaging 20 sales days per month, that's 720 sales days in 3 years. Take away vacation time etc, I need to sell almost 2,000 every day I work the first year. Then maintain that and do another 2k on top of that the next year. Same for year 3. I'm so far behind the ball already.
 








The business model sucks. It is only beneficial for Patterass. It is designed to turn and burn. The newer the rep the harder they work until they figure it out. Then they quit and they get a new one. New reps prospect competitive business and tenured reps don't. It's a simple game and patrerson wil never change it. Even when you do well you make pennies compared to a medical sales job.
 




This is the part I don't understand about the "lifers". When you have out in a few years in dental and posted some strong numbers, why don't you move to medical and make some money? Do people really believe they can make more at Patterson than they could in medical, or even pharma? Serious question. What keeps those who have been here so long to stay?
 












Who wants to be a patterson dental Store Manager - Babysitter ?

Apply Now.

Here's How:

tp://jobs.pattersoncompanies.com/us/united-states/management/jobid3924864-branch-manager-san-francisco?apstr=%2526sid%253D39


What happened to the last babysitter ?
 




I disagree about the 'lifers' comments.

I think the reasons so many in the 20yr range have stayed this long are:

1. Nasdaq and PDCO being a publicly held company. A lot of these reps came in when this was first introduced; they have hundreds of thousands of dollars and are prob hoping the nest egg continues to grow. I don't believe that bullshit in training that there are 'tons' of multi millionaires floating around.

2. Lack of education; I am stunned at how many of these reps do not have a Bachelors degree and this has essentially handcuffed them to their positions.

3. Stability. Medical is the exact opposite and the turnover/layoff and Patterson is wrapped up in the idea that strong relationships keep the customer with the rep. There is no doubt this is a strong component but If this were true, reps wouldn't be hired to take over scratch territories.
 




"I disagree about the 'lifers' comments. "

Really, seriously, you are over-analyzing. It's really as said before:

"Extremely limited ability. " plua a laziness component. Deadly combination.

Period. Paragraph.

End of story. You're Welcome.
 




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