Pharma is beyond twisted...I can't believe that they pay these guys about 175k a year to forward emails and voice mails...and the ride-a-longs benefit exactly who?? why the manager of course...they are a problem in search of a problem to justify their pathetic existence...People say pharma will change...Merck has to change...I have news for you...It will only get more ridiculous...Time to get out and start a new career outside of calling on doctors...it just sucks now.Former rep here. Out of the industry 2 years now. All I can say is my spouse is dumbfounded by the pharma industry. He's been in sales mgt in the industrial industry (for the most part) for the last 15 years, and cannot believe what an absolute joke pharma is. Currently a national sales mgr, he's managing managers, but before that managed reps in multiple states.
Ok, there are not a million reps in each state..maybe one - four, but even with so few, he almost never rode with his reps. If there was a problem customer, or the rep needed help, or was struggling with #s, then he would go see them for a day/ day and 1/2 at most, but then wouldn't see them again for months (again-unless he was needed somehow). For the mgrs reading this....no, he was most definitely not a "lazy" manager. In fact, several years back, he interviewed in the pharma industry (before it changed so much & before he knew how ridiculous it is), and was actually told (this is not an exaggeration!) that they thought he was basically too "above"/ too smart/ too driven....I can't remember the exact wording they used...but said that being in pharma would bore him, and they thought he would leave...so actually talked him out of even being there. How telling. I can't imagine him being in that role...babysitting like they do, filling out their little forms on the reps' "behaviors", doing ride-alongs with the same reps every couple of weeks or so, kissing their boss's ass like there's no tomorrow, spying on reps, blah blah blah. It is soooo different than other industries. Other industries work harder-- no doubt about that -- but they actually treat their reps with respect, and treat them like the adults that they are; let them manage their territories the way they want, and it's all about #s....NOT all the other petty BS pharma dishes out. It's pretty shocking when you step back and compare pharma to others. Pharma is truly twisted.
what other sales forces have managers "observing" their sales people on a monthly (or more) basis??
If upper management thinks we need that much babysitting, maybe they ought to either hire better people or have a better training department.
Duhhh if they hire adults.....with experience....they do not need to ride along. I worked in another industry for years. My manager spend one half day with me once or twice a year. Maybe one call and reviewing data. He had a mature, successful team because he hired adults who knew what they were doing and did not need babysitting. Any problems call him. One manager for two or three states. Total waste of time unless someone is a fledgling to the industry. Want to save money cut the fat!
Managers are desperate. They know that they do little to affect sales but pull down big salaries which they don't earn and they know that everyone knows it. Give 'em a break. It must be tough to realize that your career is a fraud and you have a russian roulette revolver pointed at your head every day.
Former rep here. Out of the industry 2 years now. All I can say is my spouse is dumbfounded by the pharma industry. He's been in sales mgt in the industrial industry (for the most part) for the last 15 years, and cannot believe what an absolute joke pharma is. Currently a national sales mgr, he's managing managers, but before that managed reps in multiple states.
Ok, there are not a million reps in each state..maybe one - four, but even with so few, he almost never rode with his reps. If there was a problem customer, or the rep needed help, or was struggling with #s, then he would go see them for a day/ day and 1/2 at most, but then wouldn't see them again for months (again-unless he was needed somehow). For the mgrs reading this....no, he was most definitely not a "lazy" manager. In fact, several years back, he interviewed in the pharma industry (before it changed so much & before he knew how ridiculous it is), and was actually told (this is not an exaggeration!) that they thought he was basically too "above"/ too smart/ too driven....I can't remember the exact wording they used...but said that being in pharma would bore him, and they thought he would leave...so actually talked him out of even being there. How telling. I can't imagine him being in that role...babysitting like they do, filling out their little forms on the reps' "behaviors", doing ride-alongs with the same reps every couple of weeks or so, kissing their boss's ass like there's no tomorrow, spying on reps, blah blah blah. It is soooo different than other industries. Other industries work harder-- no doubt about that -- but they actually treat their reps with respect, and treat them like the adults that they are; let them manage their territories the way they want, and it's all about #s....NOT all the other petty BS pharma dishes out. It's pretty shocking when you step back and compare pharma to others. Pharma is truly twisted.
Pharma is beyond twisted...I can't believe that they pay these guys about 175k a year to forward emails and voice mails...and the ride-a-longs benefit exactly who?? why the manager of course...they are a problem in search of a problem to justify their pathetic existence...People say pharma will change...Merck has to change...I have news for you...It will only get more ridiculous...Time to get out and start a new career outside of calling on doctors...it just sucks now.
spot on. most wortless non-revenue producing sales management job there is. don't hire,don't fire,so out of touch with the fiield, mgrs, have to take marketings word for "how to do it." admin. is all automated. ride along, generate a few e-mails and "were's lunch?" that's why you see them all panic at meetings: "oops someones looking." You ever seen a pharma mgr. make a successful transition to another sales (non-pharma) management position? Theres your answer on thier value. The position should be elminated outright.
The problem is there are too many managers. A manager should at the very least have 12 territories to cover. A manager should not have to ride with a rep more than once a quarter. Instead, we have managers with only 7 or 8 territories and in turn riding with reps 2 to 3 times a month. This is a waste of time for everyone (rep, manager, office). The money Merck would save by cutting managers back would be huge. This would be way more efficient and you would have less offices closing their doors to pharma. Merck please look at every other industry where supervisors are over double to triple digit employees.
First time to read this thread. Wow! This might be the most accurate quote I have seen on here. My view is from a person higher up than a manager. Not sure what will happen on the pharma side, but we are looking into trimming a few vaccine managers by fall.
