Osteomed Corp.

I was one of the first hires when OM moved from California to D/FW. They outsourced all the manufacturing & wanted to start machining in-house. I had a fantastic job while Rick & Jim owned the company. Sales were good, morale was as good as I've seen, and we were actually growing. When Rick died & Jim quit, they brought Walt in. When he hired Spooner, I was extremely disgusted. When they brought in Phil Boyd, it was the last straw. I saw the direction of the company and didn't like it. Too bad, it could have been a fine company to work for. As I still have friends at OM, I wish them luck, but they'll need a lot of it.

Any truth to the rumor about Acumed taking over?
 






For the people looking for accurate information about life at OsteoMed, it may be hard for you to get it here. There seem to be a lot of emotional posts from current and ex-employees that for one reason or another hate it. I will do my best to leave the opinions out of it and go with the facts.

I worked for Osteomed for over 3 years in the N.E. I came from B2B, so I was pretty excited for the opportunity. I had heard many rumors on the company, much like the ones posted on this site. However; knowing that my options were slim, I decided to take the job anyway.

It was a difficult job. The competition was fierce and abundant which really kept me on my toes for my time there. My territory was in shambles, so in addition to fighting off the competition, I had to fight off the negative view of the company. Regardless, I left making around $110,000. I was willing to work hard and it payed off for the most part. I knew that the majority of companies out there were paying more, but hey, I was getting my foot in the door and putting in my time.

Here are the facts:

(1) The products are really out-dated. They try to play catch-up but they have fallen so far behind that by the time they release something, it's already old news. This is by far one of their biggest weaknesses.

(2) At least on the CMF side (and becoming more prevalent on the podiatric side) cranial closure products are a commodity item. Hospitals are in some of the toughest economic times in history and when "a plate's a plate and a screw's a screw" they will inevitably choose the cheaper product. They are taking losses in the millions and if anyone thinks that a nanometer thinner plate will make them pay more, they are sadly mistaken. As these products move more to a commodity based market, you will see revenues from companies unwilling to discount fall hard. This is not a dying market, but a very mature market. As long as there are faces and brains, there will be a need for plating.

(3) Money is made in large, level 1 teaching hospitals. These hospitals are sought after in this industry and without the ability to work directly with surgeons in a timely fashion to put out innovative products, the business will go to the company who has this ability. OsteoMed has never been known to work well with surgeons. When they do, it takes them so long to produce that they move to a company who can make it happen in a reasonable time frame. Fact is, it is much harder for OsteoMed to gain business in level 1 trauma centers than its deep-pocketed competition.

(4) It takes the "right" person for the job. You must be patient, friendly, extremely hard working to win the surgeons respect enough for them to try your product. They have long lasting relationships that need to be broken. This will not happen overnight. The old adage "it's a marathon not a sprint" has never been more applicable. This is a long haul job, not one where you can expect to gain market share overnight. It will take you years of hard work.

(5) Expenses are much in the favor of the company, not the rep. I lost thousands of dollars putting on lunches, dinners and mileage that OsteoMed would not reimburse. This was a necessary part of the job in this circumstance. For every $500 I’d spend, I'd make a thousand back. It is wrong for a company to expect their reps to invest their hard earned money for the greater good of the company, but sadly, it is a reality here. You will make NO money from your expense reimbursement. You will not have a company car and the new Advamed contract will make reimbursement or simple lunches and dinners impossible to cash in on.

(6) Upper management is concerned with the bottom line. It's not that they hate sales people, but they are more concerned with profits than keeping their sales people happy. Your ass will not be kissed here. No matter how well you are doing, you will be looked at as an expense. They will treat you with respect, but don't expect for them to go above and beyond. Be careful though, these posters are correct. Don't do too well or your territory may be split.

(7) Your job is fairly secure here. If you are working, you have job security. I rarely saw people get fired and in today's economy, that's a great thing.

(8) They are growing far less than in the past. If this keeps up, I think it would be safe to assume they might be interested in selling or merging in 5 years or less.

With this said, I hope this gives you an accurate depiction of life at OsteoMed. I didn't really hate my time there as much as other posters, but can understand their frustrations. What I can say with all certainty is that it's a great place to build your resume. Work with the Surgeons, make your relationships, learn the business and your way around an O.R. When you get to frustrated to continue, take those priceless relationships and sell yourself to the next company. You'll make more money and be treated a little better. I know I did!

Good luck to you!

P.S. Upper management is comprised of born again Christians. If you are gay, an atheist or anything else that makes you remotely different… Keep it to yourself.
 






Perhaps you should read the forum posting rules because you just identified yourself and violated them as well.

WHere are the forum posting rules? I can't find them in the FAQ. I'm new to these boards.

On another note, poor Osteomed. They are getting slammed harder than anyone else on these boards. While the posts are wildly entertaining, I don't think they're that bad. They're doing OK and have decent visibility from what I've seen. I agree their CMF needs some work but they're doing fine in F&A. I think extremities is where to be in Ortho these days, one of the few segments that hasn't become a zero sum market. There is another thread slamming the marketing folk. I've worked with both Tina and Sarah, they've been nothing but completely professional and a pleasure to work with from my experience. In case you're wondering I don't work for Osteomed and really don't care what people say about them but the comments seem a little harsh. No company is without its sore spots.
 






how's all that INION resorb working out for you guys? i love when your rep calls me to provide her surgeon with my resorb b/c your marketing team acquires product from a bankrupt company.
 


















I am an ex Stryker CMF rep who has been at home for a few years on Sabbatical for family reasons. I'm looking at getting back into the business before I'm too out of touch to be desirable. I LOVED my job at Stryker only because I loved the Surgeons & hospital staff...Stryker was full of a bunch of self-aggrandizing meat-head frat boys who only cared about making money and then getting their friends in to make them some money. I left due to their lack of ethics & consistent law breaking!
Anyway, I have an interview with Osteomed (on the Ortho side). What's the possibility of being a successful sales rep & keeping a work-home life balance? I'm not looking to do another 70 hours a week like I was doing with SYK consistently. We have kids now & that's not an option.
From what I've read so far, I'm close to just cancelling the interview! Ouch!
Any opinions would help. Thanks!
 
























Quote:
"Why are so many reps being forced to go straight commission? Are they trying to shrink the sales force?"

It's another way for Walt and Larry to pinch more pennies.

i.e: cutting eval & loaner commissions and getting rid of repair commissions.

I got out a while ago. From what I've heard, the cuts are only toward the CMF side (because the division is being cut or sold off), Small Bone is safe.

CMF force: run and don't look back...
 






Wait until next years comp plan comes out. Larry is going to pay you two different commissions. 1. A % for current business. 2. A % for growth. I promise you all the % for maintance is going to be low. Good luck!
 






Hello y'all,

What the heck is going on here?!?!?! I can't believe the sales reps hate corporate this much as to name names and hurl insults at some fine upstanding family men like Larry Harvey and Walt Humann. If it wasn't for these 2 fine gentlemen, you jerks wouldn't even have jobs. Maybe the reason our growth has slowed so much is because you reps have no clue how to sell unless its to a podiatrist. Why are you all so scared of MDs, they won't bite you, but I guess they may make you feel stupid when you show how little product knowledge you have. I am embarassed to work at the same company as you idiots.

Lets try to rally together and stop wasting time being so negative. We want to help you guys and Larry puts together much effort to see all of you succeed. Since he has taken over the Mid atlantic region, they have been performing beautifully, in fact they are the top region in the company right now. That shows you what kind of a person Larry really is, not only does he do the dir of sales job, but he is leading the top region in the company too! This is a guy you scoff at and try to disrespect with your lame insults?!?! Y'all better back off Larry or I promise you he will find who you are and pull you like overgrown weeds from Osteomed.

Oh and one point on Perry and Metasurg. So Perry gets drunk one day and writes some ridiculous stuff about us and our employees and then he tries to back off those comments in a moment of clarity. Big deal! Perry and metasurg are insignificant nothings and have not even made a dent in this industry. Lets not even worry about him and keep our eyes on the ball. We are going after bigger fish now and can take down the big orthopedic hand players with our hand plating system. Remember everyone, there is no "i" in team.

A dedicated employee

Who are you and how can you be so ignorant? You have obviously never been in the field selling or else you would realize that its impossible to sell to orthos without products to sell you moron. Just keep blaming all the reps while the turnover keeps getting higher. Eventually you have to look at the company. We are last to market with everything. We finally come out with a hand tray but every company and their mother has the exact same tray. You try pulling Synthes and Stryker off contract and put our me-too hand tray in a facility you bafoon! Keep drinking the kool aid over there in Addison. Sounds like you would be a good candidate for a good old fashioned Texas style cult since you can't think on your own. Tell me what you would sell to orthos if you were in the field? Keep in mind that we just came out with the hand tray less than 30 days ago. If you post another cult-like response I won't even respond because I can't argue with someone incapable of independent thought.

BTW - Why is Perry trolling this board so often?
 






Osteomed is the best company EVER! They treat their reps awesome. It's easy to submit expenses since as a rep you don't have many because nothing will be approved. It's great. They hire managers from the outside cuz what kind of company wants to promote from within?! Then those managers rock cuz they can't offer anything. It's the greatest. If you have a chance to work for this company TAKE IT! You'll have alot of fun out there in the field where you get to learn all about Osteomeds "me too" products. Oh, and the training you get is the most incredible you'll ever receive. You'll know so much about all the products you could write a book on it. Then when a doctor asks you a question you can squeeze that sphincter of yours and say "yes, doctor" to whatever the question was. Just keep saying "yes, doctor". Oh, and hopefully you'll have that manager with you that doesn't even know what you sell to squeeze his sphincter with you. Good times, I'm tellin' ya. Osteomed's AWESOME!
 






Osteomed is the best company EVER! They treat their reps awesome. It's easy to submit expenses since as a rep you don't have many because nothing will be approved. It's great. They hire managers from the outside cuz what kind of company wants to promote from within?! Then those managers rock cuz they can't offer anything. It's the greatest. If you have a chance to work for this company TAKE IT! You'll have alot of fun out there in the field where you get to learn all about Osteomeds "me too" products. Oh, and the training you get is the most incredible you'll ever receive. You'll know so much about all the products you could write a book on it. Then when a doctor asks you a question you can squeeze that sphincter of yours and say "yes, doctor" to whatever the question was. Just keep saying "yes, doctor". Oh, and hopefully you'll have that manager with you that doesn't even know what you sell to squeeze his sphincter with you. Good times, I'm tellin' ya. Osteomed's AWESOME!


Bottom line is this sales force is the worst. Bad marketing, inept upper mgt, but the front line troops are just bad, ineffective, and not very well trained.
 






Wait until next years comp plan comes out. Larry is going to pay you two different commissions. 1. A % for current business. 2. A % for growth. I promise you all the % for maintance is going to be low. Good luck!

Is it possible the comp plan could produce more commissions for the best performers and less for the poorest performers?
 












what is up with this company?

Doesn't anyone see that Larry is in over his head?

I guess if Walt fires Larry then he takes away his human shield and all Colson eyes go to Walt.

Larry keeps hiring these clones who think he and the company are so great. 2010 will be the worst year for many reps, myself included. Gee thanks mgr, sure cut my business by taking either cmf or sbo, and then don't give me anything to make up for the revenue I am losing. Plus, don't forget to tell me how this is good for me because it allows me to focus my efforts. What a crock of sh*t. I wish that for once these mgrs would call a turd a turd, and just say, "look pal, you got screwed and there is nothing I can do about it". At lest then I could respect the mgr.

If you are considering employment here, you are crazy unless you are currently unemployed.
 












is the draw recoverable or non?

Does this company show any promise or is it a losing battle?

Start from post #1 and read up to your last post...and after reading all 90-something of these aweful (but true) posts about this terribly run company you are still interested in the draw? Copiers or payroll is a better option.
 







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