Osteomed Corp.

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Look, here's the truth on OM... They don't support their products with studies, marketing or in most cases, decent levels of inventory. Seriously, they launch products with a handful of trays for the whole country. For most products, you sell from a brochure, really! They actually have decent designs on some SBO (small bone ortho) products and you can be successful in that space, but this isn't a long term move. It is an extremely frustrating place to work and due to lack of growth, the company's leaders cut costs as the only way to increase profit. They are robbing Peter to pay Paul and the floor will eventually fall out.
If you are interviewing for CMF, don't even consider the job. They can't compete in this division and have zero leadership. If you asked the head of marketing what is good about the CMF lines, he'll tell you that they have the only patented self-drilling self tapping screw. That was true 10 years ago. Every competitor has improved their neuro screws and in one iteration or another and have ripped off the OM screw. You will have no advantages and they are chasing all of the innovations that the comp has developed. They are last to market with any improvements and the comp is: Biomet (Lorenz)-dropping price to gain entry (typical distributor move), Sythes - using the AO and grants to gain entry, Stryker - using more grants to gain entry, KLS- making custom devices to gain entry. What is OM doing as a strategy to gain entry? Cutting back the CMF sales force and trying to have those lines managed from afar. That will not work for very long. Without a rep defending the territory, the comp will carve them up.
Do not take a CMF job with this company, you will struggle and be gone in under 2 years in most cases. My prediction, they will move to distributors in as many places as possible in CMF as they lose reps. In the end, they (WH, PB and TM) believe that the products sell themselves and the reps are not important. Why then have their sales in CMF and Neuro gone down for the last several years with no rebound in sight?
Making the situation worse is that sales Management has a revolving door. They can't draw RMs with competitive experience because they know how bad OM is in CMF. Can you name an RM in the past 6 or 7 years that made it 3 full years? Kinda tough, isn't it? Even the rare good ones only last about 2 years. LH made it 3.5 years total but 1.5 of that was during his tenure as Sales Dir. Longest current tenure, about 1.5 years. That is not typical in med device (except start-ups) and really should tell you something.
The OM execs say things like, "our reps can't sell screws, our reps are the problem." Here is a logical challenge... sales growth started to slow 5 years ago under sales VP DK, then it got worse under MP, then it got worse LH. Maybe 5 or 6 territories have reps that were here 6 years ago and most territories have turned over multiple times. All of those hundreds of reps that have poured through this company have sucked? All of those managers and VPs sucked. It's not the reps, its the lack of leadership and support. It's the company's business plan that sucks. You do not want to work for these people. They DO NOT value their sales force and they will bleed every $ to send to the owner instead of ever reinvesting in actual innovation or much needed inventory. When/if the job market picks up, this company will struggle to retain any sales talent.
If this is your only way into med device, go SBO for 1 year and run but you've been warned.
 






Anonymous said:
$300 won't cover crap.... Im in the Midwest and I think the Mgr is a guy from Michigan named Keith. any insight would be appreciated.
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I'm guessing you're inteviewing for Cleveland. Ask how many SBO reps they have had in the territory in the last 5 years. The answer is 4. See if he's honest with you or if he even knows. Ask why they left. The last rep was really good and she didn't burn anything, and the territory has a ton of potential - but is small $. You won't make much, maybe 70k? But, I am curious why you're still interested considering the overflow of bad, and accurate posts on OM.

As for Keith... good luck is all I'll say.
 






Hey thanks for all the info..... It isn't cleveland, about 8 hours west of that... Why do you say that about Keith??? I have heard he is very laid back and a macro manager. not true??
 






Poster #146 hit the nail on the head. I disagree with the assertions that all mgrs were bad, they have had good ones but they had an eye opening experience once they actually started and either left on their own or locked horns with WH, LH, etc and were pushed out.
You summed the situation up as well as anyone could.

This is a sinking ship unless change is made at the very top with TM, PB, WH. That is the only thing that can save them.
 






Anonymous said:
Poster #146 hit the nail on the head. I disagree with the assertions that all mgrs were bad, they have had good ones but they had an eye opening experience once they actually started and either left on their own or locked horns with WH, LH, etc and were pushed out.
You summed the situation up as well as anyone could.

This is a sinking ship unless change is made at the very top with TM, PB, WH. That is the only thing that can save them.
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What he said!! Well done.^^^^^^
 






I left Osteodmed a yr ago after over 10 yrs of service and dedication. I check on this site because I still have some good friends at the "O", though they are thinning out rapidly.
I really miss the folks I worked with at the "dread", especially the chick falling off her bar stool at the national meeting!

Is that for real? Cuz you can't buy that type of entertainment and it's ahellva lot better than a chili cook off.

The best thing Phil and Walt can do is get on that new TV show that puts the boss in the ranks to see what it's like to work under there own policies and decision making.

All of these posts are amazing and are brought on by the guys in control of the corporate environment. For me, it was "Profit over People" that broke the camels back.

Wishing everyone the best.
 






If you people are so unhappy...stop bitting the hand that currently feeds you and get a different job. You obviously consider yourself better than where you are so get gone. Rediculous.
 






A lot of the folks posting on this site are obviously ex employees. They are no longer biting the hand that barely kept them fed. They have seen the light and have moved on.
 






OsteoMed has hit an all time low....National Sales Meeting activity is a chili cook off in the shipping department, really? That is just a "give up". You might as well have walked across the street and bowled a few lanes. Wow!
 


















Anonymous said:
The best I can say: ....
One more rambling thought... Don't get caught up with the home office junk posts about Scott Spooner or Phil Boyd. Scott is nice and Phil is really funny when he isn't on the clock. They actually do a good job- its a profitable company with low overhead and few back-orders (what do you want from the CFO and COO?) So, why the negative posts- since the reps never see them, they make for good boogy-men. Besides, the penny-pinching comes from the top. What should worry you is poor Marketing support, your Sales Manager or lack of one (I had 10+ in a few years, not kidding- I had nearly as much time under interim managers as I did with the ones that were supposed to be there for any length of time) and the VP of sales. Without direction from those positions, this can be nothing but a career building block and an entry level position for med device. But I'm glad I did it, I am rolling in coin now! Wouldn't be working for a top med-device company without them. If you're looking, it's better than most pharma, b2b or no job! Just don't do it if you can't afford to have another jump on your resume in 2 years and don't do it if you won't work, this is a hard job.
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Precisely, rambling thoughts.... Yes, no backorders, quite simply because the products are lame. You have a better chance of selling "air". Who cares if you can make it cheap and make good margins if nobody wants to buy it.
 






Is this the company that had a rep go on The Bachelor and get eliminated on the first day? I heard she was a rookie of the year and the other rookie of the year was mysteriously fired in Denver.
 






























When I worked for OM they were a respected player and reps had the freedom to request support and inventory as they saw fit. Now the company sucks and they are cutting costs/inventory to the point that they are shrinking sales. Walt Humane and Gregg Shmit are killing this company.
 






Anonymous said:
When I worked for OM they were a respected player and reps had the freedom to request support and inventory as they saw fit. Now the company sucks and they are cutting costs/inventory to the point that they are shrinking sales. Walt Humane and Gregg Shmit are killing this company.
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I'm here, and I couldn't agree with you more! The only, question which remains is: When is the burial @ sea?
 






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