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Patterson Dental

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This from the Schein board:


I have to admit As much as I hate to admit it, the new Omni-cam they have over there is pretty good.

That comment Coming from a Schein rep makes me extremely happy to work for Patterson
 




The culture at the Patterson branch level, is usually very toxic, non-supportive, cold, selfish and disinterested in the positive promotion of anyone other than themselves. The branch that I worked in was chocked full of these soulless people who's sole business intention was nothing more than padding their own pockets enough to justify using that ton of personal and sick days that they got over the years. It is not a wonder that most of them were fat, out of shape...and most importantly arrogant as hell.

Reading the posts from the Patterson reps who posted in this thead, confirms the delusional arrogance that pervades that company's reps. Patterson is an ugly place to work.
 




The culture at the Patterson branch level, is very toxic, non-supportive, cold, selfish and disinterested in the positive promotion of anyone other than themselves. The branch that I worked in was chocked full of these soulless people who's sole business intention was nothing more than padding their own pockets enough to justify using that ton of personal and sick days that they got over the years. It is not a wonder that most of them were fat, out of shape...and most importantly arrogant as hell.

Reading the posts from the Patterson reps who posted in this thead, confirms the delusional arrogance that pervades that company's reps. Patterson is an ugly place to work.
 




"This is a very good way to look at the penny wise docs who believe that they are ahead of the game by nickel and dimeing their suppliers. The guys who are truly successful in dentistry concern themselves with the clinical aspect of job, not so much on saving pennies."

100% correct. It's not even open for debate.

Most of the penny pinchers I run into, besides being total & complete assholes as people, live and work in an atmosphere of toxic people, their family life's in disarray, their wives are one step away from divorce court and a 50% settlement, work in toxic surroundings they have created and have all the deadbeat loser patients they deserve. They are jealous of the truly successful (usually next door) that have great offices, great staffs that cannot wait to get to work and get to treat cool and financially sound patients with the latest technology and procedures. They wonder why they are douchebags and the guy next door is golden... , BUT they saved 3% on their dental supplies!

One can only hope Darwin is close by and these penny-pinching shit-heads have the lives they deserve.
 








Anonymous said:
The culture at the Patterson branch level, is very toxic, non-supportive, cold, selfish and disinterested in the positive promotion of anyone other than themselves. The branch that I worked in was chocked full of these soulless people who's sole business intention was nothing more than padding their own pockets enough to justify using that ton of personal and sick days that they got over the years. It is not a wonder that most of them were fat, out of shape...and most importantly arrogant as hell.

Reading the posts from the Patterson reps who posted in this thead, confirms the delusional arrogance that pervades that company's reps. Patterson is an ugly place to work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by, make sure to close the door on your way out.
 












Anonymous said:
I have to love it when a doctor posts a diatribe about business- an area he has no education or experience in. ... Also another case where the dr used paper clips instead of gutty purcha.
Bottom line is I've never seen a successful dental practice that skimps on technology and equipment that enhances clinical outcome.
Click to expand...

Hehe... This was an enjoyable post to read... especially when read by a dentist who carries with him an MBA degree. I personally love to read retaliations by Arts and Letters majors who could not find a job in their desired field and ended up in sales. That creative writing degree is obviously working out for him.

It is also enjoyable to read a dental product salesman referring to the inert obturation material 'gutta percha' as "gutty purcha".

The bottom line is this man is likely a huckster toting the company line with very little knowledge of what the hell it is he is selling.
 




Anonymous said:
Hehe... This was an enjoyable post to read... especially when read by a dentist who carries with him an MBA degree. I personally love to read retaliations by Arts and Letters majors who could not find a job in their desired field and ended up in sales. That creative writing degree is obviously working out for him.

It is also enjoyable to read a dental product salesman referring to the inert obturation material 'gutta percha' as "gutty purcha".

The bottom line is this man is likely a huckster toting the company line with very little knowledge of what the hell it is he is selling.
Click to expand...

So Dr MBA (since you are clearly much more intelligent, educated, and noble than the rest of us), can you please explain to me- a lowly sales rep who is toting the company line for a company that has provided a great opportunity and earned my loyalty- why you are spending your time trolling the net posting on sales rep boards? Don't you have better things to do?

Please Dr MBA..... Stay here, continue to post here on this board for reps about how much better you are than us hucksters out there selling "gutty" percha. We recognize you are much better than us. We just hear it a few more times.
 




























I think what anybody has to realize going into a sales position with Patterson is that if you do not get any help i.e. buying accounts from the branch manager you are going to have a tough time in this commodity price driven environment. Patterson positions themselves as the value leader. High prices but they want to increase the offices business, not decrease their supply costs. Which makes sense. But most Doctors don't think that way and the ones that do are probably already well covered by a veteran rep from any number of distributors i.e. Schien, Benco, Patterson.

I have seen in my branch a steady revolving door of new reps being hired and trained up then leaving. Some within a few months. Could be pharma rep refugees looking to park themselves for a few months to re-group and make some decent starting money in the mean time.

But then there have been some new reps thriving. When a tenured rep leaves, usually the accounts are spread among the existing reps. You would think that the accounts would go to the newer reps who are struggling but that is not always the case. At least not in my branch. Usually what we see is that the equipment specialist holds sway over who gets the accounts because in essence the customers are their customers also. But also, in my branch, the accounts usually go to the same lucky few. The branch manager can pretty much hold your success in his/her hands. If she/he likes you and wants you to succeed, you get accounts or equipment deals that come up from customers that are unassigned. Or you get good buying customers from reps that leave or retire. So it is a self fulfilling process, the branch manager rewards the ter rep with buying accounts which in turn increases the reps business. The rep looks successful so the branch manager rewards them again. All the while the newer or struggling reps get no help and look bad or underperforming. But if they had been receiving the same help from the branch manager, as the lucky few do, they too would have a thriving territory.


For new equipment specialists or Cerec specialists it is even harder. Usual the new rookie equipment or cerec specialist gets the rookie or underperfroming territory reps as their team. And the pipeline is not that well developed for the rookie specialist. For the existing specialists (veterans) it cuts both ways for them: they complain about the underperformers and the rookie ter. reps because of the lack of business. Go figure. But when they have to give up their reps; lose head count; they take it out on the "New" rookie specialist whether it be cerec or equipment. Believe me, it happens. Seen it mulitiple times.

Patterson is a great company. They have the best technology out there. CEREC is the best. I know other companies may disagree, but it IS the best. ADEC is the best chair manufacturer. Sorry, but it is. Patterson is well run and seems to be in robust fiscal health.

Just remember if you accept a sales position with Patterson; your success is not always in your hands. And my experiences may not be the same in whichever branch you interview with.
 




You are dead on with one exception.

Your statement that Patterson is well run. It is a great company for a variety of reasons, but based on my experiences and everything you described in your post, Patterson is not well run. They have absolutely no development plan or structure for new reps (territory, equipment, or CEREC). Your statements about the branch manager driving some reps success over others is spot on. I do believe they are oftentimes completely unaware that they are doing this to such a degree. I don’t think they realize how damaging this is to their branches over time.

If Patterson were “well run” it would at the bare minimum have some guiding principles in place to help new reps succeed and to help the branches continually improve. How about having a rule that accounts below a certain dollar amount or below a minimum level of growth have to be moved to other reps based on geography? Over time this would reduce favoritism and it would bring geographical efficiency to these screwed up territories. Most importantly it would ensure that the tenured more successful reps are not holding on to accounts just in case that account randomly decides they want to make a major equipment purchase. Many tenured reps do this.

Branch managers should be looking at each account’s sales volume and growth every six months, comparing this information to where the rep lives and where their accounts are on a map. He or she should also be looking at what other reps live near these accounts and/or call on accounts in the same area. In my branch we have tons of low hanging fruit (accounts) that are rarely called on because they are an hour+ out of a tenured rep’s way. I can’t blame them for not wanting to spend two to three hours every other week developing one small account when they are trying to manage a 1.8 million dollar territory. However, the newer reps may call on accounts in that area every few days. Why not begin to look at where reps live and where their accounts are on a map. Over time we as a company would become much more efficient and much more successful.

Either way, Patterson is the best company in this market without a doubt.


Any thoughts anyone?
 




Last two posts are exactly right.

Speaking as a previous rep- this is not the right job for someone with solid sales experience and success.

A represntative quit while I was in training and I was given their larger accounts. By the time I was back the field, tenured reps had already called on these accounts and introduced themselves as the new reps. Each time I visited one of the accounts the response was the same, "I'm confused, I just met the new Patterson Rep . . .").

My branch manager and the operations manager were no help. And, from a purely business perspective I can understand this- they're keeping the client happy (w/ a seasoned rep) and the seasoned rep happy. From the perspective of a new rep trying to gain a little traction, this was telling- and the first of many times I questioned my decision to take the job.

That said, every branch is different and all successful people have worked with challenging bosses and made things happen.

Yet, a position where one has to rely pretty signifcanlty on outside forces is a risk. And my fear is that at Patterson, this seems to be more of the culture than a case-by-case situation.

I met some fantastic people at Patterson- keep in touch with many of them- and wish all those considering the company the best. I just wanted to add some validity to the above posts.
 




If you are under 30 and single, Patterson can be a good place to work. You work your 40-50 hours/week and then have the evenings and weekends free to do what you want.

Not a good job if you are over 30 or married because you need to completely focus on the job for the first 2 years or you won't build a big enough book of business to survive long term.
 




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