Not this year he won't! We're safer than we've ever been. Smooth sailing! Heck, we'll probably have DS5-DS10 reps for diabetes before years end. Expand primary care to sell generic Crestor for 2016. Hire reps to give out pens and pads. Hire formulary reps. Hire a sales force to schedule lunches. Hire reps to schedule oil changes for company vehicles. It won't end there!
Brilliant strategy to add more PSSs calling on more no see offices faking more calls. We don't want more PSSs, our customers don't want more PSSs and yet we continue to make the same stupid mistakes year after year.
Great Post... a perfect assessment of the current situation.
Way too many people in my territory to do this job correctly. Im always wondering if one of 'partners' was just in the office.
No other pharma co. works this way.
Don't forget our managers, they have 7 reps to ride with. WTF- we have to bring these guys to the same office every week!!!
Those same mistakes year after year sure seem to be working for the people making them. Imagine the salary and perks of an AZ decision maker. Big big bucks for them. You do pretty well too.
Offices began closing to reps over 20 years ago and the trend has accelerated every year since. And 20 years ago we had 2 PSSs at most calling on an office.Not this year he won't! We're safer than we've ever been. Smooth sailing! Heck, we'll probably have DS5-DS10 reps for diabetes before years end. Expand primary care to sell generic Crestor for 2016. Hire reps to give out pens and pads. Hire formulary reps. Hire a sales force to schedule lunches. Hire reps to schedule oil changes for company vehicles. It won't end there!
Being a rep doesn't pay too badly, but the people above the rep and DM level make a TON of money. It would $hock many. Even with the high number of reps you're making the company a boat load of cash.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Profits from one NRx are astronomical! Look what generics cost, and the big wigs at the generics companies do pretty well too. The marginal cost to produce another patient's year's supply of any branded pharma product is $0.00, so at an average of around $200.00 revenue per year for branded product, that's $2,400.00 each nRx. If a rep can make a difference in around 100 nixes a year, he is a profitable rep. All pretty rough estimates but the point is clear.
The problem is the reps are losing influence big time. When pfizer merck glaxco change their strategy, six months later AZ will too as the history book tells clearly.
You could mail samples directly to offices who could return them free of charge if they didn't want them or allow them to order directly from the company. RXs sent directly to a pharmacy with a free sample request attached. The company can reimburse the pharmacy in dollars or product. All of these options are less expensive than a PSS with a company car and expenses. As technology advances, PSSs will be replaced just like the automobile replaced the horse and buggy. It is inevitable and the clock is ticking.
Doubtful. Hard as it is to believe reps still make a difference. Take away the messages and reminders over time, and sure enough, sales fall. Launch is the most critical time for a rep. Too, you have to at least physically throw a rep out of the office. Glossy mailed adverts and the like simply go in the trash and incentive based schemes don't work.
Doubtful. Hard as it is to believe reps still make a difference. Take away the messages and reminders over time, and sure enough, sales fall. Launch is the most critical time for a rep. Too, you have to at least physically throw a rep out of the office. Glossy mailed adverts and the like simply go in the trash and incentive based schemes don't work.
Correct. Do you think the most doctors ever saw any real difference between Nasonex, Rhinocort Aqua, or Nasocort? Mail free samples of two and have a pretty rep ask please please mine is better here's why here's a free lunch and see what happens.
Company after company is cutting their loses and going contract. The other poster is completely right; everything can be done over the internet or a smartphone.
You get it. Look at the ace inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, in many cases minor differences at best. It was the sales force that made the difference. There are good drugs that never made it big because of poor marketing and sales efforts.
Lunch and impact? I think you need to seriously look over Brilinta's numbers. Here is a drug with some good data - not all, but some. It has good managed care coverage. There are 4 to 5 reps per territory which consists of 7 to 10 accounts. They have HUGE budgets to bring lunch somewhere every day. The drug's dollar vol and market share have barely moved in two years. It does NOT make a difference. Data and money make the difference - as in patient cost.
Plus, nearly 60 percent or more offices and hospitals are no see and probably 70 percent are no sample. Think about it. You have four people in a territory for 100 docs of which you can only see 30 or 40. How much does each rep cost? 130k? Christ, do the math. For a drug to have a salesforce, it needs to be over 350 Million annually! B is not even 60 Million. You guys are history come next year. Crestor was the only thing keeping the lights on.
You're example doesn't apply anymore. Sure, 20 years ago, there were only 1 or 2 reps per company, with far fewer companies I might add, calling on an office and the access was better. Add to that the advancements in technology and the fact that the "me too" era of pharmaceutical marketing was just beginning, and you have an environment 20 years ago where reps were able to have much more impact vis-a-vis education, interaction and relationship selling. That model is no longer applicable no matter how much the kool-aid drinkers still believe in it.
Do not disagree that access and impact were greater 20 years ago. That being said, launching a new product with absolutely no sales force would be ludicrous in the least and suicidal at best. There has to be at least SOME noise level.
My guess is AZ knows that as well in the case of Brilinta, but is throwing the kitchen sink at it in the hopes something will stick. Too Mr. Soriot made promises regarding B sales and to cut and run now would show weakness or failure to execute to the shareholders. Certainly if it does not produce, the charade will not go on forever. That's why reps are hearing the "moving Brilinta market share is your best chance at job retention" speech.
You can move market share all you like, but it's PROFIT that runs a company. Frenchie stills believes that the more reps we have the better, which is good for us. Look at Movantik, he is adding 600 Publicis rep to the mix!
Once again it comes down to the enormous amount of dollars that pharmaceutical sales rakes in. The cash cows like Crestor ARE still supporting the efforts of Brilinta. Certainly Brilinta is not making money here in the U.S. And, given the decent salary a rep makes and all it takes to support one; benefits, car, computer, meetings, sales support, training, budget, paid internet and phone... ad infinitum... as well as multiply over bloated salaries exponentially going up the chain, it cannot be supported indefinitely.
You mentioned above a lot of the expenses involved with having a pharmaceutical rep employee and missed a really really big one called payroll taxes. The employer matches your contribution. Imagine how much that amounts to for a company AZ's size!
