Soon to be a Galderma Rep...looking for direction!

[Sharon1]

Whats going on everyone! I am in the final stages of interviewing for a derm rep position and have been reading all kinds of mixed feedback on this site about Galderma. From DM's eating too much and not working with reps to products and campaigns which are horrible.

I'm looking for some straight up truth to what I may be getting into. For someone with over 6 yrs B2B experience with an overwhelming success record, what kind of base should I expect? DM & Sr. DM seem real cool but I've been told interview faces are different faces then when it comes time to officially working together. What kind of company car is issued out of curiousity? How is managment, a lot of micromangement or just enough to let you do your own thing as long as your produce?

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

It depends... What region are you interviewing in? Different areas have different managers?

 

[Anonymous]

New England region. Newer DM.

 

[Anonymous]

Solid company if you want to work. Not familiar with New England area as much but base is typically 50-80k with bonus on top of that, and the company car is equinox or traverse. Like any other job typically you work hard you can kill here.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. There are so many negative comments on here about Galderma; I'm betting it's from those who got the boot.

I spoke with several pharmacists and they all said that generic has the upper hand these days due to cost. I understand that not all insurance covers the acne products and sounds like the products go for over $300 in some cases without coverage.

How are the Acne products doing for Galderma for the most part? They have great benefits and it doesn't seem like rocket science for the prescribers to prescribe them. Are these products regularly prescribed or do they really have to be "sold" to the physicians? I'm trying to understand if this is a no brainer or truly a traditional sales position where the physicians have to be convinced. What are some of the objections? Thanks for your input!

 

[Anonymous]

You don't really sell to derms, they know everything and don't mind telling you that. The costs are high and coverage is weak at best. Keep in mind New England has some of the worst managed care issues in the country. If you are covering Mass, just walk away its a generic only state. Can't even use copay cards, so how are you ever going to hit your numbers. The negative posts are not from the people that got booted, although yes some are. Since FF came to the states, the feel of the company has changed. Attitudes are poor and for the nationals and directors its every man/woman for themselves. There are great benefits here, but trust me its no picnic. You have no pharma experience, there is almost nothing you can tell these docs that will change their mind. They write for who they like and what they can get covered. Acne is very genericized and there are a lot of options for doctors to choose from in the branded market. Epiduo has been an overall failure to live up to what they thought it would be.

 

[Anonymous]

What about states like NY and VT, how are they doing? Fortunately I would not have Mass. I am looking for stability in a company. How stable is Galderma? The Sr. DM who interviewed me has almost 20 years in with the company. There is a lot of positive news press too so that must say something?!

 

[Anonymous]

What about states like NY and VT, how are they doing? Fortunately I would not have Mass. I am looking for stability in a company. How stable is Galderma? The Sr. DM who interviewed me has almost 20 years in with the company. There is a lot of positive news press too so that must say something?!

NY would be great if they were on Medicaide, but there is no coverage and the company won't support it, so you will rely on copay cards heavily. Vermont I can't remember. New Hampshire is like Mass no rep visits and can't do anything with copay cards. VT is ok at best.

 

[Anonymous]

So are the acne products a real hard "sell" and what are some of the common objectives/push backs on why a Dr. would not want to prescribe Epiduo or Differin? Do reps bonus quarterly as a team or by individual performance, I am curious on how this is determined? Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

So are the acne products a real hard "sell" and what are some of the common objectives/push backs on why a Dr. would not want to prescribe Epiduo or Differin? Do reps bonus quarterly as a team or by individual performance, I am curious on how this is determined? Thanks!

Acne products aren't hard to sell, there are just a ton of them. Epiduo is unique, but with bad coverage. United doesn't cover it, that's 80% of all lives in the US...that's a big number. There is just so much competition to deal with. Plus, coming in now you have no relationships, derm is very relationship driven. If two products get the same result for the same price, but the doc likes rep a more than rep b...rep a is getting the script.

Everything is individual! And don't expect that bonus right after the end of the quarter, you have to wait 2 months to get the data, then another month to actually get the check. You'll have a quota of units to meet and you will hope and pray enough docswrite the Rx AND getthem filled to make your number.

 

[Anonymous]

How's rosacea division, any better?

 

[Anonymous]

How's rosacea division, any better?

Yes and no. We have Oracea, which is a great drug, but again coverage is spotty. Getting ready to launch brimonidine, but not quite sure this will be a winner though. Although it is amazing at reducing the redness of rosacea, it doesn't deal with the underlying cause. It will most likely be seen as a cosmetic drug and that brings up questions of coverage...so back to heavy copay dependence. Again, is a doctor really going to write a drug that either gets kicked back a lot or they have to keep track of the ever changing revolving copay card game. I mean Galderma pulled back on all copay cards at the end of last year because we were losing so much money. Upper management was worried they were going to miss their bonus (so fuck the reps) and turned the copay cards off. You've got a real douche as a director of the division, I mean MC is a true pussy, I can't believe he's gotten as far as he has!

So, that's where that division is!

 

[Anonymous]

What's expected of new reps during the first 3-6 months?

 

[Anonymous]

Really Dude?

You sound like you want some easy just show up and throw up job. Galderma use to be a great company and now in all honesty is in decline. Good products but compete in very generic infiltrated markets. You can make good money here and as a lot of the posts have stated the old management that cared about the reps got the boot from FF the president. Now we have a bunch of yes men that only care about their bonus and not getting the ax from the French nut job running this place. You probably can get a couple of more good years out of this place but like I said the clock is ticking and the products are running out of steam against all of the Generic offerings. So now we have higher quotas, less product access and less co pay cards that change all of the time or get shut off when they are running to hot on the profit line and that is how upper management gets paid in this place. So do the math. If the territory looks good take it. If you think you are getting some easy pharma job that you just float around you will not be successful here. You have to work to be successful and the odds in a lot of territories are now really stacked against the reps to make the kind of money we used to make. Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

New rep? Quit now.

We enjoy pitting sales vs marketing and enjoy throwing docs, agencies, friends, and most of all long-time successful number-producing employees under the bus.

A munchkin lawyer runs the company in the name of an out of touch french guy. All kinds of F'd up senior management. Divisions compete against each other...sometimes 3 or 4 reps call on same doc. Nobody but rosacea has much in their bag and the new product might be OTC.

On the off-chance you're a french lawyer, stay. You'll probably be made President within 5 yrs. Experience and leadership are not a requirement.

 

[Anonymous]

The company in its current form will not exist. I am guessing an acne team and a rosacea team. Peds rolled back into Acne or they wont pay for themselves. Clobex in the CS group will be dead and they wont make a cetaphil only team. Less reps less money and same goofs running the place. Or worse more french guys that obviously have a problem with the US guys. The fact that they kicked out the former VP of sales who worked his ass off and cared about the reps, tells you all you need to know about this tool. Not to mention the crappy upper management at this place infighting between Sales and Mareting and an HR dept that fires Sales managers who have little kids and are fired with one day left in the month to scramble for health benefits. Really ? what kind of vindictive crap is that and how is that to treat employees with 10 plus years of service. This place has no integrity and no sole with these VP and Director losers running this place. all lead by a clueless and arrogant french guy. Sometime i think the people who got canned are the lucky ones to have gotten out of here and found new jobs.

 

[Anonymous]

To the OP, you appear to have no idea what you are getting into. Relying on CP posts, although amazingly they have been honest and accurate with you up until this point, is a dead end avenue. Each territory is what you make of it. Forget the relationship bullshit when you come out of the gate. Ask doctors questions like, "You won't hurt my feelings but what is your honest opinion about XYZ?" "Besides cost, what factors do you consider when prescribing XYZ over ABC?"

That Starbucks BS only goes so far and I hope you won't rely on food runs or snack boxes to make impact. A brutally honest question gets you farther than a caramel macchiato or whatever the fuck it is called.

 

[Anonymous]

If you show real commitment you will succeed here . the VP just told us all that doctors where standing in line at aad to kiss his ring. they can't wait to partner with us.

I can't believe the level of BS that comes outta dallas. but if you buy today you can get the whole cd set for a one time only price . quick call this number 1800-don't believe you . you will get several great videos full of complete lies and made up stories. real commitment is really moronic .

what next ? will the VP of marketing tweet who the next pope is ? fools please

 

[Anonymous]

The sales and marketing leadership at this place is turned into a complete joke. Embarrassing to say the least. The tweets the video messages are really ringing hollow. This FF dude has surrounded himself with complete yes men that are more concerned about their bonus and protecting their jobs than being honest, showing leadership and having a vision. This all starts at the top and it is amazing to me how fast and how far this organization has fallen in the last year. The mighty have fallen and we will fall further.

Attitude and results reflect leadership and we do not have any right now.

 

[Anonymous]

A great example is Lisa in Mediscience...do we seriously have to have an 8 am signature and a 4 pm signature? Do you not have something better to do than ask your DSMs to watch our call times? What is your purpose? We have the highest increase in sales of any division! Under MC we killed it, and he let us run fast and free. Since you came in you are doing the only thing you apparently know how...micromanage!

Yes FF has no fucking clue what he is doing and putting this stupid bitch in charge is a great example of the incompetence that is now Galderma!