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Anonymous said:
I agree they work more hours in med device, and have much lower base pay. My fear is a quota, what if you cant perform for a year, are you fired. I know that they can make more than a pharma rep, but they have to a hit a #. I am not sure this is for me. I want to stay in pharma. I also have a young family and need the flexible/ family hours
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If you are fearful of a quota then sales is probably not for you. I don't understand your reluctance to make the jump to med device due to quota. I would be more concerned about the fact that in most of those jobs you are required to be in the OR or with the customer before you put your kids on the bus. As far as the quota thing goes, if you are in sales you will have one in some form. The days of working for the base salary and benefits are over.
 




Anonymous said:
So let me get tthis straight. We have a baby momma who works part ttime and gets a full time pharma package. She is looking for another career that pays her six figures for working 25hours/week at most. And you feel bad for her. Have had more than one of those as counterparts and I had to work full time, do the diner programs, do the breakfasts and the non-10-to-2 calls. Face it honey. Not only are you not replacing the gig you screwqed all these years, you better resign yourself to either work likie the rest of the world or stay home and raise them kiddies
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You got it right. That thinking (and action) began the downfall of pharma a decade ago, along with now lack of pipeline, regs, etc., produced the perfect storm. No one can pull this off in ANY other job, let alone one that pays 6 figures with bennies like pharma. And the the mommas think they have the RIGHT to screw the co. The scam is over.
 




Anonymous said:
You got it right. That thinking (and action) began the downfall of pharma a decade ago, along with now lack of pipeline, regs, etc., produced the perfect storm. No one can pull this off in ANY other job, let alone one that pays 6 figures with bennies like pharma. And the the mommas think they have the RIGHT to screw the co. The scam is over.
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Many women with young children were kept because they were the highest performers. So there is no need to stereotype.
 




Anonymous said:
Many women with young children were kept because they were the highest performers. So there is no need to stereotype.
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I agree, I have small children and love the flexibility the job offers. I have not worked a 40 hour week in years, but my docs know me and many love me. My #s are always in at the top or middle , so I cover my but and perform for the company. Believe me their are many people who make six figures and work smart not hard. I will mis the free car and lunches, and just might loos a few pounds.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree, I have small children and love the flexibility the job offers. I have not worked a 40 hour week in years, but my docs know me and many love me. My #s are always in at the top or middle , so I cover my but and perform for the company. Believe me their are many people who make six figures and work smart not hard. I will mis the free car and lunches, and just might loos a few pounds.
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No personal offense, really, but your points are part of the problem and you have no idea. 1. The job is not actually supposed to be "flexible," that you work it around everything else, but people have created that mantra. 2. Many of your docs love you, yeah right, as long as you keep bring in lunch and looking good and don't acually talk about the product, and have been lucky enough to be able to stay in the same territory long enough so they even can pretend to know who you are(many reps territories in recent years have been re-aligned virtually yearly or more), and 3. if your numbers are so consistently good, you are not in a medical benefit state (for IS) and have a lot of lucky re-imbursement, access, open formularies, etc etc. So don't be TOO convinced that it's all you!! This is my point, pharma is coming to realize they could hire someone at half the cost to deliver lunch, or not hire a rep and just work with a contract force with little commitment.
 




Anonymous said:
The reps were no longer considered professionals when the companies flooded the market with Barbie and Ken clones with no scientific knowledge whatsoever.

Most physicians are way too busy seeing patients because they are trying to maintain their own incomes to spend enough time to speak with a representative at anytime other than lunch--that is if they even come to the lunch anymore.

Physicians are not interested in hearing about products they have been using for over five years. That is when it time to bring in the contract sales representatives to drop samples, literature, and do some Barbie and Ken fawning on the physicians who like that attention.

You really need professional sales representatives when you launch new drugs and/or have changes in indication. If you don't gain significant market share within a short period of time you probably never will. When you see a territory with a high market share and high volume you have a good rep and good managed care coverage. You don't let those reps go simply because they do not show the same percentage volume growth as small markets with low share. That doesn't make any sense.
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That was my problem exactly - high volume high share and no apples to apples comparison - plus I did not kiss my managers or RBDs ass enough. Time for a real sales job!!
 




Life of a drug rep!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Novartis board ......
this is no bullshit and any rep who looks in the mirror knows it:
- would wake up around 9 and out by 10.
- except if there was a conference call which I would take in bed and actually fell asleep during a few.
-drop 2-3 sample calls by lunch
-get 2-3 more sigs at lunch
-Always ordered 2 more than I needed made up 2 names and took them home for the girlfriend and myself for dinner.
-golf 9 holes every tues wed and thurs or hit the gym, run errands and sometimes just sit home if it rained.
-2-3 more sigs on the way home
-had 3-4 docs and pa's that would swear on a stack of bibbles I was there if I needed it.
-ever worked more than 16-20 hours a week (worked about 10 minutes, the rest of the time was spent driving listening to espn radio and howard stern).
-Take the manager on 8-10 milk runs every 6 weeks and collect a bullshit bonus.
- expensed bagles on mondays which would last at home till wed then expense more
-expense stamps every october and save for xmas cards
-expense all the soft drinks I could
- expensed ink for the printer every 2 reports and stocked up (should have enough to last me at least 5 years)
made 79k base 20-30 bonus, expensed at least 10k a year for me, free car, free gas, changed tires with the girlfriends car right before turning it in for a new free car.
where the fuck will I find this again?
 




WSJ's blog on health and the business of health.
Pfizer Joins the E-Sampling Crowd
By Katherine Hobson
Big pharma gives out a lot of free samples every year — $3 billion in 2007 alone. Drug giant Pfizer is now joining rivals Merck and AstraZeneca in distributing some of those samples in response to online orders by physicians.

As Dow Jones Newswires reports, Pfizer launched its SamplesDirect program in August. A spokesperson tells DJN that doctors are choosing to “engage and interact” online, so it makes sense to be there. As you can imagine, sales reps weren’t too keen on the notion at first.

Big drug companies have been paring their sales forces in order to cut costs as they face a slowdown in growth from the so-called patent cliff and resulting generic competition. Meantime, doctors are increasingly giving sales reps the cold shoulder, with the number of “rep-accessible” physicians dropping by 18% from last year, according to a report released in May. The fear among Pfizer reps was that online sampling would only further erode their job function, DJN reports.

But Pfizer reached a compromise with its reps: when a physician places an e-order, it’s flagged to his or her sales rep, who has 48 hours to step in and personally take over the order. If the rep doesn’t act, the order is filled electronically.

AstraZeneca and Merck launched their own online sampling efforts in recent years, DJN says. Astra is winding down its U.S. sales force for heartburn pill Nexium, turning instead to call centers and online information. Online sampling of Nexium is expected to be available by the end of the year, DJN says
 




Anonymous said:
I agree they work more hours in med device, and have much lower base pay. My fear is a quota, what if you cant perform for a year, are you fired. I know that they can make more than a pharma rep, but they have to a hit a #. I am not sure this is for me. I want to stay in pharma. I also have a young family and need the flexible/ family hours
Click to expand...

Medical Device = Sales.
Pharma = Not Sales. All real sales jobs come with a quota. I personally know several drug reps and they tell me all the time about how they game the system. Get bunches of signatures before lunch and then go home early. Get a bunch of signatures on THursday and carry them over to Friday so they can have just about every Friday off.
 




Anonymous said:
Life of a drug rep!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
changed tires with the girlfriends car right before turning it in for a new free car.
where the fuck will I find this again?
Click to expand...

DAMN!! Why didn't I think of that?!?!
could have been $400 more toward my severance....
 




Anonymous said:
Life of a drug rep!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Novartis board ......
this is no bullshit and any rep who looks in the mirror knows it:
- would wake up around 9 and out by 10.
- except if there was a conference call which I would take in bed and actually fell asleep during a few.
-drop 2-3 sample calls by lunch
-get 2-3 more sigs at lunch
-Always ordered 2 more than I needed made up 2 names and took them home for the girlfriend and myself for dinner.
-golf 9 holes every tues wed and thurs or hit the gym, run errands and sometimes just sit home if it rained.
-2-3 more sigs on the way home
-had 3-4 docs and pa's that would swear on a stack of bibbles I was there if I needed it.
-ever worked more than 16-20 hours a week (worked about 10 minutes, the rest of the time was spent driving listening to espn radio and howard stern).
-Take the manager on 8-10 milk runs every 6 weeks and collect a bullshit bonus.
- expensed bagles on mondays which would last at home till wed then expense more
-expense stamps every october and save for xmas cards
-expense all the soft drinks I could
- expensed ink for the printer every 2 reports and stocked up (should have enough to last me at least 5 years)
made 79k base 20-30 bonus, expensed at least 10k a year for me, free car, free gas, changed tires with the girlfriends car right before turning it in for a new free car.
where the fuck will I find this again?
Click to expand...

There is always Barber's school- Roadhouse
 












I need a job that affords me the ability to make good coin, and also be there for the kids. I am currently working at an athletic club and have never felt better/look better, but without the car, and gas and base it is really tough. I thought about device but the base is low, and they put in alot of hours and are held to strict sales quotas. Does anybody know of any device companies that have higher bases, where the hours are somewhat flexible. I would be willing to take a base of 65-70, which is 15-20K less than I used to make. Let me know if you have any insight
 












Drug Sales Reps’ Jobs
By Jim Edwards | January 20, 2011
Comments .. Placebo Effect
Jim Edwards
Contact
Author Bio.BiographyJim Edwards Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools.
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.View more ..Everyone in the pharmaceutical business will be getting a free iPad! OK, that’s a slight exaggeration but not by much: Over the next few weeks, thousands of drug sales reps will receive Apple (AAPL) iPads from their employers loaded with Veeva Systems’ iRep, which displays product presentations and then allows the doctor viewing them to sign the iPad when they’re done. iRep was launched Jan. 11.

AstraZeneca (AZN), Novartis (NVS), Sunovion (formerly Sepracor), ProStrakan, and Millenium are already iRep customers, along with a number of contract sales organizations that provide salesforces to other drug companies. The iPad is spreading into a wide array of sales jobs, including small business, real estate agents, and restaurant sales.

Stick to the script, please

Traditionally, drug pitches are delivered orally by reps who have to rote-learn scripts as they turn flipboards and collect pen-and-paper signatures. Getting the message exactly right was key, because getting it wrong can have major legal consequences. The iPad could make script-learning history. Before sales reps begin rejoicing, however, they may want to consider why management is so keen on the iPad as a selling tool.

Currently, reps detail only one or two priority drugs at a time. iRep allows reps to walk into a doctors’ office with an unlimited number of sales presentations preloaded on the iPad. All a rep has to do is stand there while the doc pokes the iPad and then signs. In theory, an iPad could carry any drug company’s entire portfolio of drug presentations, and instantly email research papers in response to off-label use requests. With an iPad, a rep need not even open her mouth.

Drug reps as bicycle messengers

The rep, in other words, becomes a glorified bicycle messenger who need not have any special expertise in the content they’re delivering. It’s the iPad, not the rep, that becomes the crucial part of the transaction. The medium is the message.

As one rep can deliver a plethora of iRep presentations, drug companies may find they need fewer reps to cover the same amount of ground. That has been the trend among companies recently who have tried a number of innovations to get reduce the number of reps they use, including:

Novo Nordisk (NVO) has replaced some reps’ tasks with a web site.
Pfizer (PFE) has done the same thing.
AstraZenenca (AZN) replaced most of its Nexium sales force with a telemarketing center.
Shionogi & Co. (4507) started hiring “no-experience-necessary” reps at half the going salary rate for reps.
So, reps, enjoy your new iPads while you can. But remember that your employer may one day choose to keep the tablet and lose you.
 












My question is not exactly on topic if that's okay. I'm a first timer on Cafe Pharma. Judging from the way you guys write, I bet I'll get pretty beat up for this.

I'm fairly certain I'm being targeted to be let go. I'm over 50 and this has been going on for two years. I'm not here to debate whether what they are wrong or right to be doing this to me. My heart is already broken.

I am, though a single Mom and a long term employee and as a high performer I've got a pretty good salary which translates to a solid pension. I realize I should know the answer to this question but I never imagined I'd have to. If I am fired will they take my pension away? I am not 55 which I believe would qualify me for early retirement.

Thanks for any help, info, advice you are kind enough to share.
 




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