Where are all of the reps going?

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Spanks

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What is up with all of the reps leaving the mighty Aptalis? Could it be the expired pipeline of products, the launch or relaunch of products that are beyond their time, the management and marketing teams that constantly drop the ball, or, is it simply the pay that us sales reps receive?
I'd say that it is all of the above. When is the last time you received a pay raise? Granted, there are some pharma companies that are laying employees off, but we are doing the exact opposite. And no, the recalculation of our Rectiv bonuses does not count. Unrealistic reach of sales goals if I have ever seen one. Selling a product that was once popular 30 years ago and has since been replaced with a better form of therapy is probably not the best product to purchase and launch to physicians that stopped writing this product because of bad side effects many moons ago.
I'm not a genius by any means, but I would say that the pay and future of our company are to blame for reps leaving. There are many companies out there picking out reps from our line up, one by one. Aptalis, once a small and prosperous company, is being overrun by big pharma mentality. "Novartis, ooops, I mean Aptalis. Silly Me." Competitive pay and an opportunity to move through the company leveling would be great.
Do I need to even get into the overpaid product of Zenpep and I cant wait to see how Ultresa and Viokace fit into this marketing strategy. Kiss your Zenpep bonuses goodbye because this is all a special plan to make the goals even that much more impossible to achieve. Ultresa vs. Zenpep vs. Creon vs. Viokace. I can't wait to sell competing products to physicians and then be expected to grow my PE business by 80%. Well, we do have 3 of the 5 PE's on the market.

Thanks

Spanks
 




Go Spanks. I just finished my review and not only did I meet all of my goals, but surpassed them. Did I get a raise? Nope. Maybe it's coming later. Or maybe I'll get it when I leave Aptalis.
 




So true. Everything that was great about this company is no longer. Reps are bailing and it is not difficult to see why. Contract reps, a crappy new product, far below industry norm salaries, no bonus potential, no raise potential. You are required to be in the field from 8-5 and do the massive amount of admin work at night and on the weekends. This job is only feasible for someone who is single, has no children and has no life. On a related note, that's probably the only demographic for the low salary. Managers are graded on ability to retain talent. It is not the fault of the managers. It is way above them.
 








OK. So, I can understand the acquisition of Eurand, sort of. The marketing team and the team in charge of getting Ultrase approved seriously dropped the ball, so instead of waiting for the approval to go through, they acquire another company that manufactures Ultrase and has manufacturing capabilities. Not only did they spend a ton of money acquiring this company, but we now have two products that do the exact same thing. And by the way, this is not going to fix our relationships with our CF Centers. That ship has sailed and unfortunately, so has the respect for this company. Maybe that was the reason Axcan Pharma was put to sleep and Aptalis Pharma created. Either way, we now have 2 products that do the exact same thing and I can't wait until our December meeting to find out how these products are marketed. P1,P1?

Then we go ahead and purchase a product for CAF's. It did great in Europe in the 1980's, so why would it not do well in the U.S. in 2012? Did no one really think that the pricing of this product should be competitive with the already established compounded products that cost less than $30 to compound and have very little side effects. Not to mention that the compounded products were the physicians and patient's first choice. Let's not examine the pros and cons of a product and do as little market research possible before we spend millions of dollars to purchase it. We have a great coupon now, but why was that not the first option from the get-go.

I'm curious if we will be getting our Holiday time off this year. I sure hope that Aptalis realizes all of the crap they put us through this year and tries to stop some of the bleeding. I wonder how many other reps would be leaving if we did not get that additional time off? Only time can tell. Training Dept, get ready, because there are going to be some very busy times ahead.
 




So where are all of the reps going? Seriously! Please help, I need a little direction. I don't know how much longer the pharma gig is going to last with all of the rules and regulations, accessibility issues and so on. I think that Aptalis may be trying to make a last push at acquiring as many products as they can so that they can maximize their sale potential once we go public. And, of course, some of the big wigs would be retiring. Well played.
 




Everyone is looking at this post, but no one says anything. Typical Aptalis employees. Scared to say anything that may help better your jobs and careers. You guys are all suppositories
 




400,000 CAF's in the USA annually. Brilliant. over 400 dollars for a 30 gram tube of vaseline and a small amount of nitro, brilliant. Promote Viokase and it will only hurt Creon, brilliant. Bring Ultresa back? okay brilliant. Management will push hard to boost profit margin, hope tpg sells and they can bank leaving Aptalis reps who haven't been here long screwed. Who wouldn't look for a better opportunity?
 




Anyone excited about our holiday time off? Three days. I'm going to sleep in one day, get my hair done the next and maybe go hit up a cardio bar the next. Then it back to work.

How is it that, from FV himself, we expect to launch have launched five products or product extensions in a years time and we are only getting three days off. That's less than a day for each product. Thanks Aptalis.

We want to be big pharma, right? The why don't we get paid like big pharma, have budgets like big pharma and drive company cars that are one bolt away from total collapse. RobT, or Mr. Apvartis. Lead us through a path of chaos and unrealistic expectations and you will get the same in return. It takes a lot more money to train a new employee than it does to pay us what the industry average is for Specialty Pharma sales.

Sincerely,

Irritated
 








Anonymous said:
They're going anywhere there's better products, better management, and less admin BS. if i see one more tracker my head will EXPLODE
Click to expand...

You forgot more money. Any company in GI knows they can pick off Aptalis reps out of our line up. The reps here are the most hard-working and underpaid reps out there. And, as of recently, are also used to putting up with a ton of bullshit. Who wouldn't leave for more money, better products and a better pipeline? We are easy targets and other companies will snatch us up.
 




Post is barely a week old and there are already 1300 views. Either corp is looking and taking notice or, there are so many open positions that possible hires are doing a little research before they consider this company.
Advice: right now, I would stay away from Aptalis. Used to be a great company but can no longer be said based on where the company wants to be in the near future. Big Pharma mentality and Aptalis don't get along at the present time.
 




Question: why don't we get announcements anytime someone voluntarily leaves the company? We used to get an email before we became Aptalis. Lets bring back the announcements so we can see who will or won't be at the next meeting.

Are you guys trying to cover up or hide the amount of people leaving the company?
 




Agree 100% The reps I know are either in the process of finding a new job, interviewing or brushing up their resume's. Getting your goals 1 week before the quarter ends? Really? I think its very obvious upper management wants to pump up the value of the company hoping TPG will sell so they can walk with alot of cash. Even the managers who have been around for a while are on board. Unrealistic goals which are not even given until the quarter open, Rectiv is so over priced it is an embarassment, 3 enzymes competing. Any rep not looking or preparing to get out of here will regret their decision soon enough.
 




Seriously maybe they should wait until one month after the quarter is over to give us our goals! Viokase vs. Ultresa vs Zenpep? Rectiv ???????????? Seriously this has many worried
 








Congratulations, Aptalis. You finally managed to piss off your field sales force this much. Usually, this loyal bunch leaves CP posts alone and lets them go stale. Take the action on this thread as a very bad sign. You have pushed us all way too far.
 




Prediction. Maybe even factual.

Between Oct and years end, 15 or more reps will leave Aptalis. Anyone care to wager? Management? Corporate? Training? This company has gone downhill and Aptalis will soon realize that all of the mistakes and careless decisions they have made is going to bite them in the ass. I have never, in my days as a rep, seen such poor decision-making from a company trying to reach the billion dollar status.

TPG. If you want to make any money on Aptalis, I suggest you take Aptalis public ASAP. The company is being driven into the ground by a management team that can no longer control or maintain their decision-making skills or motivate their sales force.

Ironwood stirred the pot and now everyone in the company knows what a decent salary should be for a specialty Pharma rep, what potential bonus potential opportunities exist with other companies, and what it's like to market and sell a new product. Not a relaunched product with a different name, but an actual new product.
 








Is it really this bad? I had heard great things about this company from a recruiter and I was going to put my name in for a spot in the MWest, but I'm going to pass and go with another company instead. Good luck to everyone at Aptalis.


Craptalis is pretty funny.
 




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