Why are managers needed right now?

hr will first focus on eliminating reps. If they can’t make face to face sales calls by July the plan will be implemented. Many customers will not risk seeing reps until vaccinations are widely available. Company can’t justify size of sales force. marketing and virtual sales teams offer headcount at fraction of price without company paying rising healthcare costs of direct employees. Competition moving to this model now. Lilly not doing yet but will be forced to follow. Company trying to do right by employees but it can’t control customer response. Don’t trust what the company tells you. I’ve seen the plans. Managers will be cut as well if plan is implemented.
 
























Area call with DBU West DOS Friday, he says we are out of the field AT LEAST until end of May. What is everyone else hearing?
HR and leadership are looking at a scenario of downsizing field sales with a new model with virtual and live responsibilities. We are entering a new era and it is very regionally dependent. We will be measuring the impact of reps to reach customers during this period to understand how best to model. We are not going back to the same model for most of the organization, especially the specialty and oncology business. Primary care is an easy call to thin the herd, multiple product portfolios, larger territories due to the virtual reach and execution metrics. Also vetting how best to integrate the abbvie model with these data points. Good luck to all.
 












HR and leadership are looking at a scenario of downsizing field sales with a new model with virtual and live responsibilities. We are entering a new era and it is very regionally dependent. We will be measuring the impact of reps to reach customers during this period to understand how best to model. We are not going back to the same model for most of the organization, especially the specialty and oncology business. Primary care is an easy call to thin the herd, multiple product portfolios, larger territories due to the virtual reach and execution metrics. Also vetting how best to integrate the abbvie model with these data points. Good luck to all.

lolol
 






Things will be very different when this is all over. No one will want any sales person of any type in any long-term care facility or hospital or many offices for that matter. Dressed in whatever is irrelevant you are an inconvenience and annoyance and no private office will want to be sued should you pick up Covid.
 






I'm sitting here still trying to figure out why DM's are needed right now. What a complete waste of money for the company. Millions and millions wasted over the past few months (and the next few months) over conference call initiators. They literally do nothing except initiate a conference calls and hand over the mic to someone else. Dear corporate, please downsize them. This is such old school pharma type thinking having them around. Offices and doctors don't want/like them and reps don't need them. If we are going to have them, at least put 15 to 20 to one manager. Then subdivide the teams to have teams leaders in groups of 5 or 6...with maybe a senior ex to lead the group and report to the DM.
 






I'm sitting here still trying to figure out why DM's are needed right now. What a complete waste of money for the company. Millions and millions wasted over the past few months (and the next few months) over conference call initiators. They literally do nothing except initiate a conference calls and hand over the mic to someone else. Dear corporate, please downsize them. This is such old school pharma type thinking having them around. Offices and doctors don't want/like them and reps don't need them. If we are going to have them, at least put 15 to 20 to one manager. Then subdivide the teams to have teams leaders in groups of 5 or 6...with maybe a senior ex to lead the group and report to the DM.

This should have been implemented a long time ago. If you hire experienced reps with a solid record of long-term success, very little management oversight is needed. Merely just administrative stuff such as expense reports, etc.
 






I'm sitting here still trying to figure out why DM's are needed right now. What a complete waste of money for the company. Millions and millions wasted over the past few months (and the next few months) over conference call initiators. They literally do nothing except initiate a conference calls and hand over the mic to someone else. Dear corporate, please downsize them. This is such old school pharma type thinking having them around. Offices and doctors don't want/like them and reps don't need them. If we are going to have them, at least put 15 to 20 to one manager. Then subdivide the teams to have teams leaders in groups of 5 or 6...with maybe a senior ex to lead the group and report to the DM.

The DM advice that I have been given the last twelve years here (from 4 different DMs) has been the same. “Keep doing what you are doing”......great...thanks for the coaching!
 






Reps, just understand we managers have earned our spot, not given. We are leaders because we have to be. Most reps would be spinning tops were it not for our guidance in leading them through their career. That's why reps are on the bottom end of the chain. IE, there's management , then there's everyone else. Live with it.
You're delusional. Reps talk about you behind your back and put up with you to collect a paycheck. Two things reps don't like - admin work and more time listening to their manager rambling on and on. We listen and pretend to be interested because we get paid to listen to you.
 






I'm sitting here still trying to figure out why DM's are needed right now. What a complete waste of money for the company. Millions and millions wasted over the past few months (and the next few months) over conference call initiators. They literally do nothing except initiate a conference calls and hand over the mic to someone else. Dear corporate, please downsize them. This is such old school pharma type thinking having them around. Offices and doctors don't want/like them and reps don't need them. If we are going to have them, at least put 15 to 20 to one manager. Then subdivide the teams to have teams leaders in groups of 5 or 6...with maybe a senior ex to lead the group and report to the DM.
I agree with having 15 reps per manager. We don't really need them anyway other than approving expense reports. They are nothing but glorified babysitters. They don't sell anything or generate any business. The ones that do "sell" are hijacking their reps calls. So where is the "coaching" if the manager is the one doing all the talking? Are they going to say "That was a great call."? Yes, that is what they do!
 






I agree with having 15 reps per manager. We don't really need them anyway other than approving expense reports. They are nothing but glorified babysitters. They don't sell anything or generate any business. The ones that do "sell" are hijacking their reps calls. So where is the "coaching" if the manager is the one doing all the talking? Are they going to say "That was a great call."? Yes, that is what they do!

I hated having a manager come like every 4 months in small pharma (when my manager had 14 people). He’s someone I learned a lot from, and if I wanted to discuss a call, I can’t just bother him while he’s in the field with someone else.
 






I had zero oversight at one pharma company I was at. I was in the top 10%, but it didn’t matter when I was interviewing bc all people wanted to know was “what is something negative your last manager said about you” “whats something positive” and I get “are you saying you’ve had no feedback, no coaching in a year”? This hiring manager did an extra interview screen with me and I ended up having a retracted offer despite answering questions about my capability to grow on my own. They said they were tickled to have me after my verbal offer until I went through a final brief chat with someone discussing in depth my layoff and managerial interactions (none)

so the point is-having feedback is really important to get a job. References didn’t help.