Zimmer Sales Academy

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Anonymous said:
I am recommending you stop reading this stupid thread. $191k first year working under a senior rep is total BS. You will be lucky to make a $60k guarantee for a year. The new reps that get their own territories go on commission and then you make less. If you work under a senior rep you will make $40k and work your ass off. You have a non-compete contract and you are screwed.
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You are either a jealous rep from another part of the country, or just a complete dips$*t. You don't know what you are talking about so please stop posting on this board.
 





















This post is doing a disservice to people who are considering this program. I have been in this industry a while and can tell you most of the above is complete BS. I'm sure this program is a great way to get your foot in the door. I'm sure this program is a great learning experience, especially for people with no experience. This is way better than paying to go to AIMs or one of those places. The only people in Ortho who make 190K or really over 100K their first year with a company either brought relationships with them from a previous company or have been in this business a while and negotiated a good deal to relocate and take over a territory that had business and needs a rep. When you start out, you bring nothing to the table in terms of sales. Sales are how the territory gets paid and how you get paid. They will have to teach you product, ordering and processes, introduce you to docs and or staff, allow surgeons to be comfortable with you being there to cover their cases, etc. The Zimmer academy will help you with product and learning the business. You will continue to learn everyday you are in this job. If you think this academy will make you an expert then you will fail in this job. The best thing you can do is go to this academy, land a junior rep job with a successful senior rep, and learn as much as you can from him. After a couple of years, then negotiate a better pay, ask for a territory, or go to a competitor. For an ASR or junior rep to make 191K that would mean that he was taking care of at least 2.3 million dollars of business and the senior rep paid him the entire 8% commission and kept none of it. How realistic does this sound for someone fresh out of some sales school. Be happy if you make 60k a year your first couple years.
 









Anonymous said:
The above message is completely accurate. 191k first year is remotely possible but extremely unlikely.
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Now you're catching on. Like I said, don't be jealous old man bc a young buck like me landed a good gig (I had some relationships from a prior gig as well). Maybe the senior rep was retiring/getting pushed out. Ever think of that grandpa?
 






Not so fast... the Colo dist has hired 2 of them. Just a way to make himself look like a good kid in the eyes of Zimmer corp. They cant sell, case coverage kids. Just little bitches so the others can sit in the "inner circle" and take the load off. A.L. covers his ass by doing what Zimmer wants to implement. Get us some real sales reps.
 






Anonymous said:
Not so fast... the Colo dist has hired 2 of them. Just a way to make himself look like a good kid in the eyes of Zimmer corp. They cant sell, case coverage kids. Just little bitches so the others can sit in the "inner circle" and take the load off. A.L. covers his ass by doing what Zimmer wants to implement. Get us some real sales reps.
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whats your deal? arethe z-grads incompetent of their job?
 



I came out of the Zimmer Sales Academy (ZSA) and have been with Zimmer ever since. I've been in the field for a number years. I will give you the most accurate description out of all responses.

ZSA is a great path for entry into ortho sales. I consider myself very lucky to be young and already in orthopedic sales. This, I owe to ZSA. This is not the only way into the industry, but it is probably the easiest. You are paid to learn, make numerous connections with the distributorships throughout the country, and have a very high chance of landing a job. If you do not get a job out of ZSA, you can either try to get a corporate job with Zimmer, or use the experience as a resume booster to find a job with another company.

While in ZSA, you make an annualized salary of 60k. They keep changing the duration of the program, so I am not sure how long it is anymore. Regardless, you will make good money while in it; probably more than you would at any other entry level job straight out of college.

Once graduated from ZSA, you will be placed into whatever territory/distributor needs a rep, believes in the ZSA program, and doesn't want to pay a whole lot of money for a new rep.

I was placed into a territory that is managed by a team of reps. I was never publicly considered a "junior rep" or "assistant rep", but that is what I was to the team. The first few months, they put me in as many cases as possible to get me adjusted. Once I proved that I had learned to cover cases, they started having me cover them alone. After 8 months, I was given the go-ahead to start selling and basically had the training wheels taken off.

Being young and new in a territory DOES NOT lend itself to immediate success. It takes a ton of time to establish yourself and have surgeons trust you advice. Selling to competitive guys is even harder as they see how young you are and immediately discredit whatever you have to say.

It has taken two years to gain any kind of traction with competitive doctors, but I am getting closer to a couple conversions that will hopefully take place this year.

As far as pay is concerned, other ZSA graduates and I started on salary ranging from 45-55k. Once you have proven yourself, you most likely be moved to commssion or base+commission. I was moved to commission after my first year that was calculated based off quota to come out to be very similar as my previous salary. Slowly, my pay has gone up, but never by a commission bump. This will only happen if a convert a surgeon.

The only way to raise your income drastically in this industry is to convert somebody and use that new business as negotiating leverage. Or, you need to switch companies because people always pay more for a competitive company's reps due to the competitor knowledge gained and the potential for his surgeons to follow him to the new company.

All in all, this is a good program with good long term outlook on your career. Expectation of a $100,000+ income shortly after graduating is quite lofty unless you have some luck on your side.
 



Anonymous said:
I came out of the Zimmer Sales Academy (ZSA) and have been with Zimmer ever since. I've been in the field for a number years. I will give you the most accurate description out of all responses.

ZSA is a great path for entry into ortho sales. I consider myself very lucky to be young and already in orthopedic sales. This, I owe to ZSA. This is not the only way into the industry, but it is probably the easiest. You are paid to learn, make numerous connections with the distributorships throughout the country, and have a very high chance of landing a job. If you do not get a job out of ZSA, you can either try to get a corporate job with Zimmer, or use the experience as a resume booster to find a job with another company.

While in ZSA, you make an annualized salary of 60k. They keep changing the duration of the program, so I am not sure how long it is anymore. Regardless, you will make good money while in it; probably more than you would at any other entry level job straight out of college.

Once graduated from ZSA, you will be placed into whatever territory/distributor needs a rep, believes in the ZSA program, and doesn't want to pay a whole lot of money for a new rep.

I was placed into a territory that is managed by a team of reps. I was never publicly considered a "junior rep" or "assistant rep", but that is what I was to the team. The first few months, they put me in as many cases as possible to get me adjusted. Once I proved that I had learned to cover cases, they started having me cover them alone. After 8 months, I was given the go-ahead to start selling and basically had the training wheels taken off.

Being young and new in a territory DOES NOT lend itself to immediate success. It takes a ton of time to establish yourself and have surgeons trust you advice. Selling to competitive guys is even harder as they see how young you are and immediately discredit whatever you have to say.

It has taken two years to gain any kind of traction with competitive doctors, but I am getting closer to a couple conversions that will hopefully take place this year.

As far as pay is concerned, other ZSA graduates and I started on salary ranging from 45-55k. Once you have proven yourself, you most likely be moved to commssion or base+commission. I was moved to commission after my first year that was calculated based off quota to come out to be very similar as my previous salary. Slowly, my pay has gone up, but never by a commission bump. This will only happen if a convert a surgeon.

The only way to raise your income drastically in this industry is to convert somebody and use that new business as negotiating leverage. Or, you need to switch companies because people always pay more for a competitive company's reps due to the competitor knowledge gained and the potential for his surgeons to follow him to the new company.

All in all, this is a good program with good long term outlook on your career. Expectation of a $100,000+ income shortly after graduating is quite lofty unless you have some luck on your side.
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This is the truth. Well said. I am a real old Zimmer rep with a large territory
 



Anonymous said:
Not so fast... the Colo dist has hired 2 of them. Just a way to make himself look like a good kid in the eyes of Zimmer corp. They cant sell, case coverage kids. Just little bitches so the others can sit in the "inner circle" and take the load off. A.L. covers his ass by doing what Zimmer wants to implement. Get us some real sales reps.
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If you want real sales reps why not hire some successful capital or tech reps? Nothing against recon, but the days of surgeon selling are nearing an end. You need reps who can call on those who really make the decisions (C-suite/admin).

As for the ZSA, it's a great tool for those wanting to build their career in this market. Hopefully they understand that ortho sales isn't what it used to be. Best of luck.
 



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