In a recent CP Wire article, we noted how how frequently acquisitions are bad news for employees of the company being acquired. While this is certainly not always the case, all too often acquisitions herald trouble on the horizon for the acquired employees. We recently spoke with a device rep whose post acquisition experience highlights some of the ways employees can be harmed when their company is purchased.

To conceal the rep's identity we will refer to him as Rep M. We will also refer to the rep's previous company as either the "old company", "previous company", "acquired company" etc. The acquiring company will be referred to as the "new company", "acquiring company", etc.

CP: How long have you been in the industry?

Rep M: I have been doing this about 15 years.

CP: And what area of device sales are you in?

Rep M: I am a trauma implant consultant - the guys that are on call 24-7 365 days a year. We actually used to have that printed on our business cards.

CP: You have told us that the job has lost much of its attractiveness since your original company was acquired by a much larger company? Did you like the job before acquisition?

Rep M: Yes, I really loved it. And I wasn't alone. Before the acquisition you could hardly run guys off. We had a number of reps that had been here over 20 years. You don't see much of that anymore.

I am rare that I still have the same manager that I had with the old company. We have always had some issues with him, but in the past, with the other company, you could talk to his boss and get him reigned in. Now (at the new company) no one cares. Upper management always takes the side of the field manager and never seems to really investigate complaints in the field.

CP: How soon after the acquisition did you begin to see the changes?

Rep M: We were purchased about 4 or 5 years ago. At first there was a lot of talk about how the sales force was the most important part of the company. A lot of talk about how the employees were the focus. The new company's credo was mentioned a lot. That was just a lot of talk.

It wasn't too long before the old company's managers were let go and the focus was all on the numbers. Before you could talk with your manager's boss if there were problems and they would look into the issue. Under the new company there is no appeal to higher management. They don't seem to care about the rep's side.

CP: Can you give us an example of something that is dealt with differently now than with the previous company.

Rep M: Many things can happen to your territory that affect sales that are not the rep's fault. For example a $500K ($500k worth of business) a year doctor might leave a hospital in your region and go to another hospital. Your quota doesn't change. Your manager doesn't care that the doctor moved. He just wants to know how are you going to replace that $500k.

CP: With the previous company, would the doctor moving have been taken into account?

Rep M: Absolutely. They would have asked what was going on and looked into the matter. Adjustments would have been made. There is really nothing you can do if a doctor like that leaves your hospital.

Now you get an email with your numbers highlighted in red and a question mark beside them. Even when you explain what has happened it makes no difference. You are still held accountable for the original numbers. You can be demoted or even terminated through no fault of their own.

CP: Yes that seems to happen a lot with larger companies. Its frequently all about the numbers with little or no leeway for extenuating circumstances.

Rep M: There is none here now. Now you have a sales force that does not feel secure in their jobs. This pressure can even make some guys do some unethical things to make numbers.

CP: Such as?

Rep M: You might have someone lie on a invoice about what implants were used. They might include an implant that wasn't used. There is usually a nurse that is supposed to check the invoice against the implant log, but often the nurse just transcribes the invoice into the log.

It's a dumb thing for a rep to do because they are likely to eventually be caught. But there is enough pressure on some reps that they can feel like they have to do something like that.

CP: What are some other things that have changed?

Rep M: They added some additional products that we are responsible for selling. That is fine, but unfortunately they gave us mostly products that doctors aren't interested in. They also lowered our commission. The main problem is that reps no longer feel that their income is secure. Your pay can be drastically reduced or you can be fired for something out of your control.

CP: How might a rep's income be reduced?

Rep M: For example I know of a case where a rep who was making around $300K per year had his income reduced to about $50k. This happened after a complaint from one doctor.

CP: Do you know what the doctor complained about?

Rep M: Sure. The doctor wanted to use the rep on a case that happened over a holiday weekend. The rep had someone else covering for him but the doctor wasn't able to contact him. The doctor called the rep and said he wanted him to come in. The problem was that the rep was out of town - a couple of hundred miles away. He told the doctor he just could not make it back for the case.

After the doctor's complaint, the rep's manager took the hospital away and demoted him. The rep's appeal to upper management made no difference.

CP: Wow, that doesn't sound fair.

End of part one. Please check next week for part 2.

Part 2 of this interview can be found here.