MORE RIDE ALONGS??????

[Anonymous]

Are you serious????? Bad enough we have to be babysat by our managers every month, but now by home office too???? What the hell has happened to our CULTURE????

[Anonymous]

Are you serious????? Bad enough we have to be babysat by our managers every month, but now by home office too???? What the hell has happened to our CULTURE????

You're kidding, right? And how long have you been in pharma?? I never worked anywhere that didn't have a manager ride with me or an occassional visit from someone at home office.

[Anonymous]

You're kidding, right? And how long have you been in pharma?? I never worked anywhere that didn't have a manager ride with me or an occassional visit from someone at home office.

Not OP, but I have had my manager with me 3x in the last 30 days! Ugh, that is overkill!!!

[Anonymous]

Are you serious????? Bad enough we have to be babysat by our managers every month, but now by home office too???? What the hell has happened to our CULTURE????

I agree many other company's do this. But this is not the culture I was sold when interviewing with this company. And what's with the monthly emails about call averages? Seriously? If you need this info for the investors and to eventually sell the company, then fine. But it all seems a little much. I thought they were paying me big bucks so that they didn't have to babysit me! Things seem to be moving in the direction of every other pharma co. It's really a shame. I was very excited to work here....

[Anonymous]

I have not had monthly ride alongs since I left primary care 7 years ago. This is biotech. We have one product and a very small physician base for business. It's not reach and frequency, like primary care. Treat us like the true professionals you hired and let us go out and generate referrals, without having to check the box every month with our managers. Having managers in the field so often is counter-productive for business. Trust me, my customers DO NOT want to see my manager every few weeks. Let them stay in their home offices helping to free up resources to help us succeed. One ride along per quarter is more than enough is this small niche market. Wake up, this model failed 5 years ago, hence the big pharma downsizing ever since..........

[Anonymous]

I have not had monthly ride alongs since I left primary care 7 years ago. This is biotech. We have one product and a very small physician base for business. It's not reach and frequency, like primary care. Treat us like the true professionals you hired and let us go out and generate referrals, without having to check the box every month with our managers. Having managers in the field so often is counter-productive for business. Trust me, my customers DO NOT want to see my manager every few weeks. Let them stay in their home offices helping to free up resources to help us succeed. One ride along per quarter is more than enough is this small niche market. Wake up, this model failed 5 years ago, hence the big pharma downsizing ever since..........

I feel like I work at BiogenIdec, unbelivable.

[Anonymous]

the problem here is not that people from corporate will be out in the field, but that there is a required amount of days per quarter.
the moment the number of field rides for in-house personnel become mandated is the very same moment that they become a check the box exercise. that's the problem

this company seems to be getting very comfortable with the check the box mentality. having the reps become fodder for the home office is just another indication

[Anonymous]

[QUOTE=Anonymous;3936376]the problem here is not that people from corporate will be out in the field, but that there is a required amount of days per quarter.
the moment the number of field rides for in-house personnel become mandated is the very same moment that they become a check the box exercise. that's the problem

this company seems to be getting very comfortable with the check the box mentality. having the reps become fodder for the home office is just another indication[/QUOTS

Very quickly turning into Big Pharma, it was just a matter of time. Very sad.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't need to be this way. As a sales force, we are setting daily, weekly and quarterly records for referrals paid/shipped. Why ruin a good thing by overmanaging the sales people who are driving these records???? Just let us focus on our business. Save the wasted money spent on travel and lodging for these ride alongs and put it into a company match or contribution for our 401k's......It's not like we don't deserve it..........

[Anonymous]

It doesn't need to be this way. As a sales force, we are setting daily, weekly and quarterly records for referrals paid/shipped. Why ruin a good thing by overmanaging the sales people who are driving these records???? Just let us focus on our business. Save the wasted money spent on travel and lodging for these ride alongs and put it into a company match or contribution for our 401k's......It's not like we don't deserve it..........

Micormanaging will only lead to counter productivity, poor direction from upper management, they should spend their time planning a rocking, fun, reward type meeting in Cali, to reward the sales force for record breaking sales. This new micromanaging direction will only lead to a massive exit in Q3. We are the cream of the crop of the sales industry, upper management should stay stay in their offices and play ice hockey, computer games and hang man and leave us alone.

[Anonymous]

Speaking of the home office, what exactly do they do??

[Anonymous]

I agree with post #10. Very counter-productive and it will lead to a loss of some very good salespeople who drive alot of the success here at Questcor. People didn't come here to be micromanaged and told what to do. We were sold a great company with a great culture that didn't believe in doing check the box type of things. Work hard, drive referrals, have fun and make alot of money......So then why do we have mandatory, worthless ride alongs 4 times per quarter, call average emails sent monthly and so many worthless conference calls, if we are not just checking a box???? LET US CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON SETTING NEW RECORDS FOR REFERRALS AND STOP THE BABYSITTING!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Why would anyone complain about these ride-alongs? Otherwise, we would have never learned about the secret of selling Acthar.....blue-frosted cupcakes.

[Anonymous]

I agree with post #10. Very counter-productive and it will lead to a loss of some very good salespeople who drive alot of the success here at Questcor. People didn't come here to be micromanaged and told what to do. We were sold a great company with a great culture that didn't believe in doing check the box type of things. Work hard, drive referrals, have fun and make alot of money......So then why do we have mandatory, worthless ride alongs 4 times per quarter, call average emails sent monthly and so many worthless conference calls, if we are not just checking a box???? LET US CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON SETTING NEW RECORDS FOR REFERRALS AND STOP THE BABYSITTING!!!!!!!!

I wish it was only 4 times a quarter, more like 12 times a quarter, RM's are trying to justify their high base salaries. Thank you Dr. Evil, where is Austin Powers when you really need him?

[Anonymous]

The company culture is rapidly changing for the worse. Questcor is ALL about big pharma activity vs. true results...............So sad, I should have had a gut feeling that this company was too good to be true when I was sold a bunch of bullshit during the interview process..............

[Anonymous]

All of the above is so true! But the bigger problem is that the entire sales force is bitching right now! The successful ones (and we all know their names) are pissed off because they think their quotas are too high. The smaller territories are pissed off because they have to absorb extra quota for these super large territories. And now training is dumping more busy work on us during the peak of relapse season. Add to that the call average crap, managers worried that their teams are not spending enough money.... etc.

Why, why, why would you try to fix something that isn't broken? The salesforce is extremely successful without all this added crap. Do you really want to squash creativity, drive and motivation? Why does management think that doing what every other crappy pharma/biotech company did in the past and proved it didn't' work, would work here? Do they have no creative thought processes on their own? Do they need to listen to every consultant that pitches this line of bull to all the bigger companies? Stand up and be the company you said you were in our interviews and what all the former employees told us and why they stayed here! Did you not pay attention to the sales survey you sent out? Didn't most sales reps say they joined this company for the culture??? Wake up before it is too late.

[Anonymous]

You need to wake up AP............it is too late!!

[Anonymous]

Friendly advice from interested observer - I do know certain senior management at this company, and I can tell you that anonymous complaining on cafe pharma boards is likely to be viewed as very unprofessional and will probably make them LESS willing to make changes you want (and do they even look at this board?). If you want to change something, try to influence with your selling skills instead of scribbling on the cafe bathroom wall. That will earn you some respect and maybe even success.

Just an honest suggestion and you'll probably flame me out but at least I tried. Good luck and adios.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with my selling skills, I'm in top 10. So tell me why I need to be babysat every single month in the field??? It is a big waste of time and money. Like one of the previous posts, stop spending this rediculous field travel money and put it into our 401k's. The salesforce deserves it.....And I think the reason people vent on here is because we are all sick and tired of telling our managers how bad it is and to back off on the ride alongs, but to no avail. Something needs to be done and soon or Questcor WILL lose some very good people.

[Anonymous]

Friendly advice from interested observer - I do know certain senior management at this company, and I can tell you that anonymous complaining on cafe pharma boards is likely to be viewed as very unprofessional and will probably make them LESS willing to make changes you want (and do they even look at this board?). If you want to change something, try to influence with your selling skills instead of scribbling on the cafe bathroom wall. That will earn you some respect and maybe even success.

Just an honest suggestion and you'll probably flame me out but at least I tried. Good luck and adios.

Amen. It is WAY worse at other companies. I like it here and I don't mind a monthly ride along for what they pay me. What's the big deal? I don't do anything different anyway.

[Anonymous]

The big deal is TRUST!!!!!! Don't lie and try to lure good people here by selling them on a great, unique culture, then when we get here, go big pharma ape shit on us.....Remember one thing....Great performers will be great performers wherever they are. And as fast as great people came to Questcor, is just as fast as they will leave Questcor. You just wait and see. There will be many MS opportunities soon with many new products coming to market. And if you don't think they won't come calling to the ones who are great performers and have great MS relationships, then you are badly mistaken......WAKE UP SENIOR MANAGEMENT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Amen. It is WAY worse at other companies. I like it here and I don't mind a monthly ride along for what they pay me. What's the big deal? I don't do anything different anyway.

When the exodus begin and it will, I hope SP, makes a few exit interview calls. The question is will it really matter?

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but I have had my manager with me 3x in the last 30 days! Ugh, that is overkill!!!

You are obviously making impressive numbers if your manager needs to ride with you 3x a month. Don't let the door hit you on the way out douche bag.

[Anonymous]

That's just the point DOUCHEBAG!!!!! Managers have been told they have to be in the field 3 days per week and Eldon is pushing for 4 days per week. If you only manage 6 reps, that's every 2 weeks you dumbass..It doesn't matter if you have good numbers or not, it's a check the box exercise. Ride alongs should be for loser reps who don't know how to motivate themselves and sell anything. I don't need a manager to shadow me in the field, it only demotivates me and slows me down. Treat the people you so aggreessively came after with great MS relationships with the respect and maturity they were promised and BACK OFF!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

You are obviously making impressive numbers if your manager needs to ride with you 3x a month. Don't let the door hit you on the way out douche bag.

Tough words from the person called anonymous.

[Anonymous]

An above reply noted that anonymous posting on a message board gets nowhere. Mostly, they are right. But the fact that suddenly people started to vent, when for months and months there was nothing, needs to be noticed. Our company isn't perfect, but it has a unique culture. We were able to work without the typical meaningless no-value tasks that pharma is known for. That same culture even caused some of us to come back here after being laid off. That same culture, along with great $$ potential, was both a retention and a recruiting tool. Can we say the same now?

The stock is at an all time high. Record numbers of referrals are coming in. And yet, morale is slipping...fast.

DB and SC, look past some of the noise on this site and try to see the real problem. Because if this keeps up, the really good people will leave. You'll be left with a group who's only motivation will be to manage the distractions instead of growing the business.

Lets be honest, we did not come here for the pipeline. Acthar is fun, but it doesn't sell itself. Culture holds this thing together. It will also drive it apart.

[Anonymous]

They are getting you ready to be bought by big Pharma. Good luck working for Pfizer!! LOL

[Anonymous]

They are getting you ready to be bought by big Pharma. Good luck working for Pfizer!! LOL

Pfizer buys companies for a pipeline, we have no drugs in the pipeline, it amazes every day that our stock continues to hit all time highs with no research or development to speak of and no studies in MS, priceless.

[Anonymous]

That's because the "Street" likes that we actually have quarter over quarter prescription growth. Stock price is reflective of revenue/profit growth, not pipeline.

[Anonymous]

What I can't seem to understand is why we are being bombarded with all of this busy training and leadership crap in the midst of relapse season for much of the country???? Shouldn't we care more about getting referrals now????

[Anonymous]

Hmmmmmm....Board has been quiet....Everybody must be really busy doing ALL their NS training or getting ready for the next c.c.

[Anonymous]

It's funny how the post just seem to disappear on here?? I guess they don't want us to know what is going on!!

[Anonymous]

It's funny how the post just seem to disappear on here?? I guess they don't want us to know what is going on!!

Right! Dr. Evil must have them pulled off.

[Anonymous]

That's just the point DOUCHEBAG!!!!! Managers have been told they have to be in the field 3 days per week and Eldon is pushing for 4 days per week. If you only manage 6 reps, that's every 2 weeks you dumbass..It doesn't matter if you have good numbers or not, it's a check the box exercise. Ride alongs should be for loser reps who don't know how to motivate themselves and sell anything. I don't need a manager to shadow me in the field, it only demotivates me and slows me down. Treat the people you so aggreessively came after with great MS relationships with the respect and maturity they were promised and BACK OFF!!!!!!!!

You were sold a bag of goods (shit).

[Anonymous]

They all get pulled off, just like management did at last years black out NSM. I wonder if this year will be a sexfest like last year was.

[Anonymous]

More ride alongs? Not in my region. Once a quarter - maybe - and we normally just meet our manager for a quick lunch. I love it and probably won't see him again until NSM.

[Anonymous]

Lucky you. That's the way it should be here but certain managers want to play the big pharma game and be up your ass 24/7

[Anonymous]

Wow...I thought Questcor was the best kept secret for successful sales reps who cherished their independence in the field. Just like all good things in Pharma/Biotech...the insecure idiots in Upper Management always go back to their roots rather than forge an innovative approach to managing great sales people...here's a hint...Leave the reps alone, pay them well, throw out all of the Admin BS, and get out of their freakin way...

[Anonymous]

don't know where you work, but i have had just a few ride alongs since on boarding, and those few were fine.

[Anonymous]

Me too. I really don't know what all the commotion is about.

[Anonymous]

The post reads "certain" managers, not all. If you have one that respects you and treats you like the sucessfull sales rep you are and gives you your freedom and independence in the field, than great for you. "Certain" managers just don't understand that I guess.

[Anonymous]

Well then, criticize certain managers, not the practices of the entire organization. There will always be certain managers.

[Anonymous]

Please remember that the idiot managers are given directives. They must do what the "bean counters" above them put in place. Don't break the ride along factor into decisions made by managers on their own. They may have some small choice in the matter, but these managers are controlled by those above them. They will not risk their own termination because they choose to not ride along.

[Anonymous]

Thinking of joining this place...but I am enrolled in Law School, can I put in 24 hrs a week and get the job done? The product line and idiots I met in the interview process are not mensa candidates so I 've been thinking I could pull this off for at least 14 months ( that's all I need)

[Anonymous]

so Dumb

[Anonymous]

I like how idiots who don't even work here keep posting stupid comments about "managers" and "bean counters" as if they are employees. It makes it so obvious that they are not actually working at Questcor.

[Anonymous]

I like how idiots who don't even work here keep posting stupid comments about "managers" and "bean counters" as if they are employees. It makes it so obvious that they are not actually working at Questcor.

spot on laddy, spot on

[Anonymous]

Well I accepted an expansion position with your firm, I am not critical of "beancounters/managers" but would like to know a little about the culture here and really what are the people like on the management side.

[Anonymous]

They all get pulled off, just like management did at last years black out NSM. I wonder if this year will be a sexfest like last year was.

hehe can't believe it has almost been a year - that's why I stick around. Not for the trip, the food, the doctors office eye candy but the nookie I get when I attend each year.