I have an interview coming up and I would love an honest opinion about what it's like to be a rep here. I would appreciate some honest feedback. Thanks!
A little background please. Are you coming from pharma, B2B? This used to be ProEthic pharma, very similiar to PamLabs, Hawthorne, etc. DESI products...hence Lipofen. This isn't your typical NJ based pharma company, weak pay, weak benefits, and it can / will hurt you when you leave with Kowa on your resume. Very little to no bonus. Bonus is ONLY paid on growth from the previous quarter. Let's say you sell 301 prescriptions in Q1 and your quota was 300. You, my friend, are only paid for the one RX. You could probably make more comission selling cars in this economy than here at Kowa, at least they are paid per sale. Have you checked out our professional looking devil cheeseburger as our mascot? It's a real classy marketing move. Basically we are the outcasts of the industry, everyone here who has come from big pharma has been fired or laid off recently and are just collecting a paycheck. Thoughts?
Whoever likes this place, it must be your first pharma job, or perhaps your first job ever and you don't realize what a clown show this is.
Please elaborate on what you mean by clown show, I'm really looking for honest advice. Are you micromanaged? Are you treated poorly? Are you worked to death?
None of the above. Place is very low key, much less stress than previous pharma sales positions. However, as mentioned above pay could be better.
Mi advice would be, take the job, do your best, look for another one. It's better than unemployment but the level of mediocracy is really high, starting for the Dms. Few of them are very cool, but the majority sucks!! Upper management is a joke.
To the original poster, if you are currently laid off or really need to get out of your current job then continue with the interview process and look for something else after you get the job. The overall atmosphere is ok but the products are "me too" products with little to no managed care coverage, no good marketing pieces and a company that is very cheap to put any money behind the products; this does not even include the fact that the main competition is generics which cost one fourth of what Kowa's products cost. Be prepared to be offered 20-40% less than what you were making with your previous employer (on base salary) and comissions are a joke---then you get told 1 week before payday that 60% of your bonus pay will be taken from you because the company did not make its numbers. I hope the best for you because 70-80% of the sales force are people that were laid off of other jobs and came to Kowa---thus the low pay, so we truely understand where you are; but if you have other opportunities I would seriously consider them first because after 3 months with Kowa you will wish you did. Good luck, I hope this helps out.
You know what...why don't you fuckin' tell us about yourself instead of us doing all the typing? You come here asking for advice, tell us some shit!
I don't mind the typing if useful info can be relayed that will assist someone in their decision making process. Consider this little scenario, OP; And let me clarify be stating immediately that I work for Lilly(thank god), a company that has some class, some panache in the market place, and some good drugs along with a good commission scale. My partner works with Kowa. She likes her boss, but his boss, Gail, is useless. A couple of months ago, Gail set up this contest. When the contest date expired, she sent an e mail to all the reps stating that unfortunately, the way the contest was set up, a winner could not be determined, so, "sorry for the snafu" was the wording in the e mail she showed me, but the contest was off. You think stuff like that would ever fly with Lilly? I don't think so. Sure we have our problems too, but at least our upper management is a quality caliber of some pretty sharp, on the ball people.
Oh wah, wah, wah. I'm sensing a lot of crying over spilled milk on lots of these posts. Y'all are rejects, face it. Management can't put a contest together properly? Well, guess what--they're all rejects too!! Never put a contest together, honey? Didn't think so. Know why Kowa yanks your pay? Because they can. Y'all need to send in your resignations TODAY. That'll get their attention. Nobody out there to sell their "me too" drugs? They think Q3 figures sucked? Ha ha, they ain't seen nothin' yet! K O w a b un gl ed mess!! lol
Ok, so I have heard enough from those that are not happy with Kowa. I am sure that there has to be people that are happy with the company, make good bonuses, etc. If there is anyone that has anything positive to say, please step forward. All of this complaning? You know, in this economy, we are lucky to have a job. Is it perfect, no. Could improvements be made, yes. Just like any other company. I have worked for other companies that have problems also, this is not that bad. You have more control over scripts being written than you think. Uh, that is why we were hired. I managed to to get over my quota countless times with other companies that had much more competition than the statin market. Now, how does that phrase go? Oh yeah. HAVE A COKE AND A SMILE AND SHUT THE $*&@* UP YOU SPOILED COMPLAINERS!!!
Anyone who says this is a good company has no self confidence or goals in life. This is the most pitiful loser company ever
Salaries are mid-level, management sucks and their bonus is a complete joke. One thing is sure, though...your sex life is guaranteed to improve if you work for KOWA, because their reps are constantly getting screwed! You can't say you weren't warned.
