CMF, the good and the bad??

Who is the main competition for Synthes CMF? I know in some markets CMF has gone to the trauma reps, but in others there are still solo CMF reps. Is there a good future with Synthes CMF?

 

Hard to say but my guess is no. Full disclosure, I got out when JuanJose cut the rate from 12.5 to 11. I'm still close with quite a few of the reps. Seems leadership changes their approach every 18 months or so. They're so desperate to label the synthes acquisition a "winner" its anybody's guess what they'll do in terms of rep comp, product lines, geographys. I just don't trust JNJ, they're constantly looking to cut costs, and rep pay is a huge number.

 

Was a CMF rep for over a decade, don't even consider it, market share has been slipping for years! Very little support

 

This was once a great division. JnJ integrated the company under trauma and it went from a dominating market share lead to just being passed by KLS and now they are in third and continue to fall. Their compensation is the lowest in the industry. Pipeline is horrible. Their biggest issue is that even though they have CMF management again, over half of their acts are still being covered by trauma reps and that won’t change due CMF sales are needed to help keep them selling trauma in the smaller territories. The entire company is being run by guy who sold in cmf for just a couple of years. He’s a tool. JnJ will change this division once again in about two years and it will continue to decline. It’s very sad

 

i see Garfield is still bitter . . . Synthes CMF is on the rise again

 

If the territory is pretty much secured by Synthes CMF with very little competition, what are the thoughts? The area I am exploring would have trauma and cmf separate from each other. The trauma side has its own team and doesn’t cover any cmf.

 

Appears to be a good situation under current arrangement. The problem is whether JNJ will leave it as is. They always feel the need to change things.

 

the problem is why would you want to go to cmf to begin with? I was with this division for over 5 years, made some decent money, but ultimately this is junior varsity when it comes to titanium sales. The cmf call points are a pain in the ass long term, and with Stryker and KLS breathing down our back for these cases the pricing started to tumble...now go do more cases and make less money. Bailed to get into a neuro focused company doing some truly cool things. There are better jobs out there no doubt, but I guess its okay if you want to get into device sales? Although now I would caution people away from med device entirely, its not as lucrative or glamorous as it was long ago.

 

Synthes has long lost its dominance in the CMF world. Stryker and KLS overpower it because of innovation, focus and contracting. CMF was the biggest casualty after the acquisition. For a few years trauma managers were overseeing CMF without having any knowledge of the business and interest in it. Many managers and most of the trauma reps view CMF as an afterthought or nuisance. CMF business was thrown to some trauma reps as bonuses or because of their connections in the hospital but the OMF surgeons care that they are step children to trauma reps. I have heard that many Synthes surgeons have now become Stryker and KLS surgeons .....and it's a good choice. Looking to go into CMF? Avoid Synthes.

 

Synthes is trying to undue all the damage that JJG caused the last 4-5 years. They just hired ten or so dedicated CMF managers. None of them have significant management experience and most were below ave sales reps if they were ever in sales. Knowing the history of JnJ, this new experiment will last two years and they will then try something else for this division. The biggest short term issue is that they still don’t have any significant new products coming and contracting is way inferior to companies like Stryker. They are trying to hire back all the reps they have lost during this period but most of the goos ones won’t give them the time of day.

 

Posters 10 & 11 are spot on. JNJ bought Synthes, saw the management structure for CMF and just rolled it under Trauma to save $. Problem was, Trauma managers had enough to deal with managing Trauma, which on average was 85%-90% of their business. The CMF portion was too small for most of them to bother learning.

 

Knowing the history of JnJ, this new experiment will last two years and they will then try something else for this division.


Other than a lack of new product (which won't ever, ever, ever) change, this is the biggest problem with DS. Unless you have zero other options do not take a job in med device with DS. They have zero idea what they're doing.

 

DS is in fact tanking. Can’t wait to eat at their decaying business. CMF won’t gain any true traction under the new model either. No one wants to ride that broken train!

 

I’ve been with CMF for a very long time. It is so depressing to see such an amazing division be torn apart by senior leadership. Alex H. is in way over his head. Most of the reps don’t respect him and I don’t think anyone trusts Ken C. While I think dropping the hybrid model is a move in the right direction, it’s too little too late. Our pipeline is basically dry. Our competitors are passing us up. Most third party analysts say Stryker is the market leader in the US followed by KLS! No one would have imagined the day we would lose our dominating lead in this market but when you lose the majority of your good reps, market will be lost. I’m just trying to hold on for a few more years to hit the sweet spot for my pension. I think CMF is going to see another mass loss of our strongest reps in the next 5 years. So sad.

 

Biomet has the best cmf bag right now....

 

Some of those CMF managers have never sold a day in their life. That's a big kick in the ass to all of the hard working CMF reps who have been in the war zone for years.

 

And the managers that have were reps were very average or came back to us because they couldn’t sell with the competition either

 

Led the CMF world before Johnson and Johnson bought them. Is now in fourth place behind Stryker, KLS and Biomet.