Implant Direct / Sybron comp plan

Discussion in 'Sybron/Implant Direct' started by Anonymous, May 3, 2011 at 5:15 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    This is a very distorted statement. ID does have good products but "growth like never before" is somebody's wet dream. I am seeing it already, the plateau effect. Our reps (both ID & SIS) are not happy and they are becoming burnt out and careless. Dr. Niznick, you have triple the fleas you initally had when you introduced this embarrassing comp plan. Most, including myself, are looking and will leave but it has to be for the right opportunity.
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Any reps that were looking to leave and thought the grass was greener in other industries, have already left and it amounted to about 4 in total out of 50. We have not lost a single rep to another implant company. On the other hand, we continue to add about 4 reps a month mostly coming from other implant companies or reps that left other implant companies for "greener" pastures and now want back in the industry. We understand that any rep would leave "for the right opportunity" and that rep can give himself or herself a raise just by selling more products. In fact, they all get raises next year because their quotas/baselines do not go up from this years so they just add to the sales increases they generated this year. Assuming you are really an ID or former SIS rep, and not just acompetitor rep trying to sow seeds of discontent, you are not qualified to speak for the happiness of the other reps. In today's ecomony, working for a profitable, growing company is enough to satisfy most people because they know there jobs are secure if they perform. ID's expanding product line help them grow their sales by expanding their potential customer base. When Nobel, Straumann or Zimmer launch a new product, it is targeted at its own customers to allow the company to raise prices. Zimmer sells its Tapered Screw-Vent for $386 and just introduced another version of this implant with blast surface to the top and with micro-grooves. Many other companies have been selling tapered screws with these features for years and ID along with Astra has a patent on Micro-threads which add to the stability. Zimmer finally made these design improvements and sure enough raised the prices to $396 per implant. Implant Direct is selling the Legacy1 with micro-threads for $125. That makes if fun for ID reps to go into a Zimmer customer and show the doctor better products at better prices. If that sort of thing does not turn you on, then you should not be selling implants and you will probably not be successful selling any product.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Trying to sell a $125 product vs. a $396 product when you are paid on dollar volume growth is not attractive. Having specialists doors permanently closed to you based on negative reputation is not attractive--because that's real growth potential in new dollars for the real players. Having no regenerative or digital solution offering as an adjunct is not attractive--no other foot in the door. For these reasons ID is not seen as innovative--just cheaper screws with a cheaper, older surface. There are a ton of them out there with no share for a reason--they're not as good. Not fun when the rep's opening line (if they even get that far) is "let's look at price, doc". Anyone valuable who knows these things is leaving or trying to, and the ones that may replace them do not have other options, or simply don't know these facts.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I would put it another way..... Trying to sell a $396 product vs a $125 product from Implant Direct is not attractive. Specialists by the thousands are buying Implant Direct Sybron products including regenerative products brought over from SIS. IDS will soon have a state-of-the-art software package for Image Guided Surgery and is now making surgical templates for several beta test centers. As for the surface being old, the Zimmer, Lifecore (Keyston) and BioHorizons implants use the same surface dating back to 1990. In the last 20 years, Straumann went from TPS to SLA to SLActive while Nobel went from Machined, to TiUnite and Astra went from TiBlast to etching with FL after TiBlast. 3i went from Machined to Osseotite, to Nanotite. None of these "new" surfaces have proven to be any better clinically than the HA blasted surfaces known as SBM or RBM. These premium priced companies just keep re-inventing their surfaces to justify price increases. If you have to sell on a BS story of "improved surfaces" you probably do not have much to talk about with regard to design, packaging, prosthetics or price advantages. Implant Direct reps, which I am sure you are not, are excited about the product innovations, value and estensive product line they are selling. Soon they will be offering the SwishPlus which will open the door to Straumann customers like the RePlant did to Nobel customers and the Legacy did to Zimmer customers.

    Don't spend your time fantizing about what you think an IDS rep is thinking. Either become one or go out there and face the harse reality of selling against our products.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    The ID reps are not excited-far from it. No seasoned professional I know would rep that current line or deal. You are not in my customer's or coveted offices, so I'm not competing against you. And third, you are a sideshow circus, firmly cemented, no matter how you spin it, in the lower tier of offerings. You may one day be the champ of the minor leagues--that's your only hope.

    When do we get to see a public, documented press release on sales numbers?
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I'm telling you guys, the reason why they "might" be doing well is that they probably manufacture implants as third party for other int'l implant systems. Whether or not they compete in that same market it doesn't matter, they either sold it or made if for someone else, which means they sold it anyway. It only explains why their factory is "busy."

    ID somehow thrives on frugal GP's, but that doesn't help long term growth. The GP's don't buy in bulk, only as need (which sucks for their inside sales team). Once that GP becomes disenchanted for whatever reason, they can easily walk away and conclude that "Yep, I got what I paid for."
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No products produced for any other company. No need to. The machines stay "busy" due to the fact that IDS makes over 2600 individual parts and is always doing R&D on the next product. This creates quite a busy place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    We are expanding by leasing another 19000 sq. ft factory near the current facility. Implant Direct will expand its abutment line to include those for Astra, 3i and NobelActive to go with its Straumann, Nobel, Zimmer and BioHorizon's line - One stop shopping for the labs and restorative dentists.

    As for targeting "frugal GP's"... (that) don't buy in bulk", you have hit on our marketing strategy. The compeition wants to load up the dentists with bulk orders using large discounts. We have one price whether you buy 1 or 1000 implants which is essential for the dentists doing under 50 a year, and attractive for the dentists using more because why should they tie up there money when they can order online and get any product the next day? We don't do swap-outs other than for SIS products, and we do not do consignment inventories, pay oppinion leaders, throw money at universities, give open accounts or fund the marketing of our customers other than setting up a free RealChoice website. Combine this business model with list prices 70% less than the major implant companies, the most efficient manufacturing facility, the most intuitive shopping cart, the broadest product line in the industry and you will start to understand why Danaher put a $300M value on this company after just 4 years of operations. We are adding about 4 new reps a month with no limits on the number of experienced reps we will be hiring this year.
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you are adding more reps, this means that your current reps are going to make less money while having baselines increase and territories shrink. I didn't think it was possible for us to make any less money than what we make now. You can talk about job stability all you want, but it is simply impossible here to earn more than $90k per year, year after year. There is one good thing about this job, you don't have to work that hard at all because you know that if you grow 15% vs 30%, the difference in your paycheck is just a few hundred bucks. Pathetic.
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I'm hungry, where is Michael "Leprechaun" Kennedy at? I need him to go make me a Turkey & ham sandwich and don't forget the mayo asshole and make sure my Coke is room temperature.
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I am so tired of reading all of the threads on here that are false and misguided at best. Let's talk the truth...open and honest truth...

    I have more knowledge than most about Implant Direct's business model and products. 1st, Jerry makes a damn good implant that is innovative and works beautifully. Anyone who has used ID's implants will attest to this. I don't care what you say, but most of the negativity about ID's actual product is spewed by reps from other companies who really do not understand their own products, let alone the competition's (c'mon, you all know I am right). His other strength lies in the control he has over the company...when Jerry or someone trusted by him has an idea for a product he can begin the R&D immediately and roll out a product with FDA approval within a year. Brilliant!

    With that being said, his control is also his greatest weakness. The morale with both the inside and outside sales reps is beyond depressing (factually, both the GOOD inside and outside reps are grossly underpaid by an unfair commission structure). The problem is the management Jerry has chosen to trust and the negativity that is bred into the management starting from Jerry himself and working it's way down.

    The inside Director has Jerry convinced that the majority of the sales are generated from the inside, but the reality is that the territories that are doing the best are the territories that have a good outside rep with a decent relationship with their inside rep. In the Director's haste to fill desks, she and the HR Director (who EVERYONE in the company fears and dislikes because she will backstab you in a heartbeat) have hired inside sales reps in which 2/3's of them do not have the mental capacity to really help a doctor and are just there collecting a paycheck while making 50 calls a day (whether to actual people or fax machines). 2/3 of the inside sales reps are really just glorified telemarketing babysitters reporting what the outside rep's every move is to the inside managers.

    Speaking of managers, if we are being frank and truthful, there is only one manager on Jerry's inside team that is worth anything and actually does more than send out motivational emails, design massive 'big brother-like' spreadsheets and bully her team through the fear of public humiliation by being talked down to, but Jerry's blind loyalty to the Director there will never allow the inside sales team to rise to the full potential it could have because he'd have to get rid of her (which he will never do).

    And, whomever stated that the customer relationships are going to be managed by the inside reps (whom Jerry himself constantly refers to as telemarketers) while the outside grows the new business, you are sadly mistaken. The sole focus of the inside reps is how many outbound phone calls are on the board, not the actual quality of the calls being made. The relationships now are actually maintained by the customer service reps, who luckily do their jobs well because they place the actual orders which must be done accurately. The relationships cannot be managed by the inside reps, nor does Jerry really want them to be because he stands by his original business model: ONLINE ordering.

    You also have to understand that Jerry's outside sales team are not just the bottom feeders or recent college grads. He has some amazingly talented reps out there with more clinical knowledge than you can imagine, but again, Jerry's blind loyalty to MK, who brow-beats and demoralizes them, will never allow them to have the morale necessary to make ID into one of the Big 3 implant companies Jerry would like.

    You could fire the Inside Director, two of the 3 inside sales managers and 2/3 of the inside sales reps and the company would grow as fast as it is now because you'd be left with an inside manager who actually knows how to manage a sales team and bring up the morale in the building, a few really talented sales reps and customer service who places all the orders anyway. If you then coupled that with getting rid of the negativity of MK on the outside, letting the regional sales managers actually manage the reps and giving the outside territory reps a fair comission structure that allows them to want to manage the relationships with current customers and go after new business, ID WOULD BLOW UP AND BECOME A MAJOR PLAYER WITHIN THE IMPLANT INDUSTRY.

    ID is a company started by an incredibly talented man with ingenious business and product ideas. ID has a great product, talented outside territory reps, a few really smart people on the inside fighting an uphill battle and state of the art manufacturing. But ID is also a company that is constantly held back by control, ego, misguided loyalty and people who cannot get out of their own way at the expense and reputation of the company itself.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    "One stop shop" for parts that aren't made to go with manufacturer's implants. Great. I can't see any increase in negative outcomes there, can you? Thanks for thinking of me, the patient. Credibility loses again.

    "Most efficient manufacturing facility, most intuitive shopping cart, broadest (there's that unnecessary marketing term again) product line in the industry"......none of this matters (never mind untrue or not) when your product is nowhere near the best.

    Danaher put a 300M value on this company because they were bamboozled. It happens to the best of them. They could have shown the correct amount of diligence and patience and bought Astra--a better product with real data, credibility, and presence in the marketplace.

    If you plan on getting and keeping salespeople, you need to tell them the truth about what their employment will be like (very frustrating) and not spout fairy tales about what they are representing. With a quick background check on these facts and it's mess internally, they will get the picture: a low-tech device to a small, uninformed segment of the market. Sounds like a great career move. Where do I sign up?

    Keep those machines running. You don't want to run out of product....
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Implant Direct was purchased for 300M. Nothing to sneeze at, don't get me wrong. The point I want to make is this:

    Take a look at all those med device companies that are for sale. Most are rumored to be in the Billions. Although it's apple to oranges, Astra is worth 2 billion (minus a small fortune from the urology and cancer biz). That is well beyond 6x the valuation to ID. Atlantis was sold for 71 million, which is 4x less than ID. The grand scheme of it all, ID's worth is not all that much, which reflects their poor marketshare.

    So why are we wasting our time? Sure, we all have some ID guys in our Terr. I look at the ones that use them in my area and I say "good." The time I have to spend training those guys to place is not worth it. Leave it for the ID reps, which they are not skilled to train to place, and therefore will lead to GP's being disenchanted by an issue, and poof, just like that they are gone.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Sounds like an exit interview of an inside sales person who was terminated. Amazing how the people that couldn't cut the mustard and were separated from the company always seem to know best how to run the company!
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Sounds intelligent, well thought out and articulated to me.
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Here's a quote from an article. The link to the article will follow the quote. It's regarding how a Med head hunter shadowed a rep who works for a major endoscopy company to experience a "day in the life" of a med rep.

    "The nurse manager complimented the CET rep on his strong customer service, and grumbled about another company who had recently switched to a 1-800 number for all product issues. “When I have a patient on the table, I don’t want to call a 1-800 number and talk to someone who doesn’t know me or my situation.” She finds it harder to get things resolved quickly, compared to speaking directly with a sales rep for an immediate answer.

    She also shared her experience about working with a rep who became “livid” when she had decided to buy from another company. The rep tried to low-ball on price. She told him flatly that was not how she did business. The rep then said he would go to another person in the facility about the purchase.

    Not a smart move.

    It was the nurse manager’s turn to be livid. “Excuse me,” she said to the low-ball sales rep, “I think you are misinformed about who is buying the product.” To us she explained that she wants to do business with someone who shares her ethics and values, and is honest and fair. This particular rep was someone she would never buy from as a result of this incident."

    http://www.massdevice.com/blogs/lisa-mccallister/day-life-medical-device-sales-rep-0

    Sounds familiar doesn't it?
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You mean the Nobel Reps selling at NobelActive to an OS for $200 and to a GP for $399 or a Zimmer rep selling the Tapered Screw-Vent to a GP for $386 has not changed since 1999 when Niznick sold it for $175?
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    What is your point with this article and where is Leprechaun Kennedy with my Turkey sandwich and Coke?
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Nice people, but this company's pay scale makes it difficult to want to take a job here. Thank you for all the posts!
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    This is probably the best post on this blog - it only sctratches the surface but very accurate. Thank you for posting and being so honest.