why do pharma reps think they can sell capital equipment?

Discussion in 'The Darkened Sample Closet' started by Anonymous, Aug 9, 2006 at 12:26 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Yes, except pharma reps don't have to persuade hospitals to part with 500k-1 million dollars. Come on.
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You're right. But a capital rep would struggle to sell this device if he couldn't prove that the hospital would make money off of it. I would part with that much money if I knew I could recoup the cost and make money off of it within a year.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    One of the most honest and insightful responses I have ever read on CP.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You guys all act like this is a zero sum game. I was a pharma "rep"....notice I didn't say Sales Rep.

    Moved onto Capital Equipment and I work even less than I did in pharma. I work 30 hours a week, have decent numbers and stay off of the radar for my small device company. Shit year I do 145. Good year I do 185. B

    If you are good at selling, capital equipment is damn easy. If you don't know how to prospect, develop a sales funnel, short-term and long-term plan, listen, present and ask for the business, then negotiate price, financing, ROI Selling, you'll flop.

    Most pharma reps I worked with never sold anything so you cant blame them for not having these skills. I sold copiers right out of college, then went into pharma, and when I went into medical device, I forgot what I knew about pharma and slid right into device no problem.

    Be honest, we are all just working idiots. You are always at the mercy of someone above you, politics, the almighty dollar, etc.

    You only go around this world once, so do what makes you happy. For me, pharma was a miserable existence, so I got out. However, most of the people in my district were genuinely happy doing it, especially the women because it afforded them so many freedoms.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    All I learned from this was bla bla bla.

    You people need to grow up.

    Sales jobs all suck unless you have your own business, and those of you that make over 100k-200k or higher and think you have it all by the nuts are just fooling yourselves.

    You are just slaves to high taxes and corporate structure.

    If you want to see the real sales people, they are not working in a corporat structure.

    Instead, they are commission only or have their own business.

    Unfortunately, not many of you on this site have the guts to do this or have the self motivation to do it.

    My favorites are the medical device reps that think they are the holy grail of sales and competition...

    you are the biggest jokers out there.
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I see your point and participated in the industry like you did. It appears to be common sense.

    As you age, if you do not hit some corporate mile stones in promotion you will soon be mandated to a rep by the "machine" and eventually choked out of pay check.

    It is a very short period in life that allows for such selection. Keep on the look out for opportunity because they are few and far between as we move into the next ten years.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you are an independent sales rep or own your business you or no less a slave than those who work for a company...

    Don't kid yourself.

    They still answer to the bank who financed their capital equipment, their customers, their employees, their investors, their partners, the economy, etc.

    I have no desire to start my own business to be the hero you say they are. Try paying for health insurance on your own for a family of 4. You are probably looking at 20 grand a year just for that, and add another 10 percent per year on that amount.



    Methinks not.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    It is rough being unemployed... My husband had about 6 months of unemployment this year and it sucked!! After about 4 months of unemployment he was being asked in interviews why he had been unemployed for so long, after only 4 months?! So I can't imagine what a lot of the people on here have been describing... I suffered through the last 4 years of pharma after having a good 6 years prior to that... I dreaded getting out of bed everyday and would sit in my car staring at a clinic for an hour trying to talk myself into going in... I must say though that I
    Got very very lucky, landed a job in diagnostics and medical equipment... I took the advice of another med device rep that had pharma background and came up with tangible sales examples, which is tough because of the nature of pharma, but I had a single layer territory so I didn't have the inevitable pod selling questions... I do agree though that networking is key, I got a ton of advice from other reps on how to interview with a pharma background in med devices, it definitely gave me an edge... The verdict is still out with the $$$ and time, but I will say that I am being treated like an adult and I Don't feel like a number... I did have to take a slight decline in my salary, I didnt care though!!!! Anything to get out of pharma!!!! Best of luck to all of you!!!
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Of course it is not real selling, but you have to spin it like it is. I got out after 5 years and I will gross almost $250K this year selling capital equipment. I had to take one "lesser" job to get out of pharma, but after 18mos of that I get to make twice as much as I ever did in pharma. There are ways out, just most pharma reps aren't cut out for "real" sales
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Another idiot bragging about how much money they make.

    250k after taxes is about 150k.

    Regardless, people that brag about how much money them make are stupid.
     
  11. Drug Dumper

    Drug Dumper Well-Known Member

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    90% of the time they're lying, too.

    People who brag about their incomes are usually brainless idiots.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Yeah but a pharma rep's salary after taxes is about 50. So go figure.

    You'll find that the driving force for most real sales people is money.
    I am not the poster you referred to in this post, but as a device rep in my job, all I care about is my income potential and upward mobility. Sure, my product helps people to "get better" but there is nothing more or less altruistic about selling a device as there is selling a car or house.

    People that got into pharma or medical device "to help people" are full of shit. Like me, most people got into sales after college because they didn't know what to do with their lives...But I don't care, I make fantastic money and work 20 hours a week. Case in point, it is Friday, around noon, and it is naptime.
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Correction, after taxes I will make about $160-170K, I had paid in about $70K last time I looked. There is no reason to brag on an anonymous board. The post is just to let those who are ambitious enough know that there is a way out.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Ambition is over-rated because everyone dies.

    It is better to a. stay out of debt ALWAYS, b. find a job that you like, c. live a simple live.

    People with ambition (I actually have ambition, unfortunately), are realing fooling themselves by working so hard...

    I mean, do you really think rich people work hard? NO. Instead, they make money off of our peoples' backs and play golf all day, and drink, and cheat on their spouses. They are called bankers, mostly.
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    You can still make great money in sales and work 40hrs or less a week. It is just using good time-management. You sound like one of those Occupy Wall Street losers complaining about how rich people are so bad. Quit being a pussy and work a little smarter
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    WHich Occupy Protest are you a part of?

    The vitriol towards bankers is laughable. So many of you occupy protesters don't want to spread the blame, which includes

    Bankers
    The American people themselves who bought shit they couldn't afford
    The government for insisting everyone should own a home

    Come on now...
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest


    You don't know shit about banking, or how much power they have, do you?

    FYI, they run the planet.
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Yup, you know those evil bankers, they are all Illuminati, worship Satan, drink the blood of babies and all meet at a location called "The Meadows" where the world's most powerful people meet to screw the middle class.


    Let me guess, you are a "share the wealth" sort of guy?
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Absoute opposite of share the wealth, which points to how little you do you know about the world of banking.
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I don't care about banking. I have a good job and a happy family. Are there powerful interests that manipulate folks like me? Sure. Do I care? No. Why not? Because there is nothing you or I can do it about it. The system of power and wealth in the hands of a few folks is no different than it has been for eons. The difference is, I don't dwell on it. I realize I am another brick in the wall and if you think of yourself otherwise you are seriously out to lunch.

    So, while conspiracy theorists love to revel in this, I will enjoy time with my wife and child and go to a work and do the best job I can do. I will die one day and nobody other than my family will care. And I am okay with that.

    "All in all, you're just another brick in the wall..." Deal with it.