S**T C-line Gone?!??

Here are my two-cents from somebody who left years ago, but still knows many of the people you are bashing.

The problem isn't the people in management. It isn't even your corporate masters. The inherent issue with OraPharma is that the main product is over 12 years old, has minimal "true" clinical value, and is WAY over-priced. Every company has thought that they could turn it into a prescription juggernaut, and then realized that dentists hate prescriptions, hate added chair time, and don't give two shits about periodontal disease.

Then they always tried to add another product line to balance out the portfolio. This led to good, but not great products like Oraqix, Healos, Listerine, etc. Those products distracted from the strategy and pulled time away from actually selling the money-maker product.

I wish nothing but the best for you all, but it's time to realize that prescription products in dental just don't work and that the other products OP has now can be better done by another company.

 

All valid points. What you've missed since you left is all those people who never had the challenge of dealing with RX in the field now directing the rest of us on how to be successful. When in fact, this is the perfect situation of the field reps being led into battle by someone without battle experience. They are leading us all into the gas chamber. Many people have been fired or left because of it.

 

Spot on. The only two reasons that the original guard could have remained are 1.) they had been promoted by default once the real talent left and consider themselves to be in line for more opportunity on a higher level, even if they're holding on to the notion that this is a good idea with what, in fact, is a burnt-out shell of a company, or 2.) they have no viable options or reputation outside of OraPharma. Or, more accurately put, 1.) and 2.). Where else would these people be given any position of power?

The Arestin salespeople of today are the equivalent of the generic minor-leaguers I used to see years ago that couldn't land a better job because they simply get beat out by better salespeople with a real resume and contacts, or, they're new to the industry. If you've been among their ranks too long, you're permanently planted as a dental sales piker, destined to languish until you are asked to leave for some indiscriminate reason like Rx % of sales of tired product like Arestin, which is completely arbitrary depending on your area's acceptance rate. It's quite silly when you look at how everyone is ranked and evaluated. People who couldn't sell a bucket of water to a guy on fire win trips over there now. Much different from 10 years ago.

It was awesome to be there at the beginning, when you had to create new relationships, the need for an unheard of product for a disease state that no one was evaluating correctly or at all, and sell it for cash. The original few and proud left to pursue something better and more challenging eons ago.