Simponi Expansion

This is the CRAZIEST idea to come from this new management team! The ISR franchise has an extremely small customer base, and has a high frequency among the providers. ALL pharma companies are moving away from a POD selling model because physicians WANT one rep NOT multiple. So now we have to juggle account access with a handful of physicians between our ABS, ISR, and clueless ISS. Pharma learned the lesson that more reps doesn't equal more sales. Pfizer thought if one rep is good, then more reps must be great. The model failed because physicians closed their doors for access to this thought process.

Centocor did not consider our Customers when making this decision. Access is tough, and will get tougher because physicians don't want to see a Centocor rep more than once per week.

In terms of sales, the forecast is WRONG. It is a saturated market and we sell two drugs that compete for the SAME patient. Now we have another rep in our territory that will sell against Remicade. Brilliant! We would love to get the bio naive patient you tell us to get, but the prescriptions get DENIED. The patients that get approved are switches, and we already know that the attrition is higher for these train wrecks and don't need to see it on a graph! This is very simple, if you want more sales from bio naive patients, then get better managed care coverage!

Until we get better managed care coverage, give us a REALISTIC quota. We are making an all time low in bonus, and selling two product!

 

I liked the preamble that said the feedback during town halls said we wanted job security. How does adding more reps to call on the same customers make our jobs more secure? Habig would always keep us lean and mean, to insure we were secure. Now we are getting fat like a pig preparing for the slaughter.

 

Wait until the new rep tries to call on my offices and the office says, "We already have a Simponi rep, and only allow one rep per company!"

 

I doubt these reps will not even generate enough profit to cover their salaries, benefits, and enormous travel. This is a losing business investment when expenses exceed any profits. Secondly, for any increase in sales, how can you attribute it to them vs. the original rep?

Now that i think about i, these new positions created might be the easiest job at Centocor with the least accountability. Only one product to sell, when everyone else has 2. No accountability because they do not have a territory of their own. Any increase in sales is impossible to attribute to a specific person. too bad they didn't allow the ISR's to move into this position.

 

Finally, a truly innovative idea, a brilliant idea, and if you don't get it you are a dummy. We ISRs are pulled in so many directions with two products, but now we are finally going to get some help. Doctors won't mind the extra rep because now they will be able to get all the information they need on simponi in order to understand it. And when you understand something you use it, as a wise man once said. I can't wait to partner with my new simponi rep because now I will be able to concentrate more on my Remicade sales and with that they will soar! Also with the new rep helping I will be able fo finally ease up on these crazy long work days driving all over my territory trying to sell two products. GI and derm are lucky they don't have to do this and that is why they have been more successful than us since the launch of simponi.

It was a great idea as you will soon see. I will see you all at President's club!

 

In case you all haven't figured this out, there is an internal approach to "managing cafe pharma negativism." For every 2-3 negative posts, there is always somebody who comes in and gives the rah-rah. Tell me this response is not a reword of the "business case" that somebody made for this new approach?

Bottom line is the OP here has it right. Bad idea. Small customer base, access being limited, utilization being managed by payers, a new drug that is not as good as Remicade, and is the 8th product to market is a problem. JeffMcBlowHard is desperate. There is NO WAY Simponi makes their forecast, and this is the last stand. 18 months post approval and it is falling further and further behind. This is a 6month approach that will fail. We are putting new reps out there to sell against our own product. Bizzle and McDumbass are feeling the heat.

 

We are all in this together, and so we have to thank Rob and Logan for one thing: they have heard our concerns about job security and they are doing something about it. They understand that access is difficult, that there is a lot of competition, and that pharma and state guidelines inhibit our activities. Knowing that, they are working hard to do the right thing for us. They value our professionalism and our experience, and they have no reason to want us to leave. Yet no matter how hard they try we have negative people criticising them. I hope they read this and realize what I am writing is the general felling of the sales force, and not the pessimism often expressed by people who have to blame everyone and everything for their failures. It's not being a "rah-rah" to want to do a good job for a good company with good products. If it is then I will accept that title proudly.

 

I can't wait to hear all of the fictional success stories of "teaming with the ISS" to justify someone's job and this ridiculous decision.

 

The success story phenomenon is the one of the largest fallacies in this industry and company. Success stories are floated by suck ups and insecure managers who are trying to look engaged and build a "moat of joy" around them so their leaders can manage the problem people, not the problem. The truth is our leadership-LM and BBizzle- only hear what they want to hear. Rah-rahs are going to say whatever they want to hear.

 

Yes, I remember the good old days where the success stories involved pulling patient charts while dressed in scrubs just to sell a few more vials. Somehow I don't think they would want to hear this today.

I also recall a lot of rah rah about using a certain tool to show how accounts could increase capacity and thereby increase revenue. Pure Genius.

 

New ISS here. It is interesting to hear what reps think of our new position. Think of this next time you bash us. We will be making more bonus than you for a lot less work and ZERO accountability! We don't have to worry about all the head aches with Remicade, billing, inventory, verifications, etc... Matter of fact I will be selling against it to hit my number. We get a Training bonus when none of you are even at 100%! You might be laughing at us on this board, but we will be laughing at you all the way to the bank.

 

Simponi Division will be downsized in 16 months tops. Remember Procrit Orthopedics sales force !! ?? ha-ha

 

Well that is 16 months of a free ride for these reps before this disaster implodes.

 

I think the move was stupid. But.... If this person can help me generate more Simponi sales... well...GREAT! Here is what is going to happen though. The group will fail for all the above mentioned and when it does COBI will be laying off again. Do you think the ISS will get canned? NO. It will be all the old Centocor people. GSK is hiring I would be giving them a call.

 

The trend keeps going. Save some more jobs of Ortho Biotech people with a position that doesn't even pay for it self!

 

Hey new ISS, I have one word for you: Welcome. Unlike a lot of the negative losers on this board, there are some of us that take advantage of all our resources and use that to drive us to win. I have no problem with you in my accounts and will use you (I mean that in the best sense of the word) in all my high potential accounts.

So welcome to the team and good luck with your training. Maybe we'll be sharing a drink at Presidents club together.

 

Another good post from Rob and Logan! Don't worry, I am already working on my success story of "Teaming" to justify this stupid decision.

 

Here is the chronology of the new ISS reps:

Worked for OBI as Neph, drove Procrit into the ground. Reorg. Move some to derm, GI. Kept some as HCS...failure. Reorg. Now they become ISS for a 5th to market tnf with crap coverage due to the predominant OBI SMD group that will compete with our own $4B product. Can anyone guess how this will turn out?

 

The COBI Happy police are watching you!!!

 

Another example of Rob Robot being manipulated by JD to make sure that the legacy OBIers are taken care of.

Every other pharm company in the industry is realizing that less is more. Not us. We just keep creating more specialty positions that deliver little to no incremental value. All they do is drive expenses. The right decision would be to cut them loose, sooner rather than later and take these dollars and put them into other promotional programs. More people is not the answer.