Former VP Award Winner: "I found out I totally suck at sales."

Old timer here...Pushed out of Merck by the CTL Gestapo in my
50s...

Reinvented myself as a sales guy in a different (unrelated) industry.

After about a year of it, I had an epiphany!! Not only do I hate sales
at this point, I completely suck at it...

The point of my story?? Pharma detailing at Merck IS NOT SALES PEOPLE!!

MANY OF YOU WILL FIND THAT OUT soon enough...What you thought
was a sales job, was a ridiculously over-paid, powder-puff promotional
gig...

Real sales where you eat what you kill, will eat up most ex-Merck reps...

It ate me up for sure...And for all the haters that will bash on me for this
admission, wait until you get your first, real, actual sales job...boy are you
in for a shock!

 

Allow to to first call you out------troll.

I have 15 years in pharma and have sold insurance, cars and transportation services. It's really no different. Then one area that is tough is straight commission. Usually reserved for those with no degree. So I call BS

 

OP is spot on. A copier sales rep could run circles around most Merck reps. Pharma sales is bs in general.

 

Or reserved for those with exceptional guts and confidence.

Also reserved for those who take that risk to make real money.

Ever heard of a distributorship Mr. 15 year pharma? You have no idea the amount of cash a performer with courage can make per month on straight commission.

 

A copier repairman can run circles around anyone in R&D. Is there a point? Where is that pipeline?

 

I guess all I have to say about this is no freaking duh. If anyone really thinks a sales job where you don't get fired for poor sales or the fat check keeps coming every two weeks, thinks its really is crazy. Do you really think talking for 25 seconds to someone in the hall way or dropping samples is a sales job is only trying to make themselves feel better.

 

Go ahead and call BS my Merckoid skeptic…does that make you feel better Mr. "It's really no different?"

If anything you are the troll…Anyone with an IQ over 40 knows that pharma "sales" is by no stretch of the imagination, a real sales job…And by the way oh wise one…I've got news for you…The whole Big Pharma industry is an absolute parallel universe, that operates under its own bizarre set of rules, with a culture completely unique to any other industry.

(Where else can you fleece the public with huge margins selling snake oils??)

Well, I guess if you need to feel that it is no different to prevent your small brain from experiencing crippling cognitive dissonance, keep your belief system in tact…You need that to get out of bed in the morning and go get your signatures for the day..

 

someone as dumb as you could never be a top performer in anything.

 

oh I agree with you completely…Luckily for me, I did not to be a top performer to exit Merck in my 50s as a millionaire…

Sort of sucks to be you young whippersnapper…tracked like an animal with an IPAD, and getting all those food stains on your shirts from Schlepping Olive Garden in to the offices everyday…

Yeah…I am dumb…thanks for your illuminating remark.

 

Copiers Schmopiers---that sale is all about the price. It's a joke.

Want to test yourself? Sell pharma products straight commission. You'll find out who your friends are real fast. The good reps FLY HIGH, the trash sells nothing.

 

That says it all, except you forgot to list your gig in shoes sales.

 

Glad your fucking gone Troll! My guess is you won VP by either being carried
by your partner, or some MHC win. Either way Go to hell!!

 

oh my!! Aren't we hostile?? Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?? Use the F-word during your product discussions with docs??

Looks like Merck hired a real winner with you cochise...

 

You hit a nerve. Clearly a salesperson that think he has some special skills.

 

I don't think OP is a troll.

There is no way sales can be tracked back to one rep these days. May be 30 years ago when there was one rep per territory and did everything. So many reps and other people with titles drifting in and out of a territory. Then there are contracts.

It is getting harder to do a lot of busy work and claim the glory but still doable in pharma sales.

There is no please sign on the dotted line. Watch someone selling a listing on the Yellow Pages really sell the doctor and the office and how he/she closes the sales with paperwork ($).

 

You are so correct. Merck is so screwed up all employees take the operations here for granted. The other day an office staff asked me about Januvia. I mentioned that we have 3 reps "selling" Januvia. She told me that is crazy. I agreed with her 100%. There is no way Merck can know which of the 3 reps are selling Januvia. But it show you have this poor tactic of 3 reps with the same product in the same geography can be so easily accepted by employees over time as well as management. It is total fantasy land. And it gets better when they select one of the reps for a VP award. Unbelievable!

 

I call BS on your BS cochise...

 

If pharma "sales" is really a sales job, why do so many ex-DMs admit the job is not really a sales job when they get tossed?

I agree with a previous comment that the industry has its own culture and its own set of rules. Let's face it- sales reps are super spoiled, don't really work hard and have this unbelievable sense of self importance. Why does a glorified caterer and sample dropper feel this way?

 

Because the pay is better than most sales jobs.

the thing is, most reps start at a young age and it takes time to see how much they really are the laughing stock of offices for the most part.

also, it takes some time to discover that you are usually treated like crap by management, because they know that you are so easy to replace, especially if they want to get their buddy a job.

My advice is to find a sales job with more stability. A small company with your own territory is the way to go.

First, you will still make good money, and in some cases, more than you made in pharmaceuticals if you are good and work.
Second, you will have more job security. The reason is that not many people like to work and be held accountable. You never see that in pharmaceuticals, because people always want to take the credit when things are going good, and blame others and back stab when things are going bad.
Finally, you can be yourself and let your "hair down" with these more dynamic, real sale jobs, because you can candidly talk to your manager, as most of these managers are concerned about one thing: getting the territory productive.

why I ever got started in this industry is because of the money. BIG MISTAKE. 15 years later, I finally found a good fit. I sleep better, I am more motivated, and no more corporate games.

Final Pick: exit the pharmaceutical industry and look for a company with less than 1000 employees, with your own territory, decent products that can compete, and if possible, low turnover and stable.

 

A copier sales rep will kill for a sales job w/Merck