3 years after Merck....

I'm glad for you. I really am. My timing wasn't so good. I don't expect much of anything from this toxic dump of a company.

As for your words of encouragement, they are hollow and without value. The reality is that Merck has been a terrible mistake for tens of thousands of good people. There is virtually nothing to salvage from this worthless position.

 

in 6 years of selling Cardiac meds, I never used the terms "action potential" or "t waves" or "sodium influx, potassium outflux in phase 3"...all this shit we were tested on,everyone stressed every night worrying about the test the next morning...3 months into my job I realized ALL that studying, testing, agonizing over learning all this was WASTED because NO Cardiologist wanted to discuss Sotolol's effect on Phase 1-2 of the cardiac cycle...really?? Why not? I became a top trainer for my company because I TAUGHT reps what they NEEDED to know to get TRX's- not technical medical jargon...I was # 1 in my product, so the DM made me District Sales Trainer...first thing I told EVERY rep was to forget everything they learned in ST..I was going to teach them everything they needed to know to be successful ( I was a rep 9 years by then..)..2 of them are still with Merck and still keep in touch..I was released on Black Thursday Jan 2010 during the SP takeover...I still get calls from those 2 reps asking advise...in fact, I still get calls from docs asking how I am and even questions about WHC products we sold.... 98% of sales training was never used, at least by me, in ANY office I called on...

 

in 6 years of selling Cardiac meds, I never used the terms "action potential" or "t waves" or "sodium influx, potassium outflux in phase 3"...all this shit we were tested on,everyone stressed every night worrying about the test the next morning...3 months into my job I realized ALL that studying, testing, agonizing over learning all this was WASTED because NO Cardiologist wanted to discuss Sotolol's effect on Phase 1-2 of the cardiac cycle...really?? Why not? I became a top trainer for my company because I TAUGHT reps what they NEEDED to know to get TRX's- not technical medical jargon...I was # 1 in my product, so the DM made me District Sales Trainer...first thing I told EVERY rep was to forget everything they learned in ST..I was going to teach them everything they needed to know to be successful ( I was a rep 9 years by then..)..2 of them are still with Merck and still keep in touch..I was released on Black Thursday Jan 2010 during the SP takeover...I still get calls from those 2 reps asking advise...in fact, I still get calls from docs asking how I am and even questions about WHC products we sold.... 98% of sales training was never used, at least by me, in ANY office I called on...

 

I got pushed out on Black Thursday 2010...I knew it was coming. What I didn't realize was how fresh and agile my mind became after 7 years of being a food delivery boy and sample dropper. The brainwashed ones will tell you this job is still important and how they have back door privileges and whatever but they just don't want to admit that they aren't competent to make 1/2 what they are making outside of pharma.

Glad I got out when I did.

 

...and then one morning I woke up and I just didn't want to do it anymore. I didn't want to dial into some TC and listen to some idiot drone on about nothing. I didn't want to pick up groceries for an office that could care less if I was there or not. I didn't want to sit in a waiting room full of uncomfortable chairs for over an hour to get a signature for samples they didnt need, just to prove I was there. I didn't want to " deliver the latest marketing message" to someone who wasn't listening and doesn't care.I didnt want to go home and spend two hours on e-mail reading senseless messages from some one half the country away in some cubicle who has no idea what I do.I didn't want to put up with my managers bullying for what seemed like an enternity only to sit by the phone with my heart in my throat in order to find out if I was gonna get the privledge of managing his stress all over again only to be by the same phone a year from now waiting on the same phone call.
So I clicked my heels three times, there's no place like home, didn't answer my phone, didn't record a call, let my in box pile up with more useless messages, didn't dial in or engage...you know what's happened to me so far? Nothing. I could get used to this. Let them come find me, displace, downsize, re-engineer me, or what ever the latest HR terminology is. I no longer care and it no longer matters.

 

I did not mean to be hollow in my encouragement. It was done with good intention when people are stuck in a bad situation, unwilling or not willing to extract himself/herself from it. A little bit of prayer and support is better than a stern lecture.

 

As a hospital rep the situation may be different. The residents and attending physicians will ask you about all those data. I totally agree with you the extra is how to sell those data, how to translate them into tangible benefits.

 

It was a fun-filled professional sales job in the 80's. Now it is a crappy, micromanaged, robotic, and boring job. Many of us were never brainwashed. We tried to endure the BS and have fun when the manager is not tagging along. My manager thought I was too stubborn.

One day, with enough savings and retirement money, I pulled the trigger and retired.

I ran into my former manager the other day. He was still out hustling. I was enjoying a fun meal for the entire lunch hour (60 minutes+) while he inhaled the food in 15 minutes and left with his victim of the day (the rep) to do his job in coaching (my a**).

 

Well, well, well!!!! I think I have found LOR- THE LORD OF THE RINGS!!! OP- are you in fact, who I think you are- the INFAMOUS NUVA-RING KING...AKA- LORD OF THE RINGS? I believe you were THEE only rep in Organon history to be # 1 in all EIGHT parameters- Current month, current 3 mos., current 6 mos, and current 12 mos in BOTH Market Share AND Volume??? I chased you every month for the 4 straight years that you were # 1, you son-of-a-bitch,lol....I can remember when NR the first year was at 1.7 MS, and you were at something like 6.2...the 2nd highest in the NATION was only 2.7...I remember thinking at our first POA breakout in Orlando, that you couldn't posssibly be THAT good, or that much better than all of us..then in a Regional breakout meeting, you stood up and gave a lecture on NR and how we must believe it is THEE best birth- control option available and then proceeded to discuss advantages NR had over BCP's and why the Progestin in NR was superior to all the others...you were awesome, and after a 30 minute lecture, I understood why you were kicking ass...my DM after the breakout went up to you and thanked you for all the help & ideas...most important my MS & volume started growing as soon as I got back into the field...I had heard you got released along with 1800 others when Merck took over SP...are you OK? Have you worked Pharma again? You would hate Merck, they know NOTHING about Women's Health and contraception..please respond if this is you, OP...

 

Agreed. You would have hated Merck. All of my SP colleagues who were downsized with the enormous severance package of 2010 be very grateful you were not folded into the mediocrity that is Merck. Your brain not only atrophies but your paranoia of violating a compliance policy (which could be as trivial as sending an email) is on heightened alert. Your autonomic nervous system becomes out of whack as your cortisol levels increase from your new baseline state of mind, "fight or flight." I was folded into this disaster in 2010. My selling skills were slowly chipped away from the dumbing down from the Stepford Wives mentality at Merck. Senior leadership has no balls. Everybody is covering their own ass, afraid they will lose their job. Merck equals low rent sales reps, management, and most of all senior leadership. This place is where those who are too afraid to leave stay. I admit I stayed because it is the easiest job in the world. The bar is incredibly low.

 

As much as a miss the money, I had to get out of that madhouse…I was seriously going to lose my mind, because the place is so dumb…(and so phony.) Hard to believe that a company built on such a bullshit shaky foundation can survive longterm, but they have tons of cash.

 

Ha Ha Ha, if you think the VA scandal is bad, just keep watching

 

You hit the nail on the head my friend. Merck can keep up the insanity because of the price gouging in the pharma industry. What other industry can sell a drug/product that cost $5 for $100, $200 or more? Only pharma can do that. And please don't come back with we need the R&D investments therefore we need to legally gouge. Therefore the Merck fantasy bubble will continue just for that reason. Impossible profits only pharma can get away with. No need for competent management.

 

You have found me...thanks for the kind words...I am fine, thanks...I worked a little for PDI in 2011 selling Tamiflu ( contract sales), a few 1099 jobs here & there, but NOBODY hires reps with higher salaries & lots of # 1 rankings,believe it or not and at my age...After Merck released all of us, I payed off some debts, took it easy, and then started applying for more Pharma jobs...my ex- DM told me with my resume , I should be hired in 30 seconds - not true..I found out something AMAZING about resumes & your numbers, achievements, etc. When I started going for interviews, I had ALL interviewers saying comments like: "Are you some kind of hot shot with these # 1 rankings?".. "We are looking for a team player, not a big star"..."Nobody can be # 1 in ALL parameters for this long" .."do you expect me to believe these numbers/ are these numbers for real?"...thing is- I kept ALL my Organon rankings both on a USB file AND I printed them out every month..I did not trust anybody, since people have short memories when it comes to stats..I would bring along my printed charts from Organon we got each month ( remember those with the rankings of every RD, DM & REP in all territories? Those were great..)..I started with NR numbers from 2002 thru 2006..SP took us over in 2008 and they didn't have jack shit for rankings...sometimes companies would ask where were the most recent rankings and I had to tell them, there weren't any...

A word of advice for those of you who think great numbers will get you better jobs/ bonus/ promotions...it's ALL a bunch of crap! I had ONE good bonus quarter in FOUR years of being # 1!! ONE good bonus check- in the 1st qtr of 2003, I got $12,800..I was # 1 in volume nationally & # 3 in MS...the next qtr. I was # 1 in BOTH Volume & MS and I got $ 6400!!! EXACTLY half for doing better!!! Partly because Organon had decided to co-promote this horrible pain med called AVINZA..what has that to do with birth control? A few months earlier at our launch meeting in Orlando, Organon was screaming that NR was now our "flagship" product "for years to come"..what a lying sack of shit they were..so AVINZA now took 60% of the bonus the 2nd qtr. of 2003, but I had only 18 Avinza docs, compared to some territories that had 50-75..this went on for another 18 months..during that time, I was still # 1 in either MS or Volume or both..I lost $5-6,000 every quarter to Avinza. I figured Organon owed me $30-36,000 for their stealing my bonus money. I'm still waiting....On my resume, a Job Counselor told me to "take off all those # 1 rankings & Rep Of The Year" because nobody wants a "hot shot"..he said, "I would never hire you with all these great numbers..I figure you would leave ASAP for better places..".. I also have a Master's Degree in Education..he told me to take that off ( Big Shot, again..)...instead he said to say things like, "constantly in top 10% of my region"..or "rankings available upon request"..You spend your WHOLE time in Pharma trying to get great numbers, then when you go for new job positions, they want to HIDE all your achievements because "nobody wants a big shot"..one interviewer ACTUALLY told me he would've preferred I was mediocre and right in the middle of my rankings...I responded to him by saying, "so if you owned a sports team, you would want a bunch of mediocre players on your team instead of signing some talented players?"..yes, he said..I bet the fans would really love that guy...so guys & gals, when you leave Merck, make sure you go out in a blaze of mediocrity....

So now I am semi-retired and do not miss pharma sales at all..22 years was enough..I do NOT miss the stupid POA's doing role-playing for a product I am # 1 in ( how much practice do you need if you're # 1 and know more than all else??) ,or those junior high oriented "team building games" exercises they made us do, don't miss riding with DM's, don't miss silly conference calls that did NOTHING to change or improve my numbers , don't miss doing spreadsheets or business plans, don't miss ridiculous e-mails from DM's,RD's and especially the home office, don't miss those asshole messages from RD's on voicemail ( mostly) telling & forwarding childish stories about a "call they made with so & so".. I did get a VERY nice severance from Merck ( 12 months of pay for 12 years of service..I worked for Berlex for 9 years, too..)...my 2 friends that were NOT terminated in 2010 say the day to day work is not too bad, but that Merck is very clueless in the WHC area..they are STILL doing role-playing after 12 years of selling NR and now the implant...It IS nice to know that now all those records will never be broken because Merck does not rank reps by MS or Volume over 3 mos, 6 mos., etc...another record I liked was I was # 1 in my district in MS for 66 months in a row- that's 5 & 1/2 years STRAIGHT...Funny- at POA's, many DM's & RD's would come up to me & congratulate me on being # 1 , then say, "you can't be # 1 forever- someone in my district will beat you"..or one DM said, "next quarter we are going to kick your ass", then walk away...I LOVED screaming back at them, "you suck- I will destroy you AND your reps!" or my fav, "you guys might as well resign, you will never catch me- I could stay home 2 months and I would still be # 1 "...OK, I was a pain in the ass & arrogant, but they asked for it...Now THAT STUFF, I miss,LOL..

LOR

 

Well, well, well! The LORD OF THE RINGS has been found- even though it's almost 5 years since Merck released you & 2000 more of us, you probably are STILL # 1, you son of a bitch, LOL....somebody on another chat board mentioned you were very happy & not in Pharma anymore...good for you....I got a job with Bayer selling WHC...so many problems with Yaz & Yasmin, JUST AS YOU PREDICTED...not to kiss ass too much, but I still use your 5 steps to successful calls every day & I've been # 1 in my district & # 2 in the Region the last 2 years now..as others have said, you would HATE Pharma more now with all the restrictions...I can remember launching Nuva Ring in San Francisco in August 2002 and you told 3 reps in my district that you'd be # 1 by X-Mas...I believe you were # 1 by NOVEMBER and stayed there for like a century it seemed - I admire confidence , and you are the ONLY rep I've ever known to boast & back it up...we could've really used you at Bayer...good luck My Lord, ha ha...

 

Hats off the OP for his stellar career; it's a shame he was let go...

Glad to know he is doing well; in the same boat as he was -- good employee, 20 years of service -- got the ax.

When I was let go, I had many tell me it had nothing to do with "me." That's not so easy to believe at the time one is let go.

Good luck to everyone...if you are let go, my best wishes that you'll find gainful employment soon.

 

Victim of your own success. Feel the same way but nowhere near what you sustained via stats. Mother Merck dumped me and many of my beloved peers and was obvious== get rid of these Star players costing us the most in salary, pension, etc. for their consistent performance. Seems like from a relationship point they have paid the price. No consideration of achievements was allowed by whatever outsourced bean counters they hired to make this decision. Just get rid of the peeps costing us the most money. NO explanations allowed. You are gone and that is it. Had close to 20 years and was over in a blip. Your post on life after and finding another job in the industry is dead on. Your stellar career is held against you. You may as well dumb down your resume right away and appear as the coasting, under the radar reps you thought would have got canned before you. Feels like I should have played the game like I was in the Survivor reality show and did as little as possible and not have been noticed and I would have survived. Those folks are still there making the fat paycheck and still coasting under the radar. Guess they were smarter than me. Almost all me district mate peers and "Merck Friends" disappeared quickly. Better for me and them. They have survivor guilt to this day and I have "kicked out of the clubhouse" resentment. Did receive a great separation package and moved on. Life is better. Those left I still speak too hate the job but of course LOVE the paycheck. Nobody is safe. In three years since== many more who thought they were safe got the ax== and out of the woodwork call me on "how to deal with this". Funny how many did not save and are panicked now ==even though they saw this happening around them for YEARS. I moved on. Do not want this job again unless something drops a golden egg in my lap too good to pass up. Most current opportunities do not seem to want us ole proven ole timers with a few years under out belt. This industry will survive but in it's current and future form with our memories of how it was in the glory days, it would be hard to go back.

 

The decline of the industry started when pharma became bigpharma and the detail rep became a "salesmen", enter the age of competitive selling to our intermediate customers. A model which was never sustainable, so we are seeing now. We have completely got the environment wrong but still measure, manage and compensate for the old days. A correlative joke. Most reps and all management can't look in the mirror and say this is the bottom of relevance to customers and health in general. There are always exceptions but the aggregate is in denial. And yes, there are good reps with territories that maintain access. Still the correlation to numbers and success based on the smoke and mirrors objectives, really? If this was a real sales job it would be structured like any other real sales job, modest base with mostly commission on correlative numbers to activity. Our company should be a case study on "How to Fall from Grace, UNGRACEFULLY".

 

I can't wait to put this sh!thole company behind me.

 

Won't be long now.