Cathy needs to go. Part 2

AMO on Life support.
by Art Vandelay and Captain Tuttle
She sits in her ivory tower and systematically wrecks our lives. Her name is none other than Catherine Moo-suck-oh. Her players, until they abandoned her were Jeff.C., aka The Jester
and The paranoid little English man, Ken D.

---In my many years here, I have never seen such a complete and total wreck created from 3 leaders who said they were on the side of the Sales team yet were oh so desperate to climb that Abbott ladder. Those 3 stooges have wrecked AMO. If you haven’t noticed, the Sales team, Sales Marketing, and Home Office staff are on life support. JC and KD are now gone. Cathy is left behind, and clueless.

---AMO has performed quite well for 2 years in a row. In fact, our past 4 years have been good solid performances. We had gained momentum and were kicking Big Al. And then, along came Cathy and her wrecking ball…

---In 2012 we all heard there was a minor re-org was coming. Sales would hardly be affected and The Jester would steer us down the cataract river. Life would be grand. Paranoid KD was to be the “so-called” brain behind the scene, and at least according to him, we’d take the No.1 position in Ophthalmology in just a matter of a few months. Ask yourself, some 3 years later, after all of the so called promises, has anyone ever seen such a Corporate Cluster –F*** ? It took them over a year to roll the re-org out, and 2 days to figure out it was a flop.

---Think back, the re-org was so intricate “Moo-suck-oh” had The Jester roll it out mid-year of 2013. Mid-Year! Really? Who does that? Talk about disrupting a Sales cycle. Now for 2015 she has split the year into 2 half years. What purpose could that possibly serve? No less, hers.

---The quotas are so high many of the Sales pawns have just quit, and many more are want to leave. Even the Home Office group has said no way to make the back half number, let’s go to the beach. . ( FWIW: The first email I check every day is from “The Ladders” Search Firm ).

---We have lost 41% of the Sales team since January of 2013. Don’t believe me…start counting, you’ll see. Remember the Speaker last year who was so naive as to ask for a show of hands of new people? Remember what she said….40%. These loses don’t count losing an entire Marketing staff in one month nor half of the Contracts Department during the last 14 months. How about the brilliant marketing guy, BK that left a few days ago after 5 months? Yes really.

---Paranoid KD when asked about vacancies once said “at least we are in compliance with HR” .

---Abbott is sad. They talk a big game. They use phrases like “World class Operations” and then refuse to pay the very people that are required to make those very operations “World Class”. Then people like Moosuckoh stand around, scratch their butts and yell a lot when things don’t go her way. No Cathy this is not your sand box from Kindergarten. Real lives are at stake.

---“They” don’t get it. We are competing against Big Al the Giant. One where their Managers and a Sales team make a good bit more money than us. And yet Abbott wonders why we don’t have that same spunk and spirit as Big Al does. They wonder why deals are cut out of desperation, instead of a position of strength. Did they ever think we are just trying to make ends meet?

---Moosuckoh has responded by hiring Pharma persons, and then has the nerve to call them Surgical Consultants. By doing this, she doesn’t have to pay for performance or so she thinks. Those Pharma people will leave as soon as they figure out our giant Cluster F*** .

---I’ll say it again, and it’s no secret, many of my friends here want to leave, and are trying to do so. Other friends here are just so de-moralized here they just aren’t working hard at all. They’ve decided to live off strictly their salary, and say “screw Cathy” and her authoritarian fear mongering rule.


---Can you believe Cathy recently blew off a “Q&A session” with Managers so that she could yell at them for an hour over poor Toric sales. There were real questions to be answered, but instead she began another tirade that was quickly ‘tuned out’ by her audience. Half the audience was playing Candy Crush on their phones during her yelling I bet.


---During that same 3 day session I heard she keep calling Carl SB out of the room? Did she pick up a bit of paranoia from The Little English man?


---Cathy has no continuity. One minute she is yelling to get rid of Phaco and all of the drag on the team, and the next minute she says to keep it, and puts band aids on the 2 boxes.
She does the same with bulk sales. One week we are to sell bulks, or pre-buys, or what ever she deems to call them, and the next minute she refuses to acknowledge bulk buy-ins.
Talk about misdirection, who would follow that?

---Where is R. Ford in all of this? Has she snowed him over too. Will he figure is out? Does he think she is some kind of Iron Lady like Margret Thatcher? Is she flashing that accent that she uses to try and gain an upper hand? Is R. Ford asleep?

---Did anyone at the top think about the effect to the Customer during all of this? Did they realize the key selling tool for Phaco’s, OVD’s and IOLs is “The relationship” which we have nurtured all of these years? Changing reps every 2 years is not the answer Cathy….

---Ultimately the MurthMan is responsible for this mess, and he did us all in. Yet he forced out. We all heard Security walked him out. But to top it off, he left us with a clueless idiot, so actually,he won. Anybody think Moosuckoh had anything to do with MurthMan being led out of the building?

---MurthMan’s pride saw to it Home Office staff and Executive Leaders missed a full bonus for 2 years in a row. It’s not pleasant living off just your salary and half a bonus in California is it?

---Anybody think Moo Suck Oh has a hidden bonus we all don’t know about at her level? Do you think that is why she doesn’t care if we make our bonus or not? Do you see her arrogance when you ride the elevator with her?

---Before I go on, please allow me to digress- I can’t believe I am thinking this, but I actually miss that old psycho George N., and J. Mazola along with a couple of others – OMG did I really just say that? At least those two had the sense to pay us our rightful wage and treat us with respect.

---Yet I must say, someone brought in Carl SB. He is such a breath of fresh air. He actually “gets it” and seems to be a very strong Leader. That’s why I know it won’t be long before Cathy has him exterminated. She will be too jealous of his ability.

---And when Cathy makes Carl fall I bet she will install an 80% poor performance no pay rule for the Sales Team….that always does the trick….Oh wait…she already did that.

---Only two things are saving AMO right now, and the whole world knows it…the strength of the IOLS, and the wonderful people who are still here. Nobody touches our quality, and our people can still be at their best. We just prefer to have our head down in shame.


---Too bad Mother Abbott doesn’t realize that.

 

I don't know who posted this information, but I found it both hysterical yet sad (and true). I would have to say that it is 100% accurate in it's assessment. Rather than comment on each and every point made, I would make a broad based assessment of AMO and why they are were they are...

1. AMO does not realize that PEOPLE are what drive products. Not the other way around. Alcon has proven this model as they have the worst products in the world and yet still are the biggest bully on the block. The difference? They value people and realize THEY make the difference in a customer's minds. Products are just the pawn in the negotiation.

2. AMO is run by a pharmaceutical mentality. And that mentality is the notion that any talking head and can deliver the message so why not get the cheapest talent we can get. They are so ignorant, they cannot see that it is long-term relationships, trust and rapport that drive sales FAR AND AWAY more than any product or promotion. And when you keep introducing new faces, it makes our company look like a toxic place to work and to do business with (and they are right). It also removes all/any momentum we might have built. It takes months/years to really be productive as a surgical sales rep.

3. AMO employs a leadership team with a near net ZERO experience in surgical ophthalmology. So, if you have no experience in surgical ophthalmology, how can you possibly know what customers need and what your sales people expect? Answer - you don't. So, you make decisions based on having no experience to draw from. And that results in people being brought into the company with no relative experience, people being promoted with no relative experience and a continued stream of frustration from customers who cannot understand why our company behaves, interacts and works with them the way we do. It's also why this well seasoned sales force has NO connection with management. It's why there are rarely any questions on our conference calls that management hosts because we know they don't get it. They never will.

I do think Carl is a step in the right direction but he is simply one man and he is surrounded by people that are completely incompetent. Such a shame, too. AMO has the greatest products on the planet. But they just don't know what they don't know. I wish we could have Apple management teach AMO how to run their business.

 

Depressing (but insightful) rant. MS was a stand-up guy. At least he was sincere in his vision to help AMO realize its potential, and he was a device guy who understood relationships. RF has a lot on his plate, he can't possibly focus on AMO. The sooner we get a new leader the better. The word rudderless comes to mind.

 

Scary accurate... and I'm OUS!

 

I heard of this post from the recent meetings in Denver (which were a complete joke). Incredibly, Rick doesn't recognize that his people have left him. On his watch, nearly half the sales force has resigned. Note to Rick... when people quit, those left behind's jobs get harder - much harder. Momentum is lost, AMO's image is tarnished and deals fall through. You can't just keep hiring new people (especially pharma people) and replacing good tenured reps and think we just march on. It's insanity. But I guess if you don't have any experience selling surgical eye products, how would you know who to hire or what your team needs? #frustrating.

 

Correction: nearly half the sales force left the Director of Surgical Sales, who recently transitioned to a virtual office Manager role. The "people" did not leave Rick. #morefrustratingtoreadINaccuratecomments

 

Believe what you wish... but people leave (and have left and continue to leave) in large part because of compensation. And RK has been the architect of the last 2-years comp plans which have been horrible (and continue to be). So bad, that they had to be amended mid year 2-years in a row and now CSB is on a mission to fix it again because being a device guy, he gets it that this isn't how you motivate device sales people. Had we got it right the first time, we might not have a salesforce where 50% of the people have been at AMO less than 3 years... #fact

 

This is the new reality of device sales everywhere. No point blaming RK. I'd be shocked if he can make major decisions on comp. Management doesn't show the P&L in sales meetings, but I suspect there is too much being spent on sales and marketing already without a decent return.

The old comp models make little sense today. I don't believe there's a single large company where reps are paid out like they used to be, as technology has matured and the payers are calling the shots. With the consolidation of device companies, there is also a regression to the mean on comp philosophies.

With all the benchmarking large companies do, there is little wonder, they are all average with little differentiation. Large corporations are average, boring, lacking imagination and are essentially vestiges of the past. In a different era, working for a big corporation meant security, good pay, great skills development and prestige. Those bragging rights are with smaller more innovative companies today minus the security, which doesn't exist anywhere. We are all like contractors, so the good ones might as well auction their skills as free agents in the open market with frequent job changes.

The world of reimbursed cataract has unfortunately changed. It is more about value and service without interruptions and less and about product differentiation. Prices will fall as will margins, just listen to the comments of the largest competitor on their last earnings call.

Management can help by having a clear consistent strategy and comp plan. I'm waiting for the new division head, but in the meantime, am continuing to look for opportunities with a smaller company.

 

Agree.

 

All great points. Just wish that, to your point, AMO realized that it is the people and ease of use, familiarity, comfort, etc... that drives behavior these days. Yet we continue to invest in dinner programs, new marketing campaigns and less and less on what does the most good - people.

50% of the sales force will have resigned in the last 12 calendar months. I heard another one (AE) in the south somewhere resigned last week. I wonder how mother Abbott will spend all those extra monies on employee overhead that they didn't have to pay out this year! Wanna do some good with that money and at the same time reward those of us who have fought through these tough times...? Distribute it to us! What good that would create in the form of improved morale among your sales force. And morale could use some help around here.

Oh wait,... I forgot where I worked for a moment. Never mind...

 

It's like saying UNC basketball doesn't cheat .......of course they do.

 

Moo Sucka is still ranting her way around the world, filling the holes she creates with compliant yes man pharma suits
Her approach is so at odds with Frinzi's stated vision, you have how long before they clash. Surely he can see she is a shit fit for the company

 

What are the odds Catherine will stay at Abbott rather than go to J&J with AMO ?
heres hoping

 

Guess who finally got an IT guy to figure out IP addresses. Talk soon love

 

Board kinda slowed down after this post

 

Well Catherine is no longer AMO's problem.
She stays with Abbott as the rest of the business goes to J&J - just as well she added zero value to the Medical Optics business

 

Bye Bye Katrina

 

IT department.couldnt find a turd in a toilet. Outsourced to WIPRO under Nancy Berce is a disaster
Take that to the bank "Love"

 

People were fired