What are doing with Otsuka now? Joint call planning with them :-( We are losing our autonomy (what little we had)
Wtf, JCP like they thought keeping it all hush and using an Acronym before the training calls this wk would keep the natives quiet. We didn’t sign on here to be glorified hybrid reps calling on F’g PCPs / IMs. What a huge slap in the face - thank you Lundbeck & Otsuka. Primary care for most of us here was what we left years ago and now being dubbed down to this when we already have too much overlap is ridiculous. And now w/ COVID-19, a perfect breeding ground for many of us to get infected in those flu filled offices. So pissed this is happening and motivated to move onto a true specialty sales gig elsewhere. This will drive the best reps here to look elsewhere. Who in the F in specialty wants to go back calling on bitchy ass PCPs who think they know it all and their smart ass staff that give you the evil eye when you take more than 30 sec to have a meaningful discussion with the damn doc? And having to feed all those fat cows in those big offices. Ridiculous! Time to move on folks! Very disappointed to see Lundbeck bend over and let Otsuka bully us and stick it to us in the ASS!
Good luck finding that new job. I suspect few companies will be hiring and all are delaying launches at the moment. And why hate on the PCPs? I’m sure they hate you even more.
We can now sit at Panera Bread for hours scratching our heads what we are going to talk about with providers. There is nothing new and every probe and question under the sun has been used at least a hundred times. It just gets worse and worse working here or at Otsuka for that matter.
The JCP thing is about as dumb as Veeva Engaged! Joint calls on who? A receptionist? A lot of the docs are HOME! This job now should be reserved for a customer service rep! We had little to no impact before, now it’s even worse! Wait until the virtual lunches start! All they will be are discussions about the virus, if you even see a doc on the screen. The industry doesn’t know what to do. All they do know is that they can’t keep things going as they are now. Paying people $130,000 to send a email template!!!!!! The clock is ticking.
You sound like an Otsuka rep snooping on this site. You're full of $h!t... Everyone knows most PCPs are difficult as hell to deal w/ and when you add more reps selling the same drug, the problem is just compounded. I totally agree with the poster's comments above and I had solid relationships w/ PCPs 10 years ago when I last called on them, but going back to that level of pharma sales is degrading at best.
Explain to me why we are now calling on PCP’s when in the beginning, they said psychiatrists were holding the keys to the sales kingdom? Now all of a sudden, the growth is centered in primary care where they Rx 50% of the scripts for atypical use in MDD????? So you are telling me that we ignored this goldmine of primary care MD’s when we launched? This is total bullshit! So now we are basically a primary care sales force with a few H to VH psychs thrown in the mix. Also, this JCP deal will be a huge cluster! We are being led by idiots! Get ready to wait forever in a pcp waiting room with the other 5 reps trying to get back! You can kiss specialty good bye.
Reps are dime a dozen. “Specialty” vs “Primary Care” is a totally arbitrary distinction. You will be doing “virtual” lunches for next 2 years anyway, so don’t worry too much about a waiting room.
Biohaven is back in the field. There is no reason we can’t go back too. I can’t believe these companies are still paying us to do nothing! I can’t wait to call on my primary care buddies once again!
so vertex is now Lundbeck PCP sales force, awesome. Ur Otsuka reps can tell u how to obtain best access in ur new endeavor. I would not worry much, the entire position is going to eliminated soon. Just think, u will depart as a primary care rep, the same way u came in.
The whole country basically, but I am sure places like NYC are shut down. They were going to provide them a list of hot places to avoid , and were told to use their own judgment. The vast majority of the country is not considered to be hot. My friend told me that they met several docs at the backdoor to sign for samples. No different that waiting in a hallway. They saw 3 of docs. He called before going by too. All in all, it was much better than he expected.
Just the opposite. The JCP is a plan to transition and layoff Otsuka reps. It’ll cut the headcount by replacing live reps with a virtual call plan. Otsuka is 3-5 years behind in strategy and technology. Their approach is based on a 1950s model. Heads pretend to be movers and shakers by coming up with versions of the same reports that nobody reads while throwing onsite cocktail parties. Looking busy is the priority here. Digital detailing has been around for years but didn't exist at Otsuka until COVID pushed them into it. Now they want Lundbeck to hold their hands in the JCP. Afterwards, they’ll cut ties with Lundbeck. The reps get cut but the fat middle gets to stay to manage the remaining reps, now 2:1. Home office is told to focus on development while doubling the work with contingency plans. Development sessions train employees to keep complaints off the table. Leadership keeps reminding workers the importance of work life balance while adding more calls, more numbers and more redundant work so they have something to show for. The turnover rate made it necessary to start their own backup rep team -Ready Now with green reps at half the pay. The 5-6 wks PTO is a bait and switch. Nobody can take them and every auto reply says they have no access to email and cells because PTOs mean your still expected to be available 24/7. Reps work weekends because they can’t get access to doctors. Reps are told to make more calls at a time when patients can’t even get appointments. Legal made sure to have reps sign off on a WARN clause that basically says to work at your own risk. Meetings are scheduled outside working hours, justified by the lack of commuting time from working remotely. Managers can call or email any hour or weekend. Not responding within the same day will lead to escalation. Leadership wants to pass off an image that things are running so smoothly that workers have time to take enrichment courses, mindfulness seminars and fireside chats they offer during the COVID. They tell us how much they care about employees while planning our layoffs. Summer hours is just for show. Nobody takes summer hours but these kinds of announcements help hide the fact that Otsuka is a run like a sweatshop by a title driven hierarchy. Bad leadership never leads to their own cuts, just the ones they manage. When mistakes are made, they spend more time in finding who’s to blame instead of ways to avoid repeating it. These are the same anonymous posters who keep saying that reps are overpaid good for nothings, while at the office they insist that call volumes lead to more sales. They stick to a 30 yr old strategy in looking at call volumes for planning and IC. Detailing gets turned into drive bys to make the frequency goals. Supervisors are starting to sabotage their own direct reports because their own job is likely on the line. Last thing the world needs now is another middle manager. But they wouldn’t cut the middle fat because they are the middle fat.
