Why are so many good people leaving?

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Because we now have way to many products, accounts, and responsibilities. It's now totally impossible to provide good service to everyone and be a clinical expert for every product and specialty. You would have to work 24/7 and it still wouldn't be enough. Plus, we are supposed to sell something new every few month it seems like while maintaining our 15 other products.

It's complete nonsense. We don't get paid nearly enough! I want to look management in the eye and ask if they seriously have lost their f ing mind.

This is the hardest med device job out there hands down if you are really trying to do it right.
 




I agree. A lot of good people have left. There are a lot of reasons:
- Managers who just checked the boxes to get promoted. Really not meant for management
- A broken management training program
- Products that the hospitals and surgeons could care less about
- No opportunities to do anything new, boring
- Suture sales. Yes. Suture salesmen
- Mesh. Literally one of the worst product lines to rep
- Nothing innovative in the product pipeline. Nothing to look forward to
- Pay will only decrease

There are other reasons. Some out of Ethicon control:
- Robot
- Backorders
- Covidien making better quality products then they did years ago
- Recalls
- Hospitals trying to limit spending. Us trying to increase spending
- CAD's who still think old school contracting
 


If you think mesh is one of the worst products to rep then you are obviously a former endo rep. Those with a hernia background have made a TON of money selling mesh.
 


To the last post...those days of making "tons" are over....to the previous posts about why people have left:

This place is not the same and has been going downhill for years. People are now leaving and will continue to leave because there is no opportunity for growth.

There will be plenty of carrots dangled like you can be a trainer or a "champion" of optimizer or an SOTM tool but reality is all that crap is more work for the same amount of money. Watch anyone who has been here more than 10 years and you will see they feed you lines and work on their family business.

To the poster who said you could do this job 24/7 and never get ahead, I completely agree..but ask your manager to shift quota around to those they "want" to hit their number, did you know DM's and RSD's can change individual quota up or down. I have seen it done for years....

If you are wondering who has left recently you are not well connected and have no clue. The morale in house from a leadership stand point is just as bad if not worse than the field.

Now go and sell products that will be recalled or suck in the eyes of the customer. The reason more people haven't left yet is that they are not good at interviewing.
 


Anonymous said:
To the last post...those days of making "tons" are over....to the previous posts about why people have left:

This place is not the same and has been going downhill for years. People are now leaving and will continue to leave because there is no opportunity for growth.

There will be plenty of carrots dangled like you can be a trainer or a "champion" of optimizer or an SOTM tool but reality is all that crap is more work for the same amount of money. Watch anyone who has been here more than 10 years and you will see they feed you lines and work on their family business.

To the poster who said you could do this job 24/7 and never get ahead, I completely agree..but ask your manager to shift quota around to those they "want" to hit their number, did you know DM's and RSD's can change individual quota up or down. I have seen it done for years....

If you are wondering who has left recently you are not well connected and have no clue. The morale in house from a leadership stand point is just as bad if not worse than the field.

Now go and sell products that will be recalled or suck in the eyes of the customer. The reason more people haven't left yet is that they are not good at interviewing.
Click to expand...

Yet you are still here after all those years? You are a turd. You stink.
 


You have 2 options.

1. Drive sales by increasing costs..your customers will hate you though

2. Be more of an acct manager...you customers will like you and u will have access. But your numbers will suffer a little.

Neither option is good which is why I'm looking to do something where u r actually needed and/or wanted
 


This is a good thread and surprisingly on point for CafePharma. I feel that the reason many are leaving is because they don't like the new sales model ie too many products in too many accounts. The comp plan is another big problem at ESC right now. The plan is designed to lower pay and have an average pay at 130k. For some this is adequate but for driven sale reps that are motivated to execute and make money 130k is not going to keep them around.

Management is another big concern at ESC for the FSO. The theme at ESC is not to rock the boat. You will never get an original thought or idea from a DM/SD that is not prefaced with "but off the record this is what I think". There are so many flaws with our current sales model but not one SD or DM is willing to step out of line and speak up.

Like most of my friends at ESC I am looking for other opportunities.... Just have not found the right spot. And hey this is not a bad part-time job either.
 


Take a minute and talk to your ESRs about their new comp plan and see why a lot of them are actively looking to get out. Thanks to our newly displaced VP and President for really creating a comp plan that will motivate us to leave the house everyday.
 




I was a "displaced" rep last Oct. Periodically, I check back in on the Ethicon board and see that the morale is just as bad, maybe even worse than it was a year ago. Thankfully I landed in a good spot. Similar pay; way better quality of life.
Feel bad for my friends within the company still putting up with all the BS. The rest of you that I dont know that are on here pissing and moaning.. you make me very thankful for getting let go.

Grass is greener folks. Maybe not everywhere but you can always get lucky.
 


More people would be leaving if they could afford it. To switch industries and do something different, you are going to take a hit financially and lose your car. If you want to be in medical device sales as a career, you are limited. Only a few companies are paying well and unfortunately one of them is Intuitive right now. Their run will soon come to an end.

Even if I could afford to take a pay cut and do something different, what am I going to do? I have been selling a piece of plastic that is now a commodity. I have skills, but I have not proved it through my recent work with Ethicon. There are no opportunities to do anything additional to add to my skill set in this job. Even my manager admits to this. Very frustrating position I am in and I know others feel the same way. We all know, and so does management that they don't have to pay us the amount they pay us. Account managers don't make over six figures, and that is what we are. This job was fun and fulfilling back when professional education played a part. I don't mean some stupid dinner where some talking head comes in and discusses a "me too" product. I am referring to 4 + years ago when you could take a CR surgeon from open to lap. Or take a GYN who was using Gyrus and teach him/her how to use Harmonic in a LAVH. Take a bariatric practice from clueless to a well oiled machine.
We were an important resource, now we are a waste of space. I'm sorry everyone, but it is true. Those who can interview well and have the guts to get out are the smart ones.
 


Anonymous said:
More people would be leaving if they could afford it. To switch industries and do something different, you are going to take a hit financially and lose your car. If you want to be in medical device sales as a career, you are limited. Only a few companies are paying well and unfortunately one of them is Intuitive right now. Their run will soon come to an end.

Even if I could afford to take a pay cut and do something different, what am I going to do? I have been selling a piece of plastic that is now a commodity. I have skills, but I have not proved it through my recent work with Ethicon. There are no opportunities to do anything additional to add to my skill set in this job. Even my manager admits to this. Very frustrating position I am in and I know others feel the same way. We all know, and so does management that they don't have to pay us the amount they pay us. Account managers don't make over six figures, and that is what we are. This job was fun and fulfilling back when professional education played a part. I don't mean some stupid dinner where some talking head comes in and discusses a "me too" product. I am referring to 4 + years ago when you could take a CR surgeon from open to lap. Or take a GYN who was using Gyrus and teach him/her how to use Harmonic in a LAVH. Take a bariatric practice from clueless to a well oiled machine.
We were an important resource, now we are a waste of space. I'm sorry everyone, but it is true. Those who can interview well and have the guts to get out are the smart ones.
Click to expand...


More people would leave if they were not so complacent. There are jobs out there but the 20 hour work week is just too hard to pass up. Management thinks that everyone is sticking around because Ethicon pays better and offers better benefits than anyone else. The fact is that we are just lazy and do not want to start over somewhere else. I am happy with my 125K and 20 hour work week.
 


I agree. A lot of good people have left. There are a lot of reasons:
- Managers who just checked the boxes to get promoted. Really not meant for management
- A broken management training program
- Products that the hospitals and surgeons could care less about
- No opportunities to do anything new, boring
- Suture sales. Yes. Suture salesmen
- Mesh. Literally one of the worst product lines to rep
- Nothing innovative in the product pipeline. Nothing to look forward to
- Pay will only decrease

There are other reasons. Some out of Ethicon control:
- Robot
- Backorders
- Covidien making better quality products then they did years ago
- Recalls
- Hospitals trying to limit spending. Us trying to increase spending
- CAD's who still think old school contracting
 




I was a "displaced" rep last Oct. Periodically, I check back in on the Ethicon board and see that the morale is just as bad, maybe even worse than it was a year ago. Thankfully I landed in a good spot. Similar pay; way better quality of life.
Feel bad for my friends within the company still putting up with all the BS. The rest of you that I dont know that are on here pissing and moaning.. you make me very thankful for getting let go.

Grass is greener folks. Maybe not everywhere but you can always get lucky.
 



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