Why doesn't jnj use a contract sales force?

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that most every other pharmaceutical and biotech company have begun utilizing contract sales forces to save money by replacing expensive tenured sales representatives with motivated younger salespeople at significant savings for both the short-term and long-term. By doing so, the cost savings are enormous. They will no longer need to offer company pensions, expensive company fleet cars with all the expenses that go with them, and more importantly the salaries for the contract sales representatives will be 1/4 of what they're paying their less motivated tenured sales representatives. In this day and age of corporate outsourcing it is a no-brainer that all companies do whatever it takes to maintain an attractive corporate portfolio.
As a stockholder in jnj I am deeply concerned that jnj is not maximizing all their savings potential, particularly when there are issues with key products such as tylenol and many of their products going off patent in the next few years.
I believe jnj is falling short of the other pharmaceutical and biotech companies by not uilizing the proper measures to maximize the corporate bottom line.

 

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that most every other pharmaceutical and biotech company have begun utilizing contract sales forces to save money by replacing expensive tenured sales representatives with motivated younger salespeople at significant savings for both the short-term and long-term. By doing so, the cost savings are enormous. They will no longer need to offer company pensions, expensive company fleet cars with all the expenses that go with them, and more importantly the salaries for the contract sales representatives will be 1/4 of what they're paying their less motivated tenured sales representatives. In this day and age of corporate outsourcing it is a no-brainer that all companies do whatever it takes to maintain an attractive corporate portfolio.
As a stockholder in jnj I am deeply concerned that jnj is not maximizing all their savings potential, particularly when there are issues with key products such as tylenol and many of their products going off patent in the next few years.
I believe jnj is falling short of the other pharmaceutical and biotech companies by not uilizing the proper measures to maximize the corporate bottom line.

You really know how to stir things up!

 

[Anonymous]

You really know how to stir things up!

Yes but it's clear he knows zero about pharma. Talks about Tylenol and then Rx drugs? Who is using contract reps to sell biotech? I'll tell you --nobody. If you are talking about primary care reps, that's one thing and you can even do away with contract reps and mail samples to docs.

Sell your shares, better yet go away you nasty troll asshole!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes but it's clear he knows zero about pharma. Talks about Tylenol and then Rx drugs? Who is using contract reps to sell biotech? I'll tell you --nobody. If you are talking about primary care reps, that's one thing and you can even do away with contract reps and mail samples to docs.

Sell your shares, better yet go away you nasty troll asshole!

Contract sales representatives can be trained on any products, consumer, pharmaceutical, biotech you name it. You obviously aren't aware of the co-promotions going on today with pharma/biotech companies and the contract sales organizations regarding biologics in ms and oncology. And many highly experienced and talented pharmaceutical and biotech sales representatives are currently out of work and ready to accept a contract job for half the salary they used to make just to get by. Apparently the truth hurts you that you are expendible. All the other companies are far ahead of the curve and jnj is trailing behind as usual. Sorry I ruined your day by letting you know you are expendible.

 

[Anonymous]

Contract sales representatives can be trained on any products, consumer, pharmaceutical, biotech you name it. You obviously aren't aware of the co-promotions going on today with pharma/biotech companies and the contract sales organizations regarding biologics in ms and oncology. And many highly experienced and talented pharmaceutical and biotech sales representatives are currently out of work and ready to accept a contract job for half the salary they used to make just to get by. Apparently the truth hurts you that you are expendible. All the other companies are far ahead of the curve and jnj is trailing behind as usual. Sorry I ruined your day by letting you know you are expendible.

Why all the hate against the working man. Yes we have good salaries, pension's and benefits. who does it benefit to contract out to a company that doesn't pay it's employees benefits or retirment? Sour grapes on your part because you longer have these. You should have worked harder as a financial consultant and you would not have been laid off. Yes we might all be expendible but we are sales people and can always find a job selling something and get over paid to do it. I suspect you are too old and set in your ways to ever be over paid agian. enjoy your retirment.

 

[Anonymous]

Contract sales representatives can be trained on any products, consumer, pharmaceutical, biotech you name it. You obviously aren't aware of the co-promotions going on today with pharma/biotech companies and the contract sales organizations regarding biologics in ms and oncology. And many highly experienced and talented pharmaceutical and biotech sales representatives are currently out of work and ready to accept a contract job for half the salary they used to make just to get by. Apparently the truth hurts you that you are expendible. All the other companies are far ahead of the curve and jnj is trailing behind as usual. Sorry I ruined your day by letting you know you are expendible.

Everybody is expendable Skippy. I'm not a rep, manager, nor director in the industry anymore. I follow this industry and my soon to be merged J&J opco more out of nostalgia than necessity (although there is a lot of potential in the biotech arena). The fact that you say J&J is behind the curve says one of four things about you 1) you are a troll 2) you are ex-J&J and not by choice (you were shit-canned) 3) you are amazingly stupid or 4) some combination thereof. Contract sales can make limited sense under limited circumstances, but certainly not in biotech. The J&J I've experienced has made some foolish mistakes, but overall will be among the last companies standing in this industry.

 

[Anonymous]

That was my guess, too. Fired or "displaced".

 

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that most every other pharmaceutical and biotech company have begun utilizing contract sales forces to save money by replacing expensive tenured sales representatives with motivated younger salespeople at significant savings for both the short-term and long-term. By doing so, the cost savings are enormous. They will no longer need to offer company pensions, expensive company fleet cars with all the expenses that go with them, and more importantly the salaries for the contract sales representatives will be 1/4 of what they're paying their less motivated tenured sales representatives. In this day and age of corporate outsourcing it is a no-brainer that all companies do whatever it takes to maintain an attractive corporate portfolio.
As a stockholder in jnj I am deeply concerned that jnj is not maximizing all their savings potential, particularly when there are issues with key products such as tylenol and many of their products going off patent in the next few years.
I believe jnj is falling short of the other pharmaceutical and biotech companies by not uilizing the proper measures to maximize the corporate bottom line.

I'll come clean... I work for Lifescan... I can honestly say I am just here to collect my paycheck... 10-2 Tues-Thurs! BAAAAM!

 

[Anonymous]

HELLLLOOOO-J and J IS using contract sales forces. The Janssen division is using Quintiles to sell Concerta and Invega--they make about 1/2 of what the Janssen reps do. The Q reps will probably keep their jobs and the Janssen reps will more than likely lose them with the layoffs. Lifescan will be next for contract sales. It's what everyone is going to.

 

[Anonymous]

HELLLLOOOO-J and J IS using contract sales forces. The Janssen division is using Quintiles to sell Concerta and Invega--they make about 1/2 of what the Janssen reps do. The Q reps will probably keep their jobs and the Janssen reps will more than likely lose them with the layoffs. Lifescan will be next for contract sales. It's what everyone is going to.

Get your facts straight. Contract companies aren't as cheap as you believe. Salaries aren't 50% of a company Rep. The average Pharma Rep is paid 60-65k. Contract Reps are paid between 50-65k dependent on the contract and the co.
Contrct Reps are still offered benefits, so those costs are passed on to the contracting company plus incremental costs to manage those benefits.
Contract Reps still get cars or car allowances. The cars are usually the same cars available to company Reps.
Contract Reps are still able to participate in retirement savings plans. Maybe not pensions, but they are given a match on 401k contributions. Although the vesting period is much longer usually 5 years.
Plus you pay the contract companies to hire their own staff. This can amount to millions. Consider the contract co. allready has the infastructure in place. All these costs are built into the contract. Think RBD's, DMs, Execs, secretaries...
So it may be less expensive to employ contract sales Reps and certainly cheaper in the event of layoffs, the costs aren't what you expect. I'd guess the savigs are more like 10-20%. For a sales force that doesn't give a shit about J&J.

 

[Anonymous]

HELLLLOOOO-J and J IS using contract sales forces. The Janssen division is using Quintiles to sell Concerta and Invega--they make about 1/2 of what the Janssen reps do. The Q reps will probably keep their jobs and the Janssen reps will more than likely lose them with the layoffs. Lifescan will be next for contract sales. It's what everyone is going to.

Anyone that doesn't see this "writing on the wall" is in serious denial. Hopefully their lack of foresight won't ruin their families....

 

[Anonymous]

Get your facts straight. Contract companies aren't as cheap as you believe. Salaries aren't 50% of a company Rep. The average Pharma Rep is paid 60-65k. Contract Reps are paid between 50-65k dependent on the contract and the co.
Contrct Reps are still offered benefits, so those costs are passed on to the contracting company plus incremental costs to manage those benefits.
Contract Reps still get cars or car allowances. The cars are usually the same cars available to company Reps.
Contract Reps are still able to participate in retirement savings plans. Maybe not pensions, but they are given a match on 401k contributions. Although the vesting period is much longer usually 5 years.
Plus you pay the contract companies to hire their own staff. This can amount to millions. Consider the contract co. allready has the infastructure in place. All these costs are built into the contract. Think RBD's, DMs, Execs, secretaries...
So it may be less expensive to employ contract sales Reps and certainly cheaper in the event of layoffs, the costs aren't what you expect. I'd guess the savigs are more like 10-20%. For a sales force that doesn't give a shit about J&J.

The cost savings with using a contract sales force are huge compared to continuing to pay complacent entitled tenured jnj reps who are making over $75,000 base with pensions after 5 years. And that's the majority of the sales force. I hate to tell you that jnj's own sales force doesn't give a shit about jnj. They're just collecting their huge paychecks and laughing all the way to the bank. Entitled and spoiled. The contract reps are grateful for their jobs and actually work harder for their lesser salaries. If the contract reps don't produce, their limited contract with the company is up and they're on the unemployment line again so they work their tails off compared to the lazy overpaid jnj reps who complain about what model their free company car is or that their monthly cell phone allowance was reduced by $5.00. This being the case the contract reps actually appreciate that they are working in this bad economy and would give anything to be a full-time employee of jnj. Read the other jnj forums and you'll see how much the jnj reps value their jobs.

 

[Anonymous]

Get your facts straight. Contract companies aren't as cheap as you believe. Salaries aren't 50% of a company Rep. The average Pharma Rep is paid 60-65k. Contract Reps are paid between 50-65k dependent on the contract and the co.
Contrct Reps are still offered benefits, so those costs are passed on to the contracting company plus incremental costs to manage those benefits.
Contract Reps still get cars or car allowances. The cars are usually the same cars available to company Reps.
Contract Reps are still able to participate in retirement savings plans. Maybe not pensions, but they are given a match on 401k contributions. Although the vesting period is much longer usually 5 years.
Plus you pay the contract companies to hire their own staff. This can amount to millions. Consider the contract co. allready has the infastructure in place. All these costs are built into the contract. Think RBD's, DMs, Execs, secretaries...
So it may be less expensive to employ contract sales Reps and certainly cheaper in the event of layoffs, the costs aren't what you expect. I'd guess the savigs are more like 10-20%. For a sales force that doesn't give a shit about J&J.

HELLO_-you are WRONG. They oftentimes DO not get a car or an allowance. the J and J Janssen reps get .50 a mile, and that is it. They get no monthly amount, no gas card, etc. If you have a LARGE car, you LOSE money. So, get your facts straight. They make 50 to 65 K MAX and they do get benefits at times, but they don't all give benefits. My ex is a D.M. for Quintiles. I know what I'm talking about. If they get laid off, they get NOTHING. Regular "Company" reps get severance, pay for a specific number of weeks, etc. You are in denial. Contract sales is what it's ALL going to! Wake UP!

 

[Anonymous]

The Quintiles rep on the J and J contract do not get any car allowance. They get no gas card. They only get .50 a mile which isn't good at all. They get NO severance at all when their contract ends. They make far less cash. They do get benefits. I know several on this contract. It's a job, but they don't get much.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone that doesn't see this "writing on the wall" is in serious denial. Hopefully their lack of foresight won't ruin their families....

I totally agree. They are in denial. That's why J and J isn't filling a lot of Lifescan positions now. They are going to contract as everyone else is. Sanofi has gone to contract, Merck has, GSK I think is getting ready to use a contract force for their new Lupus drug, etc. etc. etc. Be prepared folks and wake up.

 

[Anonymous]

The cost savings with using a contract sales force are huge compared to continuing to pay complacent entitled tenured jnj reps who are making over $75,000 base with pensions after 5 years. And that's the majority of the sales force. I hate to tell you that jnj's own sales force doesn't give a shit about jnj. They're just collecting their huge paychecks and laughing all the way to the bank. Entitled and spoiled. The contract reps are grateful for their jobs and actually work harder for their lesser salaries. If the contract reps don't produce, their limited contract with the company is up and they're on the unemployment line again so they work their tails off compared to the lazy overpaid jnj reps who complain about what model their free company car is or that their monthly cell phone allowance was reduced by $5.00. This being the case the contract reps actually appreciate that they are working in this bad economy and would give anything to be a full-time employee of jnj. Read the other jnj forums and you'll see how much the jnj reps value their jobs.

I work for primary care sales and I hate to agree with you but you are right. What's most interesting is the enormous discrepancy between salaries for primary care or specialty reps versus institution or biotech reps. With primary care and specialty sales (lower paid reps) we sample our physicians offices so the majority of doctors still see reps if at the very least to sign for samples for their patients. With hospital and biotech sales (overpaid reps), there's no sampling so the hospitals and specialists like oncologists have absolutely no use for them do not even allow the reps in. There is absolutely no access anymore and the reps sit in their company cars all day in the doctors parking lots and fake their calls day after day. The truth is that in this day and age drug reps don't have anything to offer their physician customers. It's no surprise that this job is being eliminated. We're not allowed to talk about the recent data that the doctors are interested in, only what's in the 40-year old package insert. We're not allowed to discuss reimbursement specifics with our customers because we're not allowed to infer financial gains with one product over the other. All the information they need they can get from calling the company hotline number directly and speaking to a non-sales employee who can give them the exact information they need within minutes. We are basically useless and I don't blame medical professionals for not wanting us taking up their valuable time when they are seeing patients. I'm actually glad that I'm in lower-paid primary care sales with samples. At least some of my doctors still want samples and I feel like I have some purpose when I get up in the morning.
I realize that very soon my job will be eliminated and doctors will order the samples they need on-line or by calling the company directly. Until that day I'm hanging on to what used to be the greatest best-paying job ever.

 

[Anonymous]

I work for a device division of JNJ. We have hired Innovex (contract) reps in the past when we needed more feet on the street for a specific product. If the full time reps were selling 6-8 lines of product, the Innovex reps would just sell one of those lines. In my experience the Innovex reps were good quality people. Several of them were hired as full time reps after their contract expired.
I'm not sure if contract reps would work in MD&D to totally replace the regular reps. So much of our business is still relationship driven, but with Obamacare and pricing becoming so much more important, the relationships may end.

 

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. They are in denial. That's why J and J isn't filling a lot of Lifescan positions now. They are going to contract as everyone else is. Sanofi has gone to contract, Merck has, GSK I think is getting ready to use a contract force for their new Lupus drug, etc. etc. etc. Be prepared folks and wake up.

What a load of crap. Guess you get your jollies outta hoping folks buy into your shit? I've got several friends who are DMs and reps at contract companies. They could give a shit less about anything but punching the card. I work my ass off for J&J as do most reps I know. GSK hired a new sales force for the lupus drug and took people from one of our sister company when they did it. I'm a wake and you're an asshole. Go back to facebook.

 

[Anonymous]

What a load of crap. Guess you get your jollies outta hoping folks buy into your shit? I've got several friends who are DMs and reps at contract companies. They could give a shit less about anything but punching the card. I work my ass off for J&J as do most reps I know. GSK hired a new sales force for the lupus drug and took people from one of our sister company when they did it. I'm a wake and you're an asshole. Go back to facebook.

A rep is a rep is a rep is a rep. Doesn't matter if it's a contract rep or an overpaid entitled jnj rep. You're just like all the other punk arrogant jnj reps. Keep hiding behind the illusion that the jnj name makes you a premier rep and somehow better at your job. It doesn't. You've been lucky kid. And the party's over real soon.

 

[Anonymous]

I work for a device division of JNJ. We have hired Innovex (contract) reps in the past when we needed more feet on the street for a specific product. If the full time reps were selling 6-8 lines of product, the Innovex reps would just sell one of those lines. In my experience the Innovex reps were good quality people. Several of them were hired as full time reps after their contract expired.
I'm not sure if contract reps would work in MD&D to totally replace the regular reps. So much of our business is still relationship driven, but with Obamacare and pricing becoming so much more important, the relationships may end.

Personally I think jnj device reps are underpaid while the jnj biotech and pharma reps are overpaid for their performance and experience. The stress level for device reps is huge and they WORK. They are in the accounts before the sun rises and there when the sunsets, always looking for more business. Can't say the same for biotech and pharma reps. Device reps are self-motivated and would never sell themselves out to work the cushy pharma/biotech 10-2 shift for a high salary. They are always hungry and striving for more. They have my respect and admiration for their work ethic and commitment to produce. Oh, and by the way, I'm in one of the pharma divisions of jnj.