Comments on: Sales Reps, Doctors & ‘Emotional Connections’

By: MARGO

MARGO — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:12:18 +0000

CURIOUS ABOUT DRUG REP/DOCTOR RELATIONSHIPS. dO DRUG COMPANIES HAVE POLICIES WITH THEIR REPS ABOUT AFTER HOUR DINNERS WITH THE DOCTORS? COCKTAILS? JUST CURIOUS. BEING IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY I AM NOW WONDERING ARE PATIENTS GETIING WHAT THEY REALLY NEED AND WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST FOR THEIR TREATMENT OR THAT THEY HAVE A “OUTSIDE RELATIONSHIP OF SORTS?
I THOUGHT THAT THERE IS SOME KIND OF GUIDELINE WITHDRUG COMPANIES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES.

By: James R

James R — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:47:34 +0000

Dan A. Chill brother. Take a breath. We all luv ya, no need to write a novel.

By: Amazed by these posts

Amazed by these posts — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:02:53 +0000

hmmm, anger, paranoia, obsessiveness, and then more anger expressed here.
Perhaps some of you would benefit from some of the meds available today in the U.S. for Bipolar disorder, because many of you sound ill, esp Dan A. .

Why don’t you move to Canada, or India, or even the EU, where providers aren’t, as you all say, so unduly influenced?

But then you wouldn’t have the freedoms to express your opinions in most of these countries. And you certainly wouldn’t have the health care choices that you have in this country.
That’s why you’re here in the USA. Go to Canada, it’s close, and then someone who appreciates the USA for it’s freedoms can have your job.

By: Justice in Michigan

Justice in Michigan — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:34:02 +0000

Says Jack 2: “A sociology PhD also makes less than a truck driver. If you don’t like it become a truck driver.”

Where’s my rig, man?

Remember when it was cool to be a trucker? What if sociologists communicated on CB?

“Hey Good Buddy, got some anomie on I-23. Gonna go down to Motown to check my SES. Tell Weber to get out of his iron cage and meet me at Lil’s.”

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:11:54 +0000

Sam hit the nail on the head. I stopped seeing one doctor after listening to him talk with one of those rapport-building reps about his vacation home for fifteen minutes. I now stick to academic medical centers - still crawling with the SOBs but not, so far, in the practices I deal with. If I do get a prescription for something which is not available in a generic, I grill the MD for as long as it takes to convince me there is a valid reason - other than some drug company rep with a great rack - why he’s prescribing that and not something else.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:31:51 +0000

I have many consumers who hate to see reps coming into
the physician’s office. Their complaint - They are still sitting in the MD’s waiting room- an hour after their appointment time- when a sales rep appears, goes to directly to the desk bearing gifts of one sort or another - and is allowed in to see the doctor right away! These patients who maybe in pain or suffering from some other medical condition, now have to wait even longer and they become angry and frustrated.

As to what brand a doctor writes for: It may not be because a physician likes a rep, but I do know when a certain rep from a certain company is in the area when that brand of a certain class of drug is being written for over the next 4 or 5 days.

You know how it is - out of slight, out of mind or visa versa

By: Former pharma Marketing Exec

Former pharma Marketing Exec — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:46:31 +0000

Orco, the point I am making is that with studies out there like this, more Docs have more reason to Ban Reps. I wouldn’t pay someone for a study like this and I wouldn’t use it anywhere. Sorry you couldn’t see the message.

JIM, I don’t care how much I like somebody, or somebody likes me. If we are comparing exactly apples to apples then I will not pay more for the same thing because I like somebody. If the person selling me a product or service really likes me he/she will respect the fact that I work hard for my money and can spend it anywhere I wish and I am compelled to spend it wisely. I want to be assured of value for my money. Much like a doctor who is supposed to decide on which drugs to use for a given patient based on the patients case and certainly not because I like Sales Rep “Y”- let me do you a favor and the next five patients that come into my office get product “X” - which is exactly what this study sounds like it is promoting.

The troubling thing is that patients have to go through their doctors to get access to drugs and medical devices. There has to be reasonable assurance that the decisions on which drugs being used are based on science - first and foremost. This study is definitely no friend of pharma.

By: harpy

harpy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:52:32 +0000

You can file this study with the one that found putting wheels in childrens’ shoes would result in more broken bones or that animals have feelings (really! dogs get sad! cats feel superior!). I need to start writing grants to get funding for “Studies of the Bleedin’ Obvious.”

By: Jack2

Jack2 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:30:55 +0000

1. Your pay doesn’t fall directly in proportion to your years of education. I know, I do NOT benefit from the current system. A PhD in sociology takes just about as long as a PhD in engineering, computer sciences, or an MD. It takes longer than a JD or an MBA, yet it pays less than all of those degrees. Should this surprise sociology PhDs?

2. Your employer only ever pays you what it thinks it needs to pay you to keep you there. A sociology PhD also makes less than a truck driver. If you don’t like it become a truck driver.

3. Want to drive a truck across frozen lakes in the winter in Canada? You can make more money than even drug reps in less time. Want to work on an oil rig in the northe sea - it pays well. Sure you don’t want to? Are there other aspects of the job you don’t like? Academic faculty have WAY more job security than anyone in private industry, especially the modern pharma industry. Within the pharma industry, I’d say sales reps have the least job security of any group. Easy come, easy go. Salary isn’t everything. There’s a lot of other aspects to a job (even excluding ethics) that influence the salary. The more sucky the job, the higher the pay.

4. Industry reps command high salaries because people in sales (even outside of pharma industries) make high salaries, and pharma needs to compete with those salaries.

5. Your job is more than just your education vs. your time. Working in sales can be demoralizing.

6. People in sales need to be likable. I’m not. I’m not in sales. This is the skill they need the same way a surgeon needs to know how to perform surgery. A pharma rep is hired because they can comprehend the marketing message behind the drug, basically understand the drug, are likable, are optimistic, and are tenacious.

7. People in sales don’t just act likable. They tend to actually BE likable people, who are GENUINELY interested in other people. If it was an act, they couldn’t do it everyday.

…I still say that although the conclusion of the article is true, the data do not support the conclusion to the exlusion of all other possible conclusions.

By: Ed Silverman

Ed Silverman — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:16:13 +0000

Hi HC,

Sorry for the belated reply. I logged off early yesterday.

Anyway, as I noted in a remark earlier on this thread, I confessed to being a bit sarcastic in this post - and the sarcasm was directed at the report and its conclusions, not sales reps. I wasn’t the one who suggested reps should develop friendships and emotional connections - which, of course, can be interpreted differently by different people.

Some of what the market research firm promotes is obvious, but also rather simplistic. Unfortunately, the firm declined to respond, at all, when I asked to see the report in full or discuss the details. So I was left to use my imagination, such as it is.

I understand your points about sales reps and human nature - no argument about any of that. Sorry, though, if my sarcasm offended. But it was sarcasm.

Regards
ed