The backstory is this:
13 years ago I was interviewing at dental schools when we decided to grow the photography business and a family. That worked out awesome believe it or not- but then my chronic disease (crohn’s) caught up with me and I needed better health insurance.
A friend introduced me to New York Life, and I was Interested. I’ve spent the last 10+ years basically selling folks on our photography services when we are more expensive that everyone one else- so it seemed like a good fit.
Here’s the rub- I’m good at it, and they keep giving me awards- but it doesn’t pay enough, and it’s basically a pyramid scheme. All that to say: I’m looking at medical sales. Specifically I’d like to get into surgical devices if possible. I have a good friend who is a territory manager and loves it- but I’d like some anonymous opinions. I need more money for car foolishness
Thanks.
I used to be involved with training pharma sales people, I suspect it’s pretty similar.
Depending on the territory, it’s a lot of driving around and visiting offices, there is a certain call minimum you will need to maintain. Pay was pretty good, but the bonuses could be very good. They were bonused on scripts written in their territory, they didn’t actually sell anything. I imagine devices are similar (laws and regs). You basically present them the reasons they would want to use the product and why the opposition is not good (basic sales stuff). You may also have to arrange speaker programs for multiple docs occasionally.
You WILL need to have a working knowledge of the product, what it does and what it is used for. You absolutely will NOT provide any advice or suggestions on its use. Lots of (federal) regs you will need to be careful of, huge penalties are handed out regularly.
Company car, free gas, they could use the car for reasonable personal use (this will save you a bit of money). Phone, iPad, home office stuff etc.
My general impression of their work? I got the distinct impression some of them where not really working as hard as some might expect (especially the corporate account people who NEVER seemed to leave their jobs). The hours are obviously not solidified (you are on your own) so if you can do what you need to do quickly, you can have a fair amount of free time.
Clearly this can vary wildly from company to company and I was working for one of the higher paying ones. Maybe someone has some more device specific info.
If you want some inside info on the company check out cafepharma.com. I think they cover devices also. Careful though, there are a lot of angry people on there and they will say anything. You can probably glean some useful info from the crap talking though.
Industrial hose sales.
Nobody wants to get their hands dirty. Lots of potential and good commissions. Consistent business.
https://www.inddist.com/article/2018/05/key-succeeding-industrial-sales
I always figured the key to medical sales was big tits, loose morals, a country club membership, and a beach house in Florida.
In reply to 93gsxturbo :
You could have stopped after the first comma and that would have hit the nail on the head. I have a friend who is in pharma sales. Very sucesssful and always high on top sales list - they replaced for B Ts and he was looking for another job for a short while. He is selling med products now and doing very well. It is a cut throat business from I have picked up on from his stories.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
Sounds interesting. Thanks!
In reply to aircooled :
Thank you. I don’t believe that I am interested in pharma- more likely sugical device sales. They seem to be different but I have very limited knowledge.
