In 1986, I was working as a pharmacist when a customer, who happened to be a district manager for a large pharmaceutical company, asked me to come to work for him. He wanted to rescue me from the confines of the pharmacy and the constant phone-ringing and question-answering. In addition, to further entice me, he enlisted the aid of two pharmacist-friends of mine who were also working for that company. Realizing that I would take a cut in salary, this master salesman convinced me to go to work for him anyway. This process took a while, but I left the practice of pharmacy. Today, there are so many folks vying for positions in "pharmaceutical sales" that no one would ever be "begged" to accept employment ... much less would a company get friends of a prospective employee involved in the process.
It was not a mistake! It was one of the best decisions of my life ... not just financially, but for many other reasons as well ... the chief reason being the friends I have made during the past 23 years. These relationships have had a profound influence on my life and will continue to do so as long as I live.
I went to North Carolina to my sales training class after weeks of home study. Contrary to what I had presupposed, the training was excellent and in many ways was as intense as my Pharmacy training at UGA. Also, my classmates were the BEST! Today, I am still friends with many of the fine folks from my original training class. These folks were extremely outgoing, intelligent, educated and attractive ... especially the ladies. What I will always remember about these fellow trainees is their inteligence and their collective zest for life. I loved being there ... a new career and a whole lot of fun to boot! I thought I had won the lottery.
I came back to my territory and hit the ground running. Once again, I was struck dumb with gratitude for the newfound freedom I was given. Why, I didn't have to eat lunch leaning over a dirty sink ... I could actually sit down, relax and read the paper if I wished. There were no telephones ringing every few seconds, no one blowing cigarette smoke in my face from across the pharmacy counter and nobody forcing me to work on holidays or weekends.
I began building real and lasting relationships with my physician and pharmacist customers and little did I realize at the time, but I would call on many of the folks for the next 23 years of my life. I also became acquainted with all of the other pharmaceutical reps from other companies ... some were competitors, but it really didn't matter ... especially if she were good looking!
District meetings, regional meetings and national meetings were held frequently and I realized that these meetings really were a sensible alternative to actually working. We were allowed to play golf and we were taken out to eat in the evenings to really wonderful restaurants. What a great idea for a company to treat their employees like royalty. I would have gone to the wall for this great organization! Why, they even took me to Hawaii three times. I worked diligently and was rewarded many trips and prizes for my efforts. I loved the folks I worked with and not just my district counterparts either, but many in other states that I would meet at those national gatherings. Things were wonderful because we had the number 1 pharmaceutical in the world and we were paid to sell it ... paid well.
Bright lights, big cities, fancy hotels and great folks. I was on cloud nine to say the least.
Then somebody, somewhere in the industry decided that if we had more representatives (a lot more) then it would follow that we would have a lot more sales $$$! Physician offices were saturated with drug reps and doctors could not turn around without seeing another rep standing in the hall. Dumb-ass district managers on ride-alongs with reps would force these employees to be someone other than themselves. Offices began to close down and it became increasingly more difficult to gain access to these offices and to get any amount of selling time with these physician customers. We made them feel as if they had targets on their backs. In general, the companies began to see phyicians as things to be manipulated rather than as human beings.
Pharmaceutical companies became political punching bags. Since we took physicians out to eat we charged exorbitant prices for our products ... or so they reasoned! Congress began to threaten to regulate the industry and certainly did so through their watchdog ... the FDA (which is about as political an organization as exists in the world)!
We were given more and more rules about samples, detail pieces and promotional literature and corporate lawyers would inform us what we could or could not say. The fun was beginning to disipate and micro or even nano-management became the rule of the day. Quotas, quotas, quotas! We would spend countless hours sitting in Cracker Barrell restaurants making list of physicians, having strategy sessions and drinking coffee ... all on company time. Cost cutting measures were put into place in all facets of the business. No more fancy hotels and 5 star restaurants - from now on it would be Motel 6 and RUBY TUESDAYS.
In a word, the industry lost its collective mind and gave in to the politics and pressures of fat-ass congressman who, all the while, were kept occupied spending our country into oblivion, drinking liquor, going on free junkets and having sex with congressional interns. Is there any wonder that these morons have an approval rating of less than 10%!
Here is a fact: WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE DISEASES AND HUMAN MALADIES THAT CAUSE MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING AND THE MEDICAL WORLD WILL NEVER LOOSE ITS DESIRE TO HAVE MORE INNOVATIVE AND SPECIFIC TREATMENTS FOR THESE ILLINESSES. Go to any funeral home and ask the relative of a deceased person about their current thoughts on better medical treatment.
Here's another fact: THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PRODUCE THESE DRUGS - THEY COME FROM AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES WHO RISK THEIR CAPITAL.
You don't have to worry anymore because it is over! Don't look for better antibiotics, pain meds or any other treatments that could possibly have a side-effect, because attorneys are chomping at their collective bits to file suit against Big Pharma and pharmaceutical company-hating judges are lined up to make sure this defendant comes out on the losing end. You will see a shift towards more cancer treatments (which EVERYONE knows will certainly have side-effects)and vaccines.
If I sound bitter - it is because I am!
Today, an outsourced company representative came to do my final check-out ... not even an employee of the company! I gave her my computer and totally cleaned out my storage unit and put everything in the back of her car. I signed papers and went through check-lists to be sure nothing was forgotten. I even had to give back my OFFICE MAX discount card. I didn't tell her I still have a STARBUCKS card for free coffee ... I got away with one there.
The previous sales year, I won one of the "highest awards" the company gives. I was good - even great - at my job and I loved and still love my customers and my counterparts. I just couldn't take the stupidity anymore! We spent more time talking about working than we did actually working and the Lord only knows how much money has been wasted on things that have no bearing on ANYTHING.
The process became more important than the object of our work!
Intelligent people, great friends, great customers, bright lights, big cities, 12 company cars with an average of 80,000 miles each - almost a million miles of driving, 12 physician calls per day for 23 years, 5 zillion cups of coffee, great food and fun and 23 years of a fantastic ride came to an end today (January 9th, 2009)! I couldn't help but remember that this date is also the anniversary of my father's death.
All of this took place at the O'Storage storage facility near my home. The lady who checked me out was extremely pleasant and even volunteered to take these pictures you see here. As I told her my story she laughed so hard she cried. She wished me the best as she drove away. Maybe I'll get a Christmas (Oh I'm sorry - Holiday) card from her next year.
Now that I'm retired from this phase of my life ... what's next, huh?
I think I'll go to Cracker Barrell and get a cup of coffee. Maybe I'll even make a list of the specials for the week.
