Pharma Sales Reps Suing for Overtime: $1 Billion Potentially at Stake
Pharmaceutical Executive’s Beth Herskovits has just reported that tens of thousands of pharma sales reps across the country are suing their current and former employees for overtime and the equivalent of “time and a half. ” $1 billion in settlements could be at stake.
The old days immortalized by Jamie Reidy are apparently over, with reps saying they are pressured to make 40-50 doctors office visits a week only to find they aren’t welcome. Their calls are scripted and leave little room for independent decisionmaking, the article says.
Although some companies like Merck are using virtual sales tools, the article says, time management has become a critical issue and investing in better customer relationship management tools and technologies might help, so that info on specific doctor’s needs and preferences would be recorded and accessible. To read the article, click here.
[...] Pharma presents a report that tens of thousands of pharma sales reps are suing current and former employers for overtime - $1 billion in settlements could be at [...]
Pingback by Biotech Blog » Carnival of Biotechnology — April 12, 2007 @ 12:44 p.04.
This is new and interesting to me. I have sympathy for pharma sales reps who are not welcome at some medical offices. These doctors are shortsighted. We always welcome pharma reps to our office. The catch is to supply us with plenty of drug samples which are sorely needed by our patients.
I wish good luck to them all(pharma reps) in this endeavor mentioned in this blog post.
Comment by Suthin Liptawat,M.D. — May 2, 2007 @ 12:44 p.05.
Dr. Liptawat:
Thanks so much for writing in. We’ve recently “moved” and we’re “starting over” from scratch to build links, visibility etc. Everyone’s still going to the old site.
I just visited your fine web site (great name) and blogs. How do you find the time!?
Physicians who think like you may be becoming a minority, given some of the aggressive sales and marketing tactics that some sales people use. (If you haven’t read it, Jamie Reidy’s “Hard Sell: Evolution of a Viagra Salesman” gives some insights—it’s humorous, but shows how things may have gone too far (http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Sell-Evolution-Viagra-Salesman/dp/0740750399), and then there is the whole “buckets of money” story that has been unfolding at Astra-Zeneca, covered in Peter Rost’s “Question Authority” blog).
I’m sure that physician’s blogs will become even more important in shaping the direction of the drug industry, and look forward to reading yours.
Best,
Agnes
Comment by pharmamanufacturing — May 2, 2007 @ 12:44 p.05.
[...] [ ] Pharma presents a report that tens of thousands of pharma sales reps are suing current and former employers for overtime - $1 billion in settlements could be at [ ] …more [...]
Pingback by biotechnology » Blog Archive » Green Biotechnology Manifesto — May 23, 2007 @ 12:44 p.05.