"Did you come here alone," asked Rep A to Rep B. They were from different companies but cover the same area.
"Nope. I came with another rep, but he's having a teleconference," replied Rep B.
"I see. When did you arrived, "added Rep A?
"Yesterday," replied Rep B. Short.
"I'd rather travel with this guy. I got another colleague in the same company and cover this area too, but I hate traveling with him," Rep B kicked off his story.
Everyone asked him to carry on.
"The newer generation of the rep is not the same as we, senior reps, used to be," he said and paused to catch his breath. "We don't have a problem working with each other, lend the hands and sit down to chat, like right now. The newer guys and girls find this to be really hard," he added.
He sipped his cold iced-tea.
He continues:
"My new colleague, back in the office, a young chap in his early 20's was really raw in this field. I pity him when he first came in, so I thought of showing him the rope. I did not ask for any form of return whatsoever. I just feel like helping him out."
"But guess what? When the time comes for us to work together under the company's instruction, it seems that I was left alone to carry the burden. He just said back and told me that he was afraid to make a mistake since he was new."
"When customers came looking for him, they ended up in front of my door. They complained that my new colleague did not answer his phone and did not return their call. Youngsters...so different than how we treat customers back then," said Rep B before he chewed his food.
It was a lengthy complaint and sounds more like a grievance to me, but it shows the reality of today's newer pharma sales reps generation.
Another rep, Rep D, chipped in, "I would delete the number if he were my colleague. And if he ever calls, I'll say, 'Hello! Who's this? Oh, it's you. No wonder I didn't keep your number'. That should teach him a lesson."
"The newer reps have a totally different attitude than our batch. It's the attitude that makes all the difference," said Rep E, another senior rep from another company.
It's fantastic to see a few senior reps from different companies sat together for breakfast. They even talked about how different our time and this generation time is, in terms of performance and attitude.
Some have their own way of how to deal with such problems.
But the generation gap is not new. It appears in every industry, not only pharmaceutical. The lesson, if any, is that what is taken as pharma sales best practice 10, 20 years ago, is still applicable right now. It's evergreen. Stuff like a good attitude and work ethic (returning phone call) is still very much relevant today.
The generation gap between senior and newer pharma sales reps must be welcomed more constructively.
What's your thought?
No comments:
Post a Comment