"This is like Déjà vu all over again!"
As New York Yankees Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit one home run after another during the 1961 baseball season, Yogi Berra
summed up the barrage of round-trippers by uttering his now-famous saying about feeling like he had seen it all before. He
could have been talking about sales orientation training circa 2006.
In the not-too-distant past, many pharmaceutical companies hired new sales representatives from outside the industry. But
with the hiring trend for pharmaceutical sales positions becoming flat in recent years, there now seems to be a sizable pool
of experienced pharma reps from which companies can draw their new hires. The resulting situation is that some representatives
are going through orientation sales training two, three or even four times during their career, leading to the Déjà vu feeling
that Yogi immortalized.
All reps know that accepting a position with another company, or making it through a merger, means another orientation process
to go through. But the second, third or fourth time around is significantly different from the first. To find out what orientation
training is like when the majority of the class has pharmaceutical selling experience, we asked reps and trainers about their
experiences. The rep's view
The sales representatives we spoke with said that in contrast with their first orientation, their subsequent trips to home
office orientation programs provided them with opportunities to learn about more than just the new products they would be
selling. One senior representative who voluntarily changed companies summed it up this way: "The training is the first glimpse
into 'Holy crap, what did I sign on for?' " While the training session can be an eye-opening initiation into a new company,
the orientation experience also provides the newly hired rep with a variety of information and experiences.
Comparisons and projections. Representatives told us that the sales orientation programs they attended allowed them to make predictions about what kind
of company their new employer might turn out to be over the long haul. By comparing the current orientation with others they
had participated in, several representatives indicated that they could get a good read on what to expect from the new company.
While many felt that training was a good barometer for overall company performance, it was not always the case. One representative
described how the optimism he felt upon graduating from a well-run and well-organized training program quickly turned into
a feeling of helplessness due to the micromanaging leadership style that was prevalent throughout field sales management.
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Another representative told us that she learns what to expect from the company during orientation training by observing how
the home office handles the small details that can make life difficult for a rep if they are not done well. "During orientation,
when the different departments come in to present, I can see how on-top-of-things people are by how they handle the small
details. If the details are not handled well, then at least I know about it upfront. For instance, [if] I know in advance
that I will never get a copy of a study from medical, I won't be waiting around in the field for something that is not going
to happen. It lets me know right away if I need to take things into my own hands."
Key players. A common idea touched on by the representatives we spoke to was using the training session as an opportunity to get to know
the key players in the home office. Most felt that during their first orientation, they were too busy worrying about passing
tests and acing role-plays to concentrate on learning who was who in the home office. With the benefit of experience, these
representatives found that they could use some of their time during the training session to introduce themselves and spend
a few minutes with home office sales and marketing managers who visited the class or attended group dinners.
