Sales Reps are Schmoozers and Sluts Says BNET Blogger

First some background. The pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently changed its compensation model so that bonuses are paid based partly upon customer satisfaction.

My BNET blogging colleague Jim Edwards believes that this is really bad idea and, in arguing against it, shows both a surprising ignorance of B2B sales and deep disrespect for sales professionals.

Edwards first mistake is characterizing the plan as dependent upon "touchy-feely, non-quantitative variables." Apparently Edwards is not aware that customer satisfaction is calculated using survey responses and that well-designed survey vehicles reveal very precise and actionable metrics. What's more, Edwards seems unaware that compensation based upon customer sat has been practiced inside hundreds of companies for decades.

But that's just the start.

Having shown that he lacks understanding of standard sales compensation models, Edwards goes on to state that:

"The sales reps that get the best feedback from their doctors could well be the ones who most reliably bring docs their Starbucks orders in the morning, or who develop even more inappropriate relationships with physicians."

Once again, the ancient myth rears its ugly head. Sales reps are only successful when they're schmoozers and sluts.

As "evidence" for this trite and tired notion, Edwards cites a comment on CafePharma, which he characterizes as "a gossip site where drug sales reps go to whine anonymously about their employers."

It apparently doesn't occur to Edwards that anonymity attracts trolls and fools, and that the comments were probably from people who have never worked in sales in their entire life.

Anyone who's ever spent time with real sales reps in the medical business knows that pharmaceutical sales is a complicated and important job. In many cases, sales reps are called in to consult about usages and dosage, potential drug conflicts, applications during surgery, and so forth.

People die when pharmaceutical sales reps make mistakes. That's why pharmaceutical sales reps are highly trained. Many have an extensive medical background. What's more, they're selling to a highly educated and highly intelligent customer base, who deal with life and death issues on a daily basis.

I've got no beef with Edwards' writing about pharmaceutical marketing issues and business models and so forth. This post by Edwards shows, IMHO, real brilliance and an incisive, logical mind. Edwards is a smart guy and a talented journalist.

Even so, the idea that physicians would be influenced by a free cup of coffee or some surprise nooky in the examining room (or that pharmaceutical sales reps would crutch their compensation on such hijinks) could only emerge from the mind of somebody whose vision of medical sales was formed by watching an all night marathon of Scrubs.

READERS: Are you sick of this "schmoozers and sluts" crap? If so, express your anger by clicking on the Facebook tab and the thumbs up at the top of the post. Maybe we can make this post visible enough so that people outside the sales world finally get a clue.