Big Time

Everytime I hear one of those stories about  corporate managers interviewing prospective candidates, it makes TSB think of Peter Gabriel when he sings;

Big Time, I'm on my way I'm making it Big Time
Big Time, I've got to make it show, Yeah, Big Time
Big Time, so much larger than life
Big Time, I'm gonna watch it growing, Big Time
Big Time, my car is getting bigger, Big Time, my house is getting bigger
Big Time, my eyes are getting bigger
And my mouuth...................................................

It's been brutally quiet in the industry, of course unless one thinks that the Duck Key meeting is exciting.  It use to be called the Motion Preservation Meeting, but now that Motion Preservation is on the back burner, its called "Current Solutions in Spine."  How many of these meetings can the industry have?  When do some of these people work?  But that's a topic for a later date.   After speaking to a few of my colleagues today, it's time to start a rant on behalf of the people.  You know the real people that carry the burden of generating revenue.  Recently, an industry insider was conveying the gist of an interview that this individual had with a prospective employer for a job.  Ironically, TSB knew the interviewing manager and the history of the company quite well.  What was funny was the criteria that had been established by the company in order to be considered a viable candidate for the position.  Before, elaborating on the interview, let's preface this by saying that TSB knows what sales are all about since I have been in sales so long, that I have probably forgotten more than some people will ever know.   For those wacky investors that have no concept of the selling process in today's pernicious environment, spare us your diatribe.  So here it is, the interviewing manager wanted to know how many surgeons can this prospective candidate bring to the table in a 30, 60, and 90 day period?  I love those conversations, because every time I meet one of these people I feel like ripping off their heads and shoving it up their ass, and then asking them if they could pull their head out of their ass. That's almost as good as asking a candidate what kind of revenue will you generate in the first 30, 60 and 90 days when you are interviewing someone for an executive management position.  Granted, one wants to know whether someone has the necessary skill set to get the job done, but TSB would like to know what ever gets accomplished during that period of time?  The prospective candidate was also asked if they could take the interviewer around and introduce them to their pool of surgeon candidates.  Of course, you would oblige considering that as a candidate you haven't been tendered an offer and will do anything to compromise your contacts just to please this person.  If anything, some people in this industry need a swift boot in the ass. They are so desperate for revenue that they are going to extremes that skate boarders don't go to in the X games.  I mean Charlie Sheen isn't that desperate.  How many times have we heard of VP's from early-growth stage companies going behind the distributors back in an attempt to cut a deal with their sub rep?  Nouns like integrity and ethics no longer exist.  The more one analyzes our industry, the more one can understand why we are viewed no different than Wall Street. Adjectives like, shameless, greedy, nefarious and desperate are just a few words that rightly describe us. And then we wonder why surgeons view many of you with disdain?  Are things really that bad out there for some of these companies? Are they as desperate as they sound?  Are some of you as desperate as you come across.  And what does this say about the people they represent?

TSB's advice to the prospective candidate was, "don't bother pursuing this." This isn't an opportunity, this is a death sentence, indicative of another person in a management position that has no clue as to what the dynamics are like in today's healthcare environment.  Hey, if grand slams were that easy to hit, we'd all be hitting them.  And then you have the lack of support that most of these companies exhibit.  Example:  ever attempt to go out and sell your product without some product information, or literature, to give your prospective customer?   You've got to love the response that one receives whenever there is a request for literature.  "We've run out, and, we are working on a new brochure?  WTF?  You mean, no one thought about that before you ran out of literature?  I'm I supposed to leave my iPad with them? My favorite is, we'll send you a PDF file and you can then print them yourself. WTF?  Who do you think pays for the paper?  The cartridge?  My time?  It's bad enough that we average $70-$100 per week for gas, X amount of dollars on roads that may have tolls, and buy lunch for people we would never think of ever sitting down and breaking bread with.  What many of these business oracles fail to understand is that, "this is the cost of doing business."  It's like requesting samples, it's the cost of business.  The sample costs the company barely zilch, and you make it back tenfold, and then when you leave, they have the audacity to deduct the sample from your check.  So fellow bloggers, as you continue your quest in search for your next job, one has to ask themselves, "are you ready for another throw down?"  TSB wants to know what our bloggers think?