Was it Aesop who once said, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." It seems that today was a day of giving kindness at CareFusion. Jim "Crazy Horse" Leitl was in a very giving mood today. By the way Jim, don't ever stop abruptly especially if your former employees have relatives in the NYC police department. Jimmy boy it seems pulled the plug on 25 direct sales reps today, that served the company's Interventional Specialties Division. As usual, Jim delivered everyone's termination with panache. It seems Jim, a humanitarian at heart, terminated all 25 individual in a five minute phone call. At the end of it all Jimmy told everyone to "have a good day.
Two years ago, CareFusion, or should we now call them Idon'tCareFusion (IDCF), launched a "me-too" product line under Andreas "listen to me now or hear me later" Lex to challenge Medtronic/Kyphoplasty. It didn't take long before the then National Sales Directly abruptly quit, as a result of IDCF's incompetent leadership team. Did TSB actually use the word "leadership?" As TSB always says, "cheap is expensive," and by not increasing the comp plan, IDCF got what they paid for. Lex was bumped upstairs and Crazy Horse was promoted. So with that said, another promising opportunity goes kaput. Our readers can take comfort that the Glo-bus is now primed to take over the number two spot competing as they do by allegedly borrowing Dr. Mitchell's technology.
So as TSB kicks up one's heels staring out on the evening sky, the faint voice of the Boss serenading can be heard,
"So listen up my Jimmy boy, be ready when they come, for they'll be returning as the rising sun
Now get yourself a song to sing, and sing it 'til you're done, sing it hard and sing it well
As the robber baron you'll be sent to hell, you greedy thief you came around, and ate the flesh of
everything you found, whose crimes have gone unpunished for now, you walk the streets as a free man now, and brought death to the 25 or so in their home town."
Versace never had style compared to IDCF. Remember what TSB says Jimmy Boy, pay back is a bitch!
Maybe Globus can use the help in their new venture from the CF crowd? Hope Globus paid Dr. Mitchell and didn't borrow it like they did from Dr. Bianco.
ReplyDeleteAre they into screwing physician customers now?
ummm....given that he's bringing a lawsuit, you can bet that Mitchell got "Bianco'd". Hey, its the globus way!
DeleteThe Mafia has more honor.
ReplyDeleteJim has no clue how to run a business. He has been dead wieght for years.
ReplyDeleteThis writing has been on the wall for a long time. People continued to drink the cool-aid for some crazy reason. Everyone in Senior Leadership is a "Yes" man which is the main problem, they have no clue what really goes on in the field.
ReplyDeleteSo sad but so true...Leitl and Lex have absolutely no clue how to run a business in spine. They refused to a) pay reps the competitive money to unseat Medtronic
Deleteb) listen to industry experts, including their own National Sales Director, who bolted in 9 months after banging his head against the wall of ineptitude and incompetence that is IDCF.
Their only interest is protecting their own careers, which, given how badly they have failed, should be (in any normal company) in jeopardy.
I'll bet Jim didn't even bat an eyelash when delivering the news that 25 of his most dedicated reps were being axed.
I would hardly call the Nsd an expert. He didn't have a backbone either and that's why he was hired. Now the New Nsd is a clown... Another yes man who if he isn't careful Will get a brown spot on his pretty shiny head if Lex or Jim ever stop short
DeleteHeartless prick, maybe its time the management team acknowledge that there is no leadership at this half-punked operation
ReplyDeleteAnyone know how they were performing (er, I have a suspicion)?
ReplyDeleteProducts, market dynamics, bad management, etc. aside - you guys are taking your entitlement to a whole new level. Is there some sort of unprofitable sales rep union I'm not aware of that guarantees these jobs?
No argument that it was apparently handled very poorly!
There is alway the 80/20 rule. 20% of the team produced 80% of the results. 40% growth year over year... so no need for an unprofitable sale rep union, just an unhappy one!
DeleteReps certainly need to be accountable for themselves. But, being sent into a gun fight with a knife ( or 3 bone model) stacks the odds against you. When your big marketing plan is to compensate a doctor for a Ccr while competitors are signing consultant agreements shows that all levels of corporate were incompetent. And what ever happened to the captain going down with the ship...seems like management was full of captains fro the Italian cruise ship.
Delete8:29 Has a point that should at least be considered. There are always two sides and obviously Carefusion Corporate didn't decide to axe their direct sales force because they were performing. My guess is they have decided to go through a distributor network or they are selling the division.
ReplyDeleteI always here (from this blog too) that there is no need to hire distributors and pay them 30% commissions to grow the business. Outside of medical this is the norm. Budweiser, Miller, Coke, Pepsi, Caterpillar, GM, Ford, Apple, HP, Dell, etc. all go through distributors. Going through PODs makes very little sense for the legitimate business model because of the political dynamic. If a group of surgeons in your town join a POD are any of the competing surgeons ever going to use a product sold by that POD? Whereas Danek, Depuy and Synthes often had many competing surgeons in the same town using their product.
I realize I want off in a tangent but the mistake Carefusion made and is now trying to correct is embracing the wrong model for distribution. Hiring a bunch of direct reps with no spine surgeon relationships was very short sighted on their part. Obviously they have figured that out the hard way and have rethought the model of paying a bunch of reps six figures to sell not much more than they make after adding in all the benefits. The other problem in they encountered in my opinion is their product didn't necessarily improve on Kyphon's products per surgeons that I have spoken with. Many felt like the system took longer, was more complex and was not quite a finished product. I think everyone needs to sell on price in this market but you can't only sell on price.
If I were Carefusion I would sell the whole division, when they got into it there was only one competitor and pricing was good. Now there is about to be eight players with another 8 in the pipeline and pricing is eroding very fast. I just hope they sell to who I represent.
9:21 If a product doesn't offer a distinct advantage over the competitor where is the value proposition? You attest that to your knowledge the product did not improve on Kyphon's product. If so, how do you expect to make Beef Wellington out of BS? There are advantages to both business models, it depends on where you are in the evolution of your company, how comprehensive is your portfolio (one-stop offering), what type of relationship do you have, and is your product priced competitively. If it's not improving the outcomes not making the surgeons life easier, who gives a rats ass? If you cannot answer why your product is better, you're dead meat. End of Story. The bigger question is should a company like IDCF ventured into this market? It's alway easier to deflect the blame on your sales people when you have a shitty management team or product, TSB has never met a CEO who admitted that they F'd Up have you? It's always someone else's fault.
ReplyDeleteMM - Where in your opinion it is always the CEO/Managements fault? As a distributor and rep I tend to agree but lets be honest nobody has a crystal ball. It is not always what you do right and wrong sometimes it is the competition. It's like sports which you may or may not have had the opportunity to experience as a young man but the other team or teams have something to say about it as well and management doesn't always have unilateral decision making responsibilities. Do you think the spine management at Danek, J&J, Stryker, Zimmer, Biomet, etc. are making all the decisions that affect their organizations? Hell no. There is a CEO and of all the companies mentioned they are a second, third or fourth division in terms of sales. Add in that the CEO answers to the board and they all answer to the street and the discussion of mis-management becomes much more complex. No company has unlimited resources and in the end we are all responsible for our own performance. Good companies make bad reps look good and bad companies make good reps look bad so if your drowning under one companies management I suggest you take control of your success and move. Or turn your own sales around and hope enough of your counterparts do that they turn the company around.
ReplyDelete10:58 Excuses, excuses, excuses. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.
Delete"Hiring a bunch of direct reps with no spine surgeon relationships was very short sighted on their part."
ReplyDeleteHow do you know they didnt have spine surgeon relationships?
Many actually were exceeding their numbers, with little to no corporate support.
When does the buck stop with the management who, against sound advice, made shitty decision after shitty decision, or often times as is the case with careerists, no decision at all and let opportunities slip away?
11:07 While I don't know that they didn't have spine surgeon relationships I can't imagine experienced reps with spine surgeon relationships would take a position with Carefusion if they offered a reported bad comp plan with a small market share. My guess is many of the reps were exceeding their numbers but not enough and I am guessing many reps were exceeding with distributor partners and management took a hard look at that equation and considered increased competition and decreased pricing. Perhaps management made many poor decisions to get here but going the distributor model or selling the division may turn out to be a wise move. They will not be the first or last company to move to a distributor model or out of spine.
Delete“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I'. And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I'. They don't think 'I'. They think 'we'; they think 'team'. They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit.... This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.” - Drucker
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going to talk about Depuy Synthes companies of J&J?:)
ReplyDeleteToo early, it just closed. Trust me, they'll screw the proven reps and cut territories. It's not news just same old arrogance from the big boys (only two btw).
DeleteWe are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth. - Theodore Roosevelt.
ReplyDeleteI read that and thought I would share it with all of you as that use to be the opinion of staunch conservatives in this country. This was not meant for Carefusion or this thread but for this cesspool we now call health care and business. How low can we all sink?
I've got a life vest on. It's called "being of value". And that my dear boys is something you create.
ReplyDeleteRemember anytime there are rough seas and the ship is sinking, only items of value are saved. Don't find yourself left behind in the cargo hold.
Yes, but what about the hypothermia?
DeleteTo Quote Led Zepplin's "My Heart will go on" from their 1983 album "Pyromania":
Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on
Leitl's days will be numbered once the sales numbers start dropping. Short term it looks good on the books to the lawyers running CONFUSION. Bye Bye Jimmy Pudge
ReplyDeleteI have a vacuum cleaner salesman show up at my door. He said he'd clean my carpet if I would allow him to demo his Rainbow Vac. I agreed. He put on a slick demo and tried a sharp angle close.
ReplyDeleteI made it clear that I was not going to buy his vacuum cleaner. The Rainbow is a fancy wet/dry vac. I told him that I can buy a wet/dry Vac at Sears for 50 bucks. He piped in and said, "You can get one for $39 on sale but a good salesman can get $1500 for one."
With a few exceptions the spine industry sell the sizzle and not the steak and their steak is dog meat. Most doctors are motivated by greed. Put some money in their hands and they will implant Tinker Toys. LOL like that have been doing for years.
Blaa, blaa, yawn... yawn some more.
DeleteEl, that's an old salesmans joke. You are truly lame.
DeleteOld but true. It makes a point. Having not scruples is good for business. And anon, you are truly corporate. After all people are corporations.
ReplyDeleteIt's true in that it shows the value of a good salesman. You can bash our profession all you want. But nothing happens for any business until someone sales something.
ReplyDeleteYou are incredibly frustrated because no one is buying you load of crap.
Jeff Southard is a moron. How many sales directors do you know that live out of Little Rock, Arkansas???
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke.
Can't argue with that! That's why the entire business went down under his watch. He should change his name to Jeff Lietl.
ReplyDeleteEveryone running this is a joke. Jeff Leitl has minor field experience and is a yes man. Lex the Flex got shipped on to ruin another business unit, and Leit's days are numbered. The 10 remaining reps will be sold within the next year and we will all say good by to confusion. It was doomed since they day they announced the new name confusion. The only thing that saved them was talented reps who busted their ass, most of which have left. They did not give two shits about these reps, and certainly don't care about the 10 remaining. It's a sad place when you know the guys on your team could give a shit about you. This has been the problem all along.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that leadership conned Tim Hein into leaving LDR to run this division. Once here, he was not allowed to do anything. The idiots above him are out of their element and have zero knowledge of this arena. This is further proven by their hiring of Jeff Southard as the director of sales. Jeff is a nice guy but unfortunately knows everything. When you know everything, there's nothing left for you to learn. He led the team blindly down this distributor path and then was surprised that the company fired everyone on his watch... nice job!
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the division being grossly mismanaged, their product was inferior to Kyphon's and, for that matter, Stryker's. As much as it pains me to say it, the new Globus system is on par with Kyphon and will be #2 in that space soon if it isn't already.
ReplyDelete