Lilly' Connelly: Far removed from reality

Nov/07/2007 05:44 Filed in: Life inside pharma
images
According to Pharmalot Lilly's President of the US took a swipe at online forums that attract disgruntled sales reps, describing sites such as CafePharma as “outlets for people who don’t have the courage to speak out with their ideas” for improving their role and the performance of their companies. We prefer to think of the site as an electronic bathroom wall, but as you know, the truth is sometimes learned in the most unexpected places. Ms Connelly is so removed from reality in her enclosed office. I can personally tell you that at Lilly people are NOT rewarded for speaking out and voices of reason often go unheard.



Cafe Pharma is a message board clearing house for sales reps who often seem more disgruntled than happy with their jobs. People need to vent and what is said on Cafe Pharma should be taken with a grain of salt. However it seems that Ms Connelly has been more interested in promoting herself, as one of the most powerful business women of the year, than trying to change the culture at Lilly. I can tell you that while I was at Lilly I personally saw new ideas squashed, insights withheld from management and data manipulated to support poor decisions. In fact when I tried to speak up several times I was told politely to keep my mouth shut and was not even allowed to eMail the brand team leader without "clearing content first". This is being rewarded for speaking out?


Ms Connelly came from a sales background and therefore is a big believer in the sales force. To put someone in charge of US Operations who has a marketing background of course would be logical but lets not kid ourselves Lilly is a sales driven company not a marketing powerhouse. According to Pharmalot:


Connely recently went out on a sales call. When Connelly told the doc she didn’t have samples but just wanted to talk for a minute, he stepped back, seemingly offended, and asked her why she was there and where was his regular rep? Eventually, he asked to see Connelly’s business card. “President, Lilly USA,” he read. “President? President of what?

”

If this doesn't open her eyes nothing will. The sales training center at Lilly is often filled with college graduates who are trained to give robot like pitches and then sent out to try and establish a relationship with physicians. Oh by the way 95% of the sales reps could be models if they wanted to....no accident there either.


Let me make something clear to readers here: I consider myself damn lucky to have worked at Lilly and with some very talented people and it is my devotion to this industry to help people that keeps this BLOG going. The environment in which we market pharmaceuticals is changing dramatically yet pharma seems committed to the old ways of doing business. They do not invest in new technology; have not acknowledged the patients decision in treatment options and continue to advertise some products that have no business in DTC ads. Ms Connelly needs to take some marketing associates off campus for an informal chat if she really wants to learn about "speaking up". The problem is that the culture there does not allow people to say what is on their minds unless they are managers which if all too often based on who you know rather than what you did.
|