from nursing to repping.

Re: from nursing to repping.

Dippy — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:06:44 GMT

[quote user="nicola severs RVN cert exotics"]

I cant understand why so many vet nurses do all the training then move to repping , I cant think of anything worse than spending hours travelling to different practices to sell stuff , I would miss working with the animals , the only positive would be the wages but it could never replace the satisfaction of helping to save lives

[/quote]

Oh yes, I forgot the obvious one - missing the animal contact!

I guess it depends on individual personality as to whether nursing would satisfy you for life. For me, after 24yrs of (mostly) hands on jobs, I was ready for a slightly slower pace due to ill health and was also fed up with certain aspects of the job (and that's not just working in one practice, I spent the past five years locuming). For me personally, going on to do further specialist qualifications in the same field wasn't particularly something which appealed so moving "sideways" was the right thing to do but sales as such wasn't for me (proven by the fact I did it for a few years and then returned to nursing). Who knows, never say never but at the moment I don't see me returning other than maybe doing an odd day's locum work to keep my hand in. At the moment I'm satsifying the parts of the job I miss by continuing to do my charity work abroad which keeps me more than happy as I get to do the hands on stuff without all the practice/profession politics I hated.

Re: from nursing to repping.

nicola severs RVN cert exotics — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:39:19 GMT

ive heard good things about pro plan but all the other companies seem to have new reps all the time , they dont seem to stay for long x

Re: from nursing to repping.

Dippy — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:38:00 GMT

I've been a rep for a petfood company and also a lab compnay - both market leaders at the time so both had excellent products, research material and marketing aids which makes all the difference. I also tried working for a company who sold a new food with none of the above support and my sales skills simply weren't up to it.

The pros would have to be the huge salary, bonuses, compmany car and to some extent being able to choose where to go and when. The cons would be (as already mentioned), loneliness, especially if you have a bad day or someone is shitty to you and it knocks your confidence before you have more calls to do and are expected to meet targets. If you're money motivated and hungry for success/competitive then you'll do well. if you just fancy a change and a bit more money, it can be very stressful. I also personally hated all the corporate entertaining which was expected at congresses etc - I'm not a party animal, don't drink and like my bed by 10pm but for anyone who's into all of the above, you'd love it!

Having said all that, I guess I'm a rep of sorts now although my role involves other aspects too and I'm promoting a service rather than trying to close a sale in each call so it's not pressurised and I'm meeting some lovely people. Plus, I'm only working part time these days. I love my current job but it's got some of the benefits of the above without the stress.

Hope that helps a little.

Re: from nursing to repping.

Nick Shackleton — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:08:22 GMT

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/blogs/jobs/archive/2011/10/14/trainee-animal-health-sales-representative-circa-163-20k-114235-pmc.aspx

Re: from nursing to repping.

Caro Laithwaite VN — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:18:01 GMT

Could be but there isnt much money in the naked modeling l do for the art groups l havent done it since start of last year with Brian passing things went flat but l may look at recontacting my old contacts and do some more it is something to do.

Re: from nursing to repping.

emmadilemma — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:33:49 GMT

Hehe worth considering Caro .... the pay and hours are probably better!

Re: from nursing to repping.

Caro Laithwaite VN — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:14:53 GMT

Long night.. i thought you said from nursing to stripping

Re: from nursing to repping.

Stuart McQueen RVN MBVNA — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:51:20 GMT

I only know through speaking to a few of our reps... and I have considered the move myself (but still don't have a driving liscence!!)

For me... it wasn't about good or bad companies - it was about being confident about the products I was selling to practices... I think I'd be rubbish at selling something like Metacam.. simply because there about a million NSAIDs out there - that if a vet or nurse said "why don't we just use <this one> instead?"... I'd be like... "yeah why don't we" haha...

I think your VN experience will help... but you do need to have an idea about marketing and promoting I would imagine...

I see the good points that you can... on a rare occassion get to work from home - telephoning practices for appointments ... organising events or promotions etc...

The good/bad points - being on the road... most of the reps I've seen over the year say that doing the job for anymore than a couple of years makes you really lonely - you're travelling from practice to practice - sometimes with 2-3 hours drives inbetween... having to set up and then pack up when done... working 12 - 14 hour days... (no too far off some nursing hours!)

I still think it's where I'll end up though! My idea job would be with ProPlan! ;-)