The Death of a Pharma Sales Rep Pt 2 | Alec Burlakoff

In our previous conversation with guest Alec Burlakoff, host Darshan Kulkarni discussed how he decided to get into pharma sales and what the role of a sales rep was two decades ago. In today’s episode, we ask Alec about growing up as the son of a car salesman. Alec also discusses his sales strategies and why he never fired a sales rep throughout his career. Alec, the son of a car salesman: Alec’s father worked as a car salesman who got paid only on commission basis. Therefore, if Alec’s father did not sell a car on a particular day, there would be silence at the dinner table. Alec’s father rule was ‘I don’t come home until I don’t sell a car.’ Alec also talks about how celebrating a festival was also dependent on whether his father sold a car on that particular holiday. Therefore, Alec decided that he did not want his life or mood to be dictated by whether he managed to make a sale on that day. But he also ended up becoming a sales person- a pharma sales rep. Alec, however, realized that there is a huge difference between being a pharma sales rep and being a regular sales person. A sales rep has a responsibility towards the society as the information they share impacts patient health directly. This is usually not the case in a regular sales job. Also, sales reps get a base salary which makes their job less stressful as compared to being in regular sales. Therefore, sales reps must use a different approach to influence their customers (doctors). Alec’s sales strategies: Alec has followed 98-2 rule throughout his career. When he was a sales rep, he ensured that 98% of his sales came from 2% of his customers. When Alec was in leadership positions, he focused on training 2% of his sales reps which could do 98% of the required sales. Therefore, Alec did not pay attention to the underperforming sales reps. This is mainly because Alec knew that even if he fired the underperforming sales reps, he would have to replace them with people with similar capabilities. Alec did not waste time or energy on the underperforming sales reps and so he never ended up firing any sales rep in his entire career. Will Alec’s sales strategies like the 98-2 rule work today? What would Alec have done differently today? Tune into the interview to know more. Alec Burlakoff’s book- ‘Selling Hard Lessons Learned’ is available on Amazon-https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Lessons-Learned-Alec-Burlakoff/dp/B0BCSGPYS2?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Join us for our next interview with Alec where we talk about his journey at Insys Therapeutics Inc. and about his lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry! Don't miss Darshan's other interviews with Alec: Episode 1- The Rise and Downfall of a Pharma Sales Rep Part 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlsrZ_U1ty4 Episode 3- The Cautionary Tale of being a Pharma Sales VP Part 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeUs3FrT-KM Episode 4: Did Insys Put Profits Before People Part 4- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbuEhQ8NKMY Episode 5: The Tragic Of A Pharma Sales VP In Prison- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Lre9f-Taw #pharma #pharmaceuticals #opioids #epidemic #crisis #addiction #opioidepidemic #opioidcrisis #darshantalks