Rounding the Bend

Unlocking the Secrets Behind the Pharmaceutical Rep's Roster

Every team has its roster. As a pharmaceutical rep, I have a list of physicians. Unlike the

mathematical stats of the athlete and its team, the accuracy of information in my database earns a

C average at best. Every quarter I get a new list of physicians that my company expects me to

call on which is generated by a supplier that collects and sells the data to companies like ours.

Most clinicians don’t like that we have these stats, but it’s not a hill they choose to die on.

Whenever an unfamiliar name and address appear on my roster, I check it out. I call this roster

“the magic list” because it’s generated by a computer, filtered through a microchip, and my

performance is evaluated by the number of calls to the providers listed -- regardless of the list’s

accuracy. Recently, while in Dayton, I decided to investigate three unknown providers on my list.

My goal was to confirm addresses and determine if they were indeed in practice and in need of

my product.

Listen, I’ve had this list since July, it is now the end of September and the end of the quarter. But

I know my territory and the high probability that these three don’t exist in my geography.

However, after I had already made the expected calls to every legit name on my list, and in the

spirit of exhausting my due diligence, it was time to be a good scout and check out the new

potential. Perhaps, these obscure players had the capacity to elevate my status back to number

one in the country like last year. Yes, I was number one in the whole country. That was then, this

is now, and I am hanging around 18 out of 64.

I entered one of the addresses in my GPS, put my car in drive, and began my journey on a street

I’ve never been, on a quest to find a physician I’ve never met, at a clinic I never knew existed. I

love adventure!

Also, on my mind was how to spend my time over lunch. I contemplated going to noon Mass,

but then I had another idea: an art museum. It had been a while since my last visit to both

options. I ruminated about paintings, sculptures, and exhibits displayed in the well-known

historic art museum and how spending my lunch hour within those walls surrounded by

masterpieces would satiate my appetite for art.

I kid you not, this was my headspace when I rounded a bend and out of nowhere, there was a

museum. Not the one I imagined but one I had never seen before. It was a three-story warehouse

marked, “British Transportation Museum.” Whoa, pump the brakes! Did I manifest this? Chills.

Just past the museum was the clinic I was searching for. It was permanently closed and I was not

surprised, and quite pleased. It gave me time to explore this gem.

This was a special find since my dad loved British bikes and cars. He had several over the years

including an MG, Austin Healey, a Triumph motorcycle, and his last one a Royal Enfield Bullett

(that one has its own special connection and is the heart and soul of my first book, “God Is In the

Odd, the Ordinary, and Outside Church.” Check it out, wherever books are sold.)

I stopped to get out of my company car and snoop around a bit. There was an open garage door,

and I peeked inside to see a few cars under restoration, disrepair, or just forgotten under inches of

dust. I didn’t see any humans, but I felt a presence. I looked online. Unfortunately, the museum

was closed, and no one was around to talk with. The website said it’s open on Mondays and

Saturdays, and it was neither of those days. I called the number listed, since the site offered

appointments outside of those days, but my call went to voicemail, and the mailbox was full. I

marked my calendar for the next Monday I am in this town and peruse the British fine art of

transportation.

As you might guess, I went to Mass to thank the serendipitous British angel for this magic

moment in Dayton, Ohio. Spontaneity rewarded!