Not so long ago being a pharmaceutical sales rep could be a lot of fun. Jamie Reidy laid it all out in Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, one of the more entertaining books on the topic. In this interview from 2005, Reidy talked about how much fun it was and how the old tools for control of reps included hiring people from the military and Mormons, who were presumed to be honest and hardworking: Reidy: Everyone works from their house and then has their own sales territory. So, no one ever knows where you are. Smith: So it’s kind of freelance, where you set your own hours, and kind of have to be self-motivated?
