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Comment by fit2rule | Hacker News Reader

I know a 'pharmaceutical representative'. She is little more than a corporate prostitute - and I mean that sincerely.

She is paid to take doctors on dinner dates, woo them and give them 'free samples', and ensure that they promote her product over all the others. She's admitted to me that she regularly has sex with her clients - and that she's a part of a larger team that covers the entire German market.

Its such a normal, accepted practice, that my surprise at her frank attitude about it was met with a "well, duh, how do you think we stay relevant in such a competitive market?" response ..

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She can rationalize as she wants, but in reality she seems to be comfortable living this life. And I am not judging the sex part of it, that's her body so whatever. What seems a bit off is her inability to see her role in the society...

I believe your story completely.

A few years ago a good friend of mine worked as an office manager for multiple gynaecologist offices in a major American city. Lots of small operations so she had multiple clients. She would always joke about the young women coming to push drugs on the doctors, almost all of whom were also women.

It's weird. It would seem to be as much a cultural aspect of sales workers as it is about actually using sex to sell drugs. I don't doubt that male doctors receive sex in exchange for pushing certain drugs, but I think there is a bit more to it as well. There seems to be an expectation that sales people need to be attractive, and if they're not the company doesn't take its business seriously.

Salespeople have long wined and dined customers, been charismatic, etc.

I've never heard (in the US) of a practice of salespeople having sex with customers. I'd expect to hear a lot of lawsuits, were that a practice in the US.

It'd be sad if people who are just doing normal sales work (e.g., talking with the customer, understanding and communicating how product could work for them, negotiating deals) were insulted or had their reputations harmed by a suggestion that they were doing something else.

So its clear, she openly admitted to the fact of her sexual engagement, and was kind of proud of it.

I was speaking of the suggestion that it's a normal, accepted practice. If people thought it was, then they might unfairly assume or suspect of it of many salespeople who do not do that.

you write "unfairly", but you probably mean "incorrectly"

there is nothing unfair about people assuming or suspecting things, we do not regulate each other's thought processes.

I see your point, and I could agree to "incorrectly", but would you agree that assumptions and suspicions tend to affect behavior, which would be when the "unfair" comes in?

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