I'm thankful to Indeed for giving me my first real sales job. I learned valuable lessons about prospecting, presenting, following up, and closing new business at this organization. That being said, leaving Indeed has been a breath of fresh air, a sentiment shared by many of the sales people that I worked with. The most prescient problems with the organization include:
- A lack of development. Upon leaving, about 75% of the sales teams, company wide, were not reaching goals set by upper management. This is psychologically devastating, as all sales numbers are public, and the party line as espoused by the Directors is that failure is due to a lack of drive. I watched as many top performers were rewarded with inbound leads, while those in genuine need of direction and support were bullied and eventually fired. The lack of defined career paths for sales people, coupled with poor training, leads many to adopt poor work ethic out of desperation, as opposed to inherent lethargy. A lack of understanding from management only exacerbates the feeling of hopelessness.
- A lack of lead generation/marketing. A huge problem with this is the "Small Business" sector of Indeed holding on to leads that should be passed to the Sales team for follow up. Meanwhile, sales professionals at Indeed comb the homegrown CRM for leads held by other reps that can be taken according to business rules. This causes many sales people at Indeed to fight with one another, and new team members are often ostracized until after they've built a book. The easiest way to get prospects is to wait for others to quit or get fired, as management will pass these leads out to others on the sales team after a rep departs.
- A lack of direction. Internal policy disputes among managers often sets different areas of the company (Sales, Client Services, Small Business, Finance) at loggerheads. This creates an atmosphere similar to a schoolyard. The upper management should get all parts of the business on the same page.
- Low pay (specific to California). A large part of the reason that Indeed is foundering in the San Mateo office is the low salaries offered to new employees, and the insulting raises given to those who have actually stuck it out. This attracts a lot of new college grads, which in the end leads to high turnover.
