What a disappointment...
Pros
- Benefits are top notch - Perks in the tower and holiday party are impressive - Sales tactics and strategies are great for growth even as an experienced rep - You’ll meet very talented sales rep with a wide variance of styles -ESPP - generous maternity/paternity leave. Although this will affect your likelihood of be promoted
Cons
I came into Salesforce like every rep, excited and eager to get my “MBA” in sales. Working here you’ll have to be prepared to give up everything just to stay afloat. In the first year you will most likely be given a terrible territory and what you do with it will decide your future here. Things you will need to juggle effortlessly or will lead you down the road of being let go are: - Activity- lots of calls. People who fib numbers here are celebrated by leadership but frowned upon by reps - Opp rigor- the amount of fields you will need to update are mind numbing - Pipeline- with a terrible territory be prepared to pipe aspirational pipeline that will be highly scrutinized - Prep meetings- there are endless prep meetings before calls. Due to schedules each person involved will require a prep meeting, leaving your day with little time for anything else. - Team selling- be prepared to sell with folks much junior than you and not held to as high of standards. If the deal falls through, it’s on you. There are a few coprimes that are skilled sales reps - Your “brand”- It’s important to maintain appearances, even on bad days. Your brand is determined by how involved you are in diversity, volunteer work, and leading the team, which requires tenure. -Manager 1:1’s- these are a trap to look out for. Salesforce preaches trust as one of it pillars, but beware that everything said in those meetings will be used against you when they have soured on you - Time management- working a 12 hr day is table stakes. There are endless distractions you will need to navigate and make hard decisions on “brand”/ appearance maintenance vs selling The work/life balance is very heavy on the work side. The exec team repeatedly say their biggest regrets are not spending enough time with family. This will never change if they don’t take it serious. There is a lot you can learn here but at the expense of your self confidence as some managers make you feel worthless when your awful territory isn’t performing. If that isn’t enough to make you steer clear, the pay is very low and less than 20% of reps hit their annual numbers The “Ohana” culture is a mirage. There is nothing remotely familial about the culture. It is an ultra competitive pressure cooker. I just had such higher hopes for my experience left disappointed...
