Any other tenured SMB reps on here also seriously missing the vibrant and fun culture of old? Completely gone at this point and morale at all-time low. Quality of management also at all-time low, zero value provided day-to-day beyond pipeline review and “let me know if I can help”, and just an overall toxic environment. No wonder so many reps have left on their own accord over the last few years.
10 replies (most recent on top)
How about we go positive for once... who are the gold standards? Which Managers are great and help you?
The comp plan in smb is gold…We had no idea how good we had it for those of us pulled to territory/majors. You need a book at least 2-3x bigger to make the same money outside of smb. Cherish it!!!
@k7 Exactly why middle managers are pointless.
Culture is a tough thing and it must be cultivated over trust and time. I was a SB AM 10+ years ago, moved to other areas of the business, but still supported SB sellers/customers in one role or another.
From the outside looking in, Small Business has a lot of challenges. Some not so different from other segments, which the massive changes of late. Power plays. The market. Etc. Some, very different. SB has often found itself the land of pilots; trying new tools and programs before others. Losing key leaders including a VP a couple of years after a SVP.
Your experience is valid. It is tough. One thing I do miss when I was a seller was I had a good handle on opportunity. And I had my network of internal and external/partner that could help me get through whatever storm was brewing.
I hope you can find that sort of support. And I hope the skies clear up soon.
I always found the SB Directors to be the ones that spend the most time with their people.
@at Also left recently on my own and was making six figures and couldn’t be happier now that I’m gone. SB West. JH one of the worst managers out here reporting to PG. Middle managers the biggest waste of money IMO since they refer to directors when any issues come up and can never handle it themselves. At least in SB. Plus they act like they are VPs sometimes thinking they are superior (at least JH does) which is hilarious. The exodus will indeed continue this year. So many better options out there.
Agree that LH is not as good as BG and GT were.
@OP
I left of my own accord and I was making over 6 figs yearly. There is no culture anymore.
Directors and management are just a bunch of "yes men" at this point and seem to mainly be looking out for themselves for fear of being forced out or termed.
Over the last few years...leadership asks for issues and then maybe try to improve one thing out of the many coworkers ask for. On the sales side...they had so many people complain (including customers noticing) that they mismanaged the outsourcing of accounting...so they had to start acknowledging that to teams.
It's like they think the everyday coworkers don't see the major fall off from 5 years ago to now and are oblivious to everything. No followups on major issues (they just handle issues as they come up daily with customers or orders).
They saved some $ this year not having sales do SKO's in Vegas but management and above still had their Vegas SKO (seems like they are separating themselves from those under them).
Who knows the good/fun days were behind us. COVID played a part but leadership threw gasoline on a fire that is raging on a burning ship. But...more free pizza and we have desks that go up and down now in the office.
Sounds like an east SB rep vs all the other teams in SB. LH is a disaster out east
Sorry to hear that. On my SB team things are pretty good. I know how it is throughout the company right now. So, relatively speaking, I think my teammates and I have it pretty good. We have a supportive Manager and Director. I hear horror stories from my friends in other Segments. So, while I always want to be earning a bigger paycheck, having less friction from other departments, and see things be better... I actually feel like Small Business is pretty good place to be right now.
Not trying to take away from your experience, as I am sure it is valid for you. For me personally, it is not that bad.