Pros
You’re able to work remote
Cons
Birdeye presents itself as an attractive place to work, showcasing company trips, events, and a fun office culture online. However, once you join, you realize that much of what is advertised is just a facade from a company that’s good at marketing. Employees work hard to build the company while the C-level executives benefit the most. The pay is below industry standards, you’re forced to work on holidays, and the so-called unlimited PTO is subject to the company's discretion. The turnover rate is high, with people being hired and fired quickly due to unrealistic metrics that can change abruptly. Despite promises of promotions, it's more about who you know at Birdeye than what features you know about Birdeye’s platform. Even though this role is underpaid across the industry, the BDRs at Birdeye may only see a small pay increase after years of service, they also give you false promises that there’s a clear promotion path of first being promoted to a Senior BDR after 6 months and the AE after a year of being a BDR ( None of the BDRs in my segment have been promoted to AE and some have been at Birdeye for 2 going on 3 years ) if they promote they will demote the next month. There's a lack of proper training from leadership despite frequent threats from management of you being placed on action plan or performance improvement plans (PIPs). Even if you reach the metrics they set out for you in the beginning of the month, you may still get a surprise call from your manager with HR on the call with PIP documents to sign with no fore warning from your manager who supposedly has your back. I understand why BDRs are under paid here, Birdeye's strategy for booking meetings includes offering expensive gifts like (iPads, yeti coolers, Apple Watches, and Amazon gift cards) to uninterested prospects that have been recycled by multiple BDRs for years and only want to meet for the gift. This method only hurts the BDR’s because they don't get paid unless the AE is good and books a demo from the discovery call ( which seldomly happens ) or if you are buddies with a AE that will cheat the system for you and mark fake stages in salesforce for you to get credit. There is no clear vision on how to progress here because you get the same advice from management whether you’re doing good or bad and it’s “keep doing what you’re doing, you’re killing it”. They will not be honest with you on feedback because most of the BDR managers have not done the actual job of being a BDR themselves and don’t have real advise to give you because they don’t know any techniques to book a meeting other than offering a gift. The company is also known for making unauthorized deductions from employees' paychecks when they feel like it. Overall, the perks and gifts Birdeye offers to its staff are a ploy to keep employees working for cheap. The company has many young adults in important roles at Birdeye and the lack of experience and maturity shows in multiple departments.
