I've been an Account Executive (AE, or field sales account executive) in Northern Virginia and one of the top reps nationally for many years. I know the industry and I know the company. I wish Concentra nothing but the best. I'm not one to write these, but I feel the culture at Concentra and this particular market has become so shocking and toxic recently that I must warn the new sales account executives of what to expect...from sales person to sales person. These are just a few topics and not all encompassing.
(1) The micromanagement is the worst part. It's insane and getting even worse. It’s all about numbers which is not a bad philosophy in sales however the company creates an environment where you’re putting in 1-2 hours a day in reports for your Manager and your VP that you don’t have enough time to do the sales activities they think you have enough time for. A little explanation: Multiple times a day activities are reviewed publicly at all levels of the company. Every few months you'll have to have 12 funnel calls a month! Usually 8 a month. It changes randomly and you're literally always answering the same question twice because not only is your manager involved but even his manager, (VP), is asking reps directly about day to day tasks. The crazy part is it's the same information that's available in the CRM system! They are literally making the decision not to run the reports themselves. It's evident the VP doesn't trust his managers - it's all so dysfunctional. I feel terrible for those who would be called out on national calls for not being productive enough the previous day without knowing the background.
(2) As a result of the crazy micromanagement, you have to navigate a maze in order to get paid. It is extremely time consuming! We're in sales to be in front of the client, not fight the company every month to receive what you earned. In addition, the company actually requires you to get multiple levels of approval just to pursue a new lead and if you pursue that company without approval and they become clients, reps have been denied the commission in its entirety due to the official red tape! The company does provide you leads however they are strictly from D&B typically which aren’t good leads. Those leads that will make you any money are those that you have to get approval for…
(3) The commission plan does not align with what you're told to sell. Although the opportunity to make a lot of money used to be there a few years ago…and who knows maybe it will be in a few years again, but either way you’ll be told to focus your sales on other services that benefits the company more than your commission pay. Obviously, they won't tell you this during the interview.
(4) Poor training (sales training, CRM training, industry training). Concentra used to do a phenomenal job with sales training...maybe one of the best in the nation...but that ended in 2016 immediately after receiving an award of 'best companies to sell for'. That's not the case anymore at Concentra by any stretch of the imagination. Even reps that aren't new were still asking very basic questions after over a year. Since Managers don't use the CRM much, they don't understand the fine details of the CRM system. This slows down your learning and more importantly WILL cause you to lose out on commissions because reps get paid STRICTLY based on what information you input to the CRM system – it’s confusing and it’s time consuming.
(5) Lack of support. You won't have a support team to help you through your tough meetings with any consistency. Most likely because they're being squeezed so thin themselves and maybe because they live out of state. Not their fault...it is what it is and you should be prepared for that.
**All sales reps can be successful using different methods. If you are one that knows you are motivated by ongoing negative reinforcement and you see the benefits of operating under a 'constant state of anxiety' then this job is for you. **Advice to those interviewing: Before accepting the position, ask to speak to no less than 2 other Account Executives on the team. Ask for their opinions. Used to be a sales team of 7 but it’s now down to 0 I’ve been told…and it’s not “due to COVID reasons”. If you ask to speak to another rep they will be out of state and probably don’t know much about this market.
