Leader in their industry, but there are better opportunities out there. - Account Manager CDW Employee Review

3.0
Aug 8, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Stability due to size of the company. Training provided on technologies. Decent benefits. Casual work environment. Ability to make some extra $$$ and win prizes from contests that are run by vendor partners. Promotion from within.

Cons

Not making any money in your first year while you build up a book of business. Being just a number due to the rapid growth and size of the company. Your commission cheque is never what you thought it would be - always seems to be a discrepancy and getting a clear answer as to why is next to impossible. Commission plan is ambiguous and almost seems like management doesn't want you to figure it out. Limited career options to move outside of account management. Commission structure could be better as well. Too many distractions that take your focus from selling and making money - majority of time is spent "running around" and "chasing" things to ensure they are done properly (orders shipping, pricing requests, requesting support/pre-sales info etc). They say that they promote work life balance, but the reality is that if you haven't hit goal yet, they would have you work through your lunch and 10 hour days. Don't even think of leaving at 5 o'clock if you have other commitments. Majority of sales managers are promoted from within which is great to see. However Most are former account reps which is good since they know the inner workings of the company. However few actually have experience leading a team, and receive a few months training in the "Sales Leadership Academy". The mentality that more calls equals more money is prevalent, and there is a lack of focus on efficiently building a book of business. Too much training on "speeds and feeds" and not enough development focused on sales skills. The philosophy is just keep making more calls and eventually it will pay off. The company itself is not that bad, as they are a leader in their industry and growing, however the pay could be better. Goals are for the most part unrealistic.There are definitely other options out there that would yield a higher base and more lucrative commission with less headaches. The industry id very competitive, and margins continually shrinking with the majority of products being commodities. If I'm not making 6-figures after 5 years of working my butt off it's time to move on - which is what I did. If you don't mind being micro-managed, having to constantly chase and babysit everything to ensure it gets followed up, and being in a every man for himself sales environment this could be right for you, otherwise you aren't missing out.

Explore other reviews about CDW

5.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I Enjoy working at CDW

Cons

Layoffs have been a little worrisome recently.

3.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You have the ability to sell full stack solutions, services and software.

Cons

I have worked at CDW for 10yrs and every single year they have changed the comp plan in a way that makes it harder for sellers to make money (constantly moving the goal post). Prior to 2020 CDW had little to no lay offs now it is happening every six months. They say the reasons is to reduce cost and improve efficiencies BUT as a company our sales continue to grow along with the C-levels pockets.

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