Pros
-Flexible scheduling, can start work between hours of 7:30-9:30 -Great compensation plan -Company actually adheres to their values. Which is rare in the business world. -Great training, you will be trained by those who have been with the company from its near start. -Free lunches bought by the company; this has changed over my tenure, it used to be once a week, than someone complained and they stopped doing it. Now you have the option of free lunches paid for by the company Mon and Fri. -Great way too learn about Mergers and Acquisitions and get a good run down of how the market works -Have the opportunity to change the destiny of small-mid sized business owners by teaching them just HOW important it is to have an E and S plan set up BEFORE you sell your business. -Great sales theory. (For the most part, ill list that as a con and explain below) -There are some really salt of the earth folks there that are kind, and very friendly (My cons list some complaints with some cultural problems, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND I AM NOT REFERRING TO A LARGE GROUP OF SBAS, mainly just a half a dozen or so) -Its a top ranked company! it has prestige, and you get the chance to be a part of a company that is truly great. This is to also address previous posts which mention that the 'owner' only cares about his church. Let me lace y'all up on some company history and familial history. Ryan Binkley (current acting CEO) stepped in after his brother, Hal was tragically killed by a Intoxicated driver- Ryan had a heart for ministry, yet felt like it would be a way to honor his late brothers legacy and to carry on his fathers legacy as well; so yes, he has a church- is it a megachurch? NO! THAT IS VERY INACCURATE!! I've attended once or twice to check it out. He did what any smart executive would do- formulate a strong team of middle managers/executives to carry out the work and they are compensated well. Whats wrong with that? Yes, many of the high profile executives go there. That being said, THIS IS NOT A COMPANY WHERE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO PROSELYTIZE OR JUDGE YOU FOR BEING SECULAR. Favorites are not played by whether or not you go to his church. In fact- Many of the executives that are part of the company had known Ryan long before he was even put in the situation of taking the reins of this company. And all are HIGHLY qualified for the position. So those of you making it seem like someone is just handing out high positions for showing up to church like this is the Papal States ; no that's not happening. Ive worked here almost two years and I never saw a hire that was based on "who does jesus more?" So to you Potential employee- I implore you to look past reviews that state that. As I was secular when I first started with the company. And I thought about it too. (Is it fair? is it not) - I came to the conclusion, it certainly is. PLUS- id rather have a CEO that truthfully walks by the tenants of a faith, and follows them. Than a CEO who doesnt. I believe GE is as good as it is BECAUSE of the fact that they employ ethics that the bible does encourage. Company culture starts at the top and runs down. 10 years in sales and I can say this is probably one of the most honest, truthful and heartfelt companies in the business world. They don't cut corners and those that do. You gone.
Cons
-Contact center floor culture is very 'cliqued' up and tight knit, gossip is a regular occurrence among the reps; as a new rep it can be intimidating because I believe some of the other SBAs might want you to pick a 'side' and than passively aggressively treat the other rep like garbage. In addition, the top reps aren't very helpful unless they really like you. In my decade of sales I have never worked for a floor and NOT offered advice to someone struggling or to someone that has a desire to succeed. -Middle management does its best to foster unity, team work and camaraderie. which I greatly appreciated. However, when it came down to the floor following the encouragement, it landed on many deaf ears. As people kinda stick together in small groups, usually always someone hates someone, someone does something that ticks someone off. Prospective employee- stay out of that garbage, some of the top reps do it too; that's noise, and a lot of it is really, really petty. -I believe this creates an unhealthy, toxic environment for new reps coming on board. My observation has been that the top 5-8 people in the company are usually unwilling to offer or lend any lasting advice that can make the team better as a whole. They quite literally bogart their knowledge in fear of being beat out by someone else newer that picks up on their skills; this is the ONLY explanation that has made sense to me at my time there -Sales theory is great; this is cold calling b2b consultative selling. They have the process nailed in. The thing with the philosophy that they propagate, is that their are MULTIPLE ways to get the deal. What may have worked for your supervisor, may not work for you. Hence, why i believe it is so important to have an open, collaborative environment where top reps help other reps- wisdom and understanding comes from multiple sources. This is a HUGE flaw within the training system. As new reps are taught the sales philosophy from one manager in training, may than have to relearn- or re-educate themselves about procedure; Spending another week 'retraining'. -Also, if you desperately need training, your manager may not be available for when you need it. This is also where teamwork and collaborative efforts would benefit the greater whole. So in summation- the contact center culture has 2 main issues that create gaps for newer reps; Fear of change, or Fear of loss (Change- What if Im not what I was , loss- I don't want to get hurt; which I think is a lazy excuse in my opinion).