Please note: this review is specific to the Client Success Management channel.
I want to start by saying it saddens me to write this review. I wanted to be Houzz's number one fan through all the tough times--we were a start up, we were bound to experience hiccups and speed bumps along the way but it was exciting and we believed in the journey so we all put our heads down and pushed through it together. Towards the last year of my employment, I realized I didn't believe in what we were doing or how we were doing it. Possibly worse, I found that our feedback as reps and even the feedback of our direct managers was not being heard and addressed effectively (or with any sense of urgency) which made it very difficult for us to effectively advocate for the best interests of our clients. My moral compass told me to run in the other direction because it seemed there was a growing negative trend: many of the changes I had a hard time swallowing were to the exclusive benefit of Houzz and had a direct negative impact on reps and pros (our clients). I'm going to try to outline the issues as concisely as possible. I want to be clear, I still believe this is an incredible company that has a ton of opportunity but I was never going to have a loud enough voice from within, so I hope this review will be used to better the CSM channel.
New Sales: I'll keep this brief. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel with leads and it shows in our sales. Furthermore, we've built a system that consistently rewards AEs for getting the signature and credit card and CSMs are left to clean up the mess. Major issues with new sales include: pro is truly not a fit for what we offer, they are sold into a failing category or an area that consistently under-delivers, they don't realize the importance of their involvement for their own success with it, or more broadly, the expectations were not effectively set from the start.
Product: Roughly 2 years ago we completely changed the product by adding a lead gen element in. This change caused irreparable damage, not because the concept or intention was bad, but because we refused to listen to what pros had to say about the low quality/low budget and fake leads they were receiving as a result. If time is money, our pros were suddenly wasting substantial time following up with bad leads and this loss of time and increased frustration meant a loss in credibility for Houzz. This shift towards lead gen also created confusion about how to sell the product (AE side) and how to effectively manage clients through their lifecycle (CSM side)...why work on building a compelling profile when you get the same leads either way? The "data" was telling us things were going well, so the direct feedback of pros and reps was ignored for months and now we're seeing the rising volume of cancellations as a result.
Process: Roughly a year ago, we were told that we were going to start exercising auto-renewal. This wouldn't be a problem, had we been transparent about the process change and sent one email out to all our clients telling them this was going to be the new way we manage renewals. Instead, we were asked to "not poke the bear" and avoid triggering conversations about renewal because we wanted to see if anyone would really even notice. There was a distinct assumption made with this decision that pros were truly happy with the program, which given the product changes and various challenges with new sales/expectations outlined above, was not the case. Now people were upset with the leads and even more upset that they have been auto-renewed without notice and CSMs were left to handle it. I and many of my coworkers experienced anxiety (literal panic attacks in some cases) about coming into work because it was so deflating to face these negative conversations day in and day out without any sign of improvement on the forefront.
Lack of Professional Growth: My professional growth at Houzz was in large part due to the lack of training and structure as I entered into the role. It was trial by fire and I failed often and learned to figure it out on my own as a result. My interests and skills were not nurtured or grown in a real way, despite the mutual efforts of myself and my direct managers. Unfortunately, since it’s not really encouraged to seek out opportunities in other departments, once you hit a dead-end in CSM, the only viable option is to leave.
Leadership: There are some exceptional leaders at Houzz, but unfortunately the best ones don't really have any autonomy. We have a few of what we call "right time, right place" managers who moved up the ladder rather quickly, despite their lack of experience and exemplification of any leadership skills. Some leaders rose to the occasion when given the opportunity to advance, others most certainly did not and there was nothing CSMs could do about it since we don't have an opportunity to review our leaders. It's offensive to come into sales meetings (which are largely AE focused) and be told how great things are when our job is largely comprised of cancellations and our paychecks are diminishing as a result. We do not need to be reminded of our great benefits; we need to be addressed like adults and have an honest conversation about the state of the business, victories as well as pain points and the clearly defined actions being taken to make the job and product better. As another reviewer mentioned--benefits don't pay the bills and frankly, Houzz cannot rely on their great benefits and perks to keep people around because it's industry standard in the tech boom to offer perks that keep great talent around. I would argue that reps 1) want to feel the work they do is impactful 2) want to be heard 3) want to feel valued in their role and 4) want to be compensated fairly for controllable job responsibilities. I'd bet if you ran anonymous surveys with the CSM channel, you'd see that is far from the way your reps feel today.
