Pros
Flexible schedule. It actually IS a good concept. As a sales rep, you want a product you can believe in selling, and I was always proud to tell people the companies I represented and the fact that of all the people that would call on them that day, I was the only one NOT asking them to devalue their restaurant.
Cons
It is being run into the ground. Rewards Network used to run like a well-oiled machine. There was communication between the departments, there was trust and respect for the 2 men running the sales staff, there was a great balance of hard work and fun. When EGI took over, I don't think they ever got it that the restaurant industry is an entirely different beast in and of itself. Food service experience does NOT equal restaurant experience. They keep putting people in charge who don't understand that either, yet they all want to come in and "make their mark". So the 1st, raised prices during a struggling economy, slashed the support for the sales department by about 60%, tried to restructure the whole chain of command (only to have it go back to exactly what it was before she fired everyone) and then left. The second spent a great deal of energy focusing on National accounts - which has really gone nowhere, and then also left. You've got a man running half of the sales force who can't put a sentence together to save his life, and has never been in sales. There is zero communication, support or direction coming from above. Just fear. It's turned into a culture of fear. Restaurant owners are tired. They are hit on the most of any industry out there and they're skeptical. RN still holds to an old-school mentality of cold call, cold call, cold call..... But they've done nothing to put the company in a visible or credible position with restaurateurs. No joining restaurant associations, going to trade shows, sponsoring restaurant events. It is truly baffling why they don't want to get involved and after the company being around for 30 years, it's embarrassing as a sales rep to constantly hear "Why have I never heard of you"? People knew who Groupon was in a matter of months - and this is a far better program, but no one wants to advertise it. Ironic - an advertising company that won't advertise.
