I began in Frontline sales and moved to upper management
Pros
Culture was the largest reason I stayed with the company. Even through the tough times, the DO helped get me through them. I loved the experience we drove to give the customer. We tried to set ourselves apart from the competitors. I also appreciated our tenacity. We were fighting against the big guys and giving them a run for their money. The company was also trying to be very innovative in the industry which for a smaller carrier can be scary. This company was willing to take some of those risks even though some didn't work they never stopped.
Cons
Over the years the customer experience became something that wasn't as large of a focus. We had forgotten our roots and struggled finding ways to balance between growing the business and making the best decisions for our customers. Unfortunately the DO continued to become something that was talked about bit the actions didn't match the words being said. This was the worst part since it had always been what defined the company. Also, as you move up in leadership it became very political. You had to make sure to not say the wrong thing to the wrong person. If you happened to do this, you would pay for this for a long time. Store managers took the brunt of the issues on the retail side. New intitatives were always given to store managers no matter what else was on their plates. The performance across the company was not great but quotas continued to climb and store managers were held accountable. At some point the higher level leaders need to take responsibility. When nobody is hitting quota or making commission, you need to change something.
