Southern Wine & Spirits Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Seemingly unlimited resources. Exceptional education, all the tools you could possibly need to sell are provided. Southern has incredible relationships industry wide. You will have a better portfolio than the competition. Very generous, big on rewarding good performance. Generally positive workplace. This company treats it's employees very well

Cons – Equally exceptional pressure and demands, as to be expected. Old boy culture at the top. No women in management during my tenure.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Compensation competitive to the market, incentive to work hard

Cons – Long hours, good ole boy network.

Advice to Senior Management – Better training moving forward.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Learning about different products, different sales tools and interacting with a variety of people.

Cons – Not salary, rarely have "approved" Overtime, vehicle/fuel allowance is a JOKE for the time and compared to the competition

Advice to Senior Management – Upgrade the sales database transmissions. Stop the time worked of the clock? Get people tablets that run Microsoft programs that can handle our other required tasks of the job while actually being present in the account. Again, the competition does.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Generally a good place to work. People are focused and work hard, generally get along. Nothing fancy in terms of working environment but it's fine.

Cons – Some inconsistencies due to being built from series of acquisitions.

Advice to Senior Management – Lighten up a bit - do a bit more of the softer stuff for the employees, throw a picnic now and again.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – This is a growing company with eyes towards the future. I was exposed to all aspects of warehousing during my time there, and feel that the experience I gained there has helped me understand how to balance a dedication to hard work with the importance of personal time.

Cons – This company will work you to death if you let it. Absolutely the longest hours I've ever endured. 36 hour long days with barely any breaks were common during inventories and special projects.

Advice to Senior Management – Recognize KEY employees as the lifeblood of your company rather than disposable heros. I saw far too many good employees leave for better jobs because Upper Management viewed them simply as a "Necessary Evil".

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than a year

Pros – Booze and outings from time to time... some incentives are easy to get... the carrot in front of your face is the opportunity to do what you want in the company, "just work as a CTM for 6 months" and transfer anywhere in the company-- easier said than done unless you know someone or are part of the good ol boy network.

Cons – The pay for territory managers is capped meaning you will need to advance to get paid anything more than dirt, starting pay for grads can be improved... tracked at all times, hassled when things arent going your bosses way. Be prepared for the monthly paperwork, elementary, remedial busywork on the computer that you have to first write out by hand, even though they give you a (antiquated) company laptop. If you are in a decent territory you can hit some incentives-- if you work your butt off... overall the cost (car, sanity, time spent in a remedial job) to benefit analysis is laughable.

Advice to Senior Management – Better pay, better incentives, better treatment, less garbage, less "idiocracy"

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Benefits, decent pay to start out with, easy access to wine and liquor

Cons – Bad company communication, Bonuses greatly depends on territory, Promotions based on who you know and not what you do

Advice to Senior Management – Better communication all around, better pay for hard working individuals, more company focus on building low volume territories.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – High paying jobs/opportunity for advancement/recession resistant industry

Cons – Poor/unprofessional leadership/lack of portfolio strategy/too many suppliers and brands to manage effectively

Advice to Senior Management – Too many old timers with lack of leadership that have been "grandfathered in". Managment lacking outside experience to help elevate performance and execution. Grossly inefficient business model/retail execution is extremely weak and customer service is not a priority

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Very concerned about the development of their people.

Cons – Can be a stressful work environment at times.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Southern Wine & Spirits full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Excellent compensation
Great incentive programs
Get to work with and build world class brands
Build relationships with top suppliers and key retailers
Opportunities for advancement
Fun industry

Cons – Heavy "boys club" politics
Lackluster follow-through from Sr. Management on commitments and key initiatives to non-executive personnel
What you know (your area of expertise) often matters less then who you know
Relationships can often outweigh doing what is right for the business.
Culture varies across the state. So Cal less of a "for their people" attitude, more of a CYA attitude. Nor Cal supports their people but puts too much emphasis on tenure over capability.

Advice to Senior Management – The driving force in your organization is your frontline, the sales and admin force (the common folk). They are your keys to success and to truly be in touch with your business you must be in touch with the frontline. When the frontline has the tools to succeed and are empowered to use them, the California business will realize greater success. You have many talented people whom will never deliver their full potential as SWS employees because you hear but do not listen, promise but do not act, direct but do not lead.

Additionally, be open to best practices of your peers in other states and support the frontline like they support them. Consider the success recently achieved in Indiana and Florida, earning many coveted Diageo Golden Bar Awards (note to reader, Google it or read about it at: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/17/4918213/diageo-announces-winners-of-9th.html). The frontline in those states have the support and follow-though of senior management to rollout technologies instrumental in achieving victory. Their senior management navigated them through the bureaucratic rubbish that has prohibited an effective rollout of similar business development technologies in California. That was the difference between being nominated and winning. So, rather than compete with other states adapt and implement their best practices. The hit taken to ego for doing this will no doubt be eclipsed by the result of earning future Diageo Golden Bar Awards.

Keep promoting from within when possible, that’s one of the reasons SWS has been so successful.

Keep rewarding top performers for their achievements.

Listen more, rather than just hearing your employees. All the HR surveys are great but without your support and action these surveys are an expensive waste of time.

Acknowledge some employees with less tenure may have better insights, understanding and skills, than some of the more tenured employees. This holds true in all areas of the business, sales, operations, information technology and HR.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company