Verizon Wireless Reviews

Pros

Excellent pay when compared to the level of education required for positions. Yearly bonuses were nice. Medical benefits starting on day one was also nice.

Cons

Annual raises often do not keep up with inflation. Promotion preference is given to people that are friends of higher-ups and stated time-in-title requirements are waived for them as well.

Advice to Senior Management

Executive leadership should not be making over 300 times more than an employee that has worked at the company for over 5 years.

Pros

good benefits
Discount on Services
Discount at other retailers
close to my home

Cons

no work / life balance
Customers are always angry about something
management will not support you
what you can make commission on and what is measured to keep your job are not the same thing

Advice to Senior Management

stop with the different measurements. First it was New lines and upgrades, then Accessories, then Smartphones.
then making the customers use the express panels.
Customers come to the stores because they want someone to assist them and not have to do it themselves.
When customers leave because there is not something they want, management accuses the rep of being the reason the customer left.

Pros

Great for younger people interested in and comfortable with technology
Diverse sales experience due to several categories of products
Great corporate reupation and recognition
Commissions and Salary=Earning potential
Overall the job itself provides a challenging and fun set up daily activities

Cons

Micromanagment
Unrealistic understanding of customer needs and similarly unrealistic sales goals
Management in privatley owned franchise locations in over 20 locations is extremely inefficient
Lack of opportunity for advancement

Advice to Senior Management

Stop micormanaging. The research backs up my statement micomanaging is ineffective. Small issues are blown out of proportion and there is little to no recoginition for positive achievements. Recognize talent, use proactive management, better comunication between management about expectations is needed, and better inventory managment and sales tools are needed for stores to grow.

Pros

You get VERY well compensated for performance, and the benefits are incredible. It is a really exciting industry and the potential for a great work experience is there. Can be very rewarding with some customers, and can build strong relationships. Opportunity to be a part of MANY different things (sales, operations, marketing, merchandising, management, customer service, etc)

Cons

There is an insane amount of pressure to sell. Of course the individual store experience will vary based on local leadership, but the general atmosphere was to pressure sell new technology to people that may not want it. If the company decides to raise price plans or add fees, you are the punching bag in the store from customers. In addition, you're often not really appreciated for how much BS you take. If somebodys phone breaks, it's your fault.. Bill too high, your fault too.. God Forbid somebody doesn't get service near where they live...

The worse part, to be honest, was management and how little respect I received for working very hard (average 55-60 hrs/wk)

Advice to Senior Management

The people in the stores are what shape the company. Proactively involve yourselves in the management at the district level, as the DM's attitude can directly impact the morale of EVERYBODY trickling down. If the DM is awful to the store managers and assistant store managers, that trickles down to the reps, which trickles down to customers. If you don't treat people like you care, they wont care about where they are.

Pros

For the professional level of work the pay is pretty decent, most people don't think you can make good money selling wireless solutions.

Cons

Terrible work/life balance, retail hours +, they expect that your there your 40hrs, but the hours your there completely consume your life... High pressure from mgmt to meet tough to attain goals... For the amt of revenue we generate we don't see a lot of that back in our commissions.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to provide realistic sales goals based on staff level, traffic and dynamic of market. Let's share a little more in those ENORMOUS profits!

Pros

Good Pay
Great Benefits
Lots of Knowledge
Professional Feel

Cons

Constantly changing commission structure which causes you to never know what you are going to make
Inside consultants, traveling managers, and district managers seem to have lost touch of what it is like to work in the store with customers
Management does not know how to sell or train others
Always attempt to motivate employees negatively, instead of positively or reward based

Advice to Senior Management

Hire those in management and district management who understand the store, know how to sell, but more importantly can effectively pass that knowledge onto others. Also, make them realize that negative reinforcement only helps an employee work as hard to keep their job not over and above, this is where positive reinforcement makes the difference.

Pros

Great Benefits- medical, dental vision, 401k etc from day one.
Amazing discounts off your service (every little bit helps)
tuition assistance

Cons

No work/life balance - they preach that they have it....but it does not exist
They promote people who are "part of the club". The competent deserving employees and managers are treated like slaves.
They have no understanding of " a great workplace starts with happy employees.
Small promotion potential.

Advice to Senior Management

Upper management needs to take a good look at the people you have running stores. Ask yourselves if they are not only competent for the role but equipped to not only maintain your bottom line but produce serious growth. Remember that your "employees" are not slaves but human beings and deserve to be treated as such.
When you know you have an amazing employee do what it takes to get them to the next step. Fully invest in your employees so that the right people get the right positions and you will be even more successful than you already are.

Pros

Pay, benefits, vacation time, first day health care coverage

Cons

too hands off above store manager level as far as disciplining and monitoring of how store managers run the business and treat their employees.

Advice to Senior Management

People aren't just numbers, they are your frontline face as a company, do more to ensure your frontline employees are treated fairly by their direct supervisors, to foster a more morale boosting culture.

Pros

Benefits are pretty good. The potential commissions are great if you have above average sales skills. There are managers that care about employees and work with you to improve in areas. Overtime is available during busy seasons.

Cons

New commission structures almost annually add ways of decreasing payouts. The sales process the company wants is very time consuming as you are measured in about 20 or so metrics. Even if you are doing well with commissions and sales, management will find things to hound you about. You will spend much of your time being worried about non-commisionable aspects of sales and if you take the time to achieve those other goals, you will almost always miss your quota (Which means not only is you pay low, management will hound you about missing quota).

Advice to Senior Management

I have seen many great former employees get passed up for promotions . Many leave the company because of the constant micromanagement. Again, I have works for a few great managers and supervisors but generally speaking, many of them are not objective in feedback and hold grudges if you disagree or question them in any way.

Pros

-easy to get in without much technical skill (little technical interview or none even)
-can still be around without any technical skill provided that one is good at manipulating or Strategist long time off to offload hard task to other

Cons

about 75% is a contractor and one will get in there as a contractor to get offloaded easily. Thus, long time off can be taken at one's own salary.
even full time employee has to punch time card not not more than 40 hr while working well past over 40 hr. (why bother time card to begin with then?)
the ridiculous security restraint for IT equipment and work place is like Orwellian 1984 and not an encouraging place for free and creative people (thus most of their work produce in house has such a horrible UI, and the management take pride in these poor design since it comes from them who do not have any aesthetic taste!)

Advice to Senior Management

Don't think that "google is the best partner and the worst enemy". Leave out the "worst enemy" part with the kind of attitude toward your creative workforce, an uninviting Orwellian 1984 work place, poor recruitment, you can never compete with google to call them worst enemy.