Zep Reviews

Pros

I love everything about working for this company. The people are great. The product is excellent. Zep is one of the leading manufacturers of industrial and chemical maintenance supplies on the market today. Management is awesome and always more than willing to help. Lots of room for growth and opportunities for advancement. I'd definitely recommend Zep to anyone looking for a sales position.

Cons

Inside Sales team is still fairly new. The only con is that the structure is not all there at the present time.

Advice to Senior Management

The Leadership at Zep is phenomenal. Keep doing what you are doing. You all work so hard and that's what makes this company such a great place to work!

Pros

They provide all the support you need from management and other sales reps as well as products for samples.

Cons

If after 6 months you aren't making enough sales they give you a short time frame to achieve the sales goals or you are done with Zep.

Advice to Senior Management

Help new sales reps that do not have experience by showing them how to find potential customers. Going door to door is not an effective method for finding new business.

Pros

Great products, great support people, customer service, freedom to develop at your own pace. Enjoy the freedom but you must be mature enough to work autonomously.

Cons

Pay is not up to par with other Corporations. Their expenses are a joke. They give you an amount you have to subsidize your own cash to make ends meet.

Advice to Senior Management

Change the compensation plan to be competitive. With gas prices nearing $4.00 a gallon give some more incentives. If a Branch exceeds their budget or quota. They give you a dam pen.

Pros

The company is sized just right to allow for employee interaction. Good work gets recognized and employees are encouraged to excel. Good people.

Cons

Like any other growing companies there are growing pains and change is not always easily understood or appreciated.

Pros

Temporary employee but great management

Cons

Temporary so no room for advancement

Pros

Decent Salary, Good promotional material, decent product. Company seems to have an established name in the marketplace and has been around for a while.

Cons

This would be a great job in an unpenetrated market, the problem is that the larger market areas are heavily oversaturated with Reps who have been with the company for years and pretty much have a stranglehold over territories. Not only do you have to compete with Auto Zone and Napa, who by the way,(sell Zep products off thier shelves for almost 40% less than you will be selling them for out of the catalouge), you also have to compete with your direct sales manager AND OTHER REPS IN YOUR HOME TOWN. Their are no protected territories and the market crunch has gotten so bad that reps from other states will come in to your market to fight for scraps.

Most of the sales objections are based on price of product plus shipping cost. The people you will be trying to sell to know that they can go to Auto Zone and buy the EXACT same handsoap for way less than you are permitted to sell it for out of the catalouge. At the current rate, Zep's existence is based on retention of old accounts. No one in this climate is willing to pay extra for basic product that can be bought at heavier discounts from Wal-mart, Sam's Club or Auto Zone

Competitors: Echolab and Kimball Mid West.

WARNING: THIS JOB IS SALES 101. BE PREPARED TO "RE-LEARN" SALES BASED ON "DEMONSTRATING" THE PRODUCT IN FRONT OF EVERY SINGLE COLD-CALL/ CUSTOMER (20 PER DAY).

 YOUR MANAGERS REALLY DON'T WANT TO HIRE A NEW SALESPERSON. THEY ARE BEING FORCED TO BUY UPPER MANAGEMENT.. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR YOU. LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE!

* Training consists of two days in a hotel conferance room, you won't have time to do any real studying as you will be way to busy making cold calls to fill your pipeline only to have your mangers cherry pick through it in the end! You are really just being paid to generate leads for your mngrs. SMOKE AND MIRRORS!

Advice to Senior Management

Take a serious look at the management skills of your sales reps before you promote them to train others. Why do you think you can't hang on to talent?

* Give your new employees at least a few days to learn the product! If your going to throw them to the wolves, at least let them be half-way prepared.

Pros

Good formulations
excellent technical support staff
average brand name recognition
Average benefits
some sales professionals have been with the company for 30+ years

Cons

Not the same company it was five years ago
compensation is poor when compared to competitors
company competes with sales reps for business
Current executive management has commoditized the products

Advice to Senior Management

Stop trying to cheat your own employees out of their living
develop new products
Stop setting up new hires for failure

Pros

Freedom to manage yourself. Zep gives you a lot of leeway to grow, many industries and opportunities within it, but despite the best efforts of management, support is lacking

Cons

If I was in the city of the physical branch, support is good. Being a satelite rep you are on your own

Advice to Senior Management

It would be wrong to lump any comments I had to apply to all of zep, but they are a good company in general

Pros

You can earn a great living and have a lot of fun by becoming a valued part of your customers business.

Cons

Management is constantly at war with their sales force, trying to cheat them or find ways to take back sales commisions. Branch staff is treated like second class and paid poorly as well. Company moral is at a all time low. Don't look for sales support, you and your customers are on your own.

Advice to Senior Management

Please go away. Quit looking for that golden parachute. If you are going to stay please try talking to your staff at all levels. Embrace the rich history that you are working so hard to destroy!

Pros

you get out of it what you put into it. still a good job

Cons

some management has no clue what we do or how we do it

Advice to Senior Management

get to know our business before you make decisions that hurt our company. It used to be a partnership between reps and the company now it's the company against the reps, that needs to change