One big happy Ohana....on the surface at least! - Business Development Representative (BDR) Salesforce Employee Review

1.0
Oct 27, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits, health insurance, wellness incentives, during covid the provided you with a wfh office budget, organised team night outs

Cons

They promote one big happy family culture, they force feed you Ohana this and that. Below the surface, they are like any other big US multinational corporation, you are ultimately very replaceable. They don't like hearing excuses regardless of territory or patch, you end up in one of the less desirable industries, you are essentially fighting against the tide - whereas if you land on your feet in one of the more lucrative sectors, you are lauded as a sales guru and asked to share your secrets with the rest of the department. I joined at arguably the worst time, given it was just at the start of Covid, so I never got familiar with the day to day stuff, never really got to form or build relationships with colleagues, so it has to be said, I'm coming from an obscure period, but it set the tone for the rest of my tenure there - I would have loved to have joined a year earlier, when things were seemingly great. But alas. At the end of my stint there, my mental health was shot, and I was very clearly struggling, having spoken up on this topic to my then manager, who was only in a managerial position herself for the first time, and was subsequently told I didn't have the mindset to make it in Tech Sales, having highlighted my issues around burnout and mental fatigue in the very same call. The importance of brand is evident in any company, but I've never felt so ostracised than during my time in Salesforce, once you were labeled xyz, you had very little chance of being considered for promo's - there was no way to get off my patch, and I appreciate the whole 'a bad workman blames his tools' concept, but I had various successes when working different territories (to be hired patches for example), where I would do well working on smaller accounts, but then ultimately have them taken back off me when the new hire started, returning to the far larger enterprise patch I had previously been left to rot with, that didn't really have a need for a BDR

Explore other reviews about Salesforce

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everything, great culture, good pay, great people.

Cons

Nothing, love the experience at Salesforce.

4.0
Jul 9, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've spent over 8 years with Salesforce in various management and individual contributor roles, all customer or partner facing. Some of the pros: - vibrant, fast paced culture - smart, fun, aggressive colleagues - management is focused on latest tech trends and staying or becoming a leader for many of them - by and large, customers and partners are very positive about the technology - good benefits and perqs - hip urban culture at HQ - a chart-your-own-course mentality that rewards those who aggressively seek out the job they want and pursue it, or sometimes even create it

Cons

After my long tenure and many Dreamforce conferences, I'm nearly fried. To say the culture is fast paced and the focus is always changing is an understatement. The reason Salesforce always seems on top, and chasing the latest trend, and in the press, is because employees are expected to run harder, carry more, cheer loudly, and pivot constantly. It's the world's biggest startup in behavior. But at the same time, with the recent influx of top career sales leaders from Oracle and what appears to be a board-level mandate for doubling revenue, employees are being asked to do even more with even less, fill higher quotas with smaller territories, less help, and the big company bureaucracy is rearing it's ugly head. Worse still is the politics. When you hire a bunch of smart, aggressive people, and put them in an environment of outsized expectations, throw in a bunch of re-orgs and changing management, and sprinkle with uncertainty and constantly changing priorities, you inevitably get people back stabbing each other and throwing others under the bus to appear smarter and more worthy of promotion. The few at the top will get very, very rich. The rest will lose the sense of personal ownership and start to wonder why they've given up health and family

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Salesforce Response
1y
It's not often that you get the opportunity to respond to a review 10 years in but your comprehensive and thoughtful review has managed to hold on as one of our most popular even a decade in :) It’s exciting to see that the things we love most about the Salesforce of today — super smart colleagues, being at the forefront of tech trends and establishing ourselves as leaders in the space, great benefits and perks to name a few — haven’t changed in the past 10 years. We acknowledge the challenges you faced, such as the pace, shifting priorities, and internal politics. Your advice on maintaining our foundational vision while avoiding big-company bureaucracy is helpful as we continue to grow as the #1 AI CRM. Salesforce is committed to balancing growth with employee well-being and staying true to our core values. We appreciate your insights and dedication over the years. Thanks again for your feedback!
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