A great example of how to NOT run a business
Pros
The best part of this job is most of the people. The people who deal with the day-to-day with you in the mud, including several managers that aren't at the highest levels, understand each-other and deal with similar issues in their roles. This leads to a level of camaraderie that is difficult to find. The workspace has been pretty laid back and easy going, prior to the past 6mo - 1yr. It managed to keep the office enjoyable. Unfortunately, most of those let go at the first lay-off were those who kept it that way. The benefits are pretty good. The excitement the sales team has over the product is positive as well (more on that though) You get much experience in different areas in many of the roles (more on that as well)
Cons
The company, the direction, and the lack of leadership are the biggest cons, and unfortunately that is all you have. I have been in customer facing business roles for over 10 years and I can honestly say I have never seen a sales and management group that seemed so willing to bypass customer satisfaction in favor of money. The serious issue is the lack of direction and leadership as well as an understanding of the market space the core product is trying to attract customers from. The majority of these issue can be attributed to the sales and engineering relationship, as all focus seems to be on attracting new customers with a "yes" answer instead of properly identifying a viable market to sell too. The pressure then gets left on the customer facing groups like Customer Success and Tech Support to address the short comings that were sold. And therein lies a big issue for both an employee and customer satisfaction rate. Another con seems to be the lack of a supportable and profitable business model. Unfortunately, the company wants to compete in a CMS platform market with a CMS Product, and has given up full development dedication of it's own platform to pursue this direction. As one other person mention, however, the math doesn't add up when you sell a "product" for 15x less than the prior one, without any significant customer base to rely on. Additionally, more services and licenses seem to be given away up front and, even with an "increased" product price, the average deal still loses money because of this. In addition to this mathematical error, time gets burned up post-sales in services and customer interactions to help teach and ultimately guide implementation for the product to help create some success. Of course, time is money, and wasted time... The sales team does get positive and excited when selling the product and they get ramped up easily over new and upcoming features. This was a positive above, but the negative is that most do not understand how the product works, have not used the product, and do not truly understand the product market space. This ultimately leads to more wasted time and money once a deal is closed because additional resources are then needed to truly understand the customer and help the customer understand what they bought. Again, the focus seems to be on the "yes" answer instead of an honest approach of qualifying customers. I stated you do get experience in a variety of areas in the organization, but this is due to lack of leadership, lack of understanding what is needed, and lack of able bodies. A previous reviewer already brought up that the company has undergone several lay-offs, with the latest leaving just a thin skeleton of the company that existed 2 years ago, prior to the "radical shift." These events have left those remaining to wear too many hats, impacting customer experience, business efficiency, and ultimately a feeling of success. Job security is always in question and each time a "monthly company meeting" is scheduled, most people wait in agony to see if they will be cut. Morale is dead. In addition, new hires are sought, but only if they are cheap and can be "had for a bargain." Speaking of morale, it's hard to get behind a group, follow direction, and grant respect when the same is not returned. Some have mentioned the "make it rain" emails, but it seems that has stopped, probably because they are now in a drought. But there is so much disconnect through all of management and the individual departments that it is surprising to see as much getting done as it is. Maybe that could be another pro? In spite of all the discontent through the ranks, things still manage to get done, albeit at a slower than profitable pace. The biggest problem with all of these is still management's mentality on the whole issue. I am not sure if they don't realize it's happening as it is, or their head is too high in the clouds to see the real picture. The latest rally has been that we are in start-up mode and, as far as start-ups go, the revenue currently available is great for a start-up. The problem is, this is not a start-up company as start-ups don't have an existing customer base they have to spend time and money on to continue to support. And existing customers don't care if you happen to be in start-up mode, they care about success, profitability, service, and reliable solutions, and attention seems to be lacking in these areas. The ship is sinking and at a rapid pace. A majority of those who remain do so because they have not yet had their offer signed for something new. Bad business decisions, poor management, and a lack of direction seem to have led this ship directly toward an iceberg. Do yourself a favor and find a different way to sale.
