Allegory of the Cave: Working for CYDCOR
Before you start reading this, here are my credentials: Leader of the Year for 2005 for Ives Marketing Concepts, started out under Steve Kim at Esquire Marketing, and practically built Ives Marketing for Courtney Webb with 3 other people.
If you are reading this, then you are probably applying to Reflection Marketing or Ives Marketing (which are subsidiaries of CYDCOR or DS MAX), or has just been hired by one of the two, this also means that there is a lot you don't know and probably should know before you go into work for them. Throughout this little story, I might come across as being slightly bitter or sarcastic at times; however, what makes this story important is that every word you are reading is a 100% true.
In June I saw this add on carerrbuilder for entry-level marketing with a sports oriented mind, so I applied. I came in on my first interview and there was a lot of people running around, music playing, everyone was young and looked good. A Korean guy by the name of Steve Kim interviewed me and a girl sat in the back of the room and observed, her name is Courtney Webb. Now you will be doing your first interview with either Courtney or Russ and will be contacted by Jill Cashdollar. (Remember these names, they will become important later in the story). Steve was impressed with my resume? Blah blah blah and invited me back on a 2nd interview or what CYDCOR calls? A day of O or Observation.? (Oh by the way after reading this you will know all the DS MAX/CYDCOR terms and phrases). So on my 2nd interview, a hot little brunette took me out to Cocoa Beach and we went door to door/cold calling Bellsouth phone service. It wasn't the most glamours job, but she made $240 in one day, and at lunch she said that it was a management-training program, and as a rookie manager I can make on average $100,000 (this is called the breakdown). At this rate who needs law school right? Wrong!!!
So I came in the next morning, excited and everyone was excited for me? Listening to music, playing games, yelling, screaming, and chanting if you will. The point was to get everyone woken up and in a good mood (this is called atmosphere) because what to come was going to be dreadful. After wasting my time for 1 hour we finally went out to Cocoa Beach again or (the field). A day of soliciting in the hot sun. During training, I learned all the campaign related material for Bellsouth; products, promotions, DSL prices? Everything! I also learned about the 4 Impulse Factors, the 5 steps to a conversation and the 8 great working habits (These are known as the 4's 5's and 8's), and all these wonderful theories, like the bubble gum theory, or the mountain climber theory. Anyways, I did this for about 7 days until I was ready to go out on my own.
My first day, I closed 2 apps on my own (which meant I was on? The bell? Which I bought with my own money because Courtney Webb is so cheap, but we'll get to that later.) Being on the bell means you made $100 or closed two apps for the day. The point is, is that I got good fast, so fast that I was? Promoted? Into leadership in 2 weeks by being on the bell 4 out of 5 days.By saying promoted, I mean getting a white folder, getting into leadership meetings, and now I had the privilege in at 7am now and leave around 8pm, with no pay increase. Apparently this is where the so-called management-training program starts.
If any of this sounds familiar, then you should probably keep reading because this is where the fun starts. What getting into leadership really means is that you learn how to bullshit people to your best ability. Bullshit customers, bullshit people you interview, and the worst of all, bullshit yourself. You start believing this is a legit job/career for yourself because this is an elite group of people go out everyday and work 14 hours on a 100% commission because they are motivated, focused and want to become managers. The reality of it all, everyone who starts working there is desperate for money, has no prior career plans and is impulsed on the? Opportunity? For advancement in one day. Not one person in that office has a marketing degree nor do they have any backup plans for their future. So don't think that you are in an office with a bunch of elite individuals, a chimp with a half an IQ can do the job, believe me, I trained plenty.
Which gets me to my next point. 2 months into the business, Steve Kim asks me to move to Birmingham Alabama with him to open his new office because he is promoting Courtney to management. I declined and decided to help Courtney open her new office which is located at 280 Wekiva Springs Rd in Longwood. While I am on a road trip in Atlanta, which I had to pay for, I then learned that Steve and Courtney are boyfriend and girlfriend? Aww how cute right? Wrong!!! Imagine how I felt when I realized that everything I had questioned thus far about the business added up. The only reason Courtney was promoted into management was because she was sleeping with her boss. And believe me I could go into some detail about Courtney and Steve, but I'll keep this as professional as Ives Marketing, which isn't professional at all so I'll continue. Courtney once said,? I want to go to Birmingham to see Steve because I'm horny.? Now is that something she should be discussing with her employees? Then she promotes that nobody in the office should date, setting double standards are we?
Months went by, struggling to build Courtney's office, because apparently I had the opportunity of a life time, I then invited my best friend, (we will call him Traylor) to come work for me and be on my team. He didn't have anywhere to live so he started living with me and still does. He learned to? Slam? And? Cram? His first week of training so he got good fast. Slamming and Cramming is adding services to customer's accounts without consent. So basically this is the movie Boileroom, but instead of stocks, its face-to-face soliciting Bellsouth.
At this point Slamming and Cramming is the only way to? Sell? Bellsouth products every single day 3 times a day. Everyone customer hates Bellsouth and CYDCOR is the reason why. They solicit every 3 months all the businesses and slam them with a $10 dollar international plan they never wanted or needed. So you are asking isn't this illegal? Yes it is! The fact is, is that CYDCOR generates so much revenue for Bellsouth because of slamming and cramming, that Bellsouth just lets all the complaints from victimized customers fall through the cracks and nothing ever happens. The worst part of this slamming and cramming issue is that our manager/owner (Courtney Webb) taught us how to do it. A company with integrity. I'm just going to stop there on that issue. On to the next?
While I was there, I was consistently making the most money out of everyone, usually around 750 a week. However that is before hundreds of dollars were taken out every week for training people everyday (that's right, money came out of my check to pay for people's training), and that was before applications were rejected, misplaced and even put under other people's names. I once caught Courtney placing my $100 application in the computer under some other girls' name so she could look good because she was on Courtney's team. This money I made also supported my gas money that was I was spending, usually around $120 a week. No reimbursement. My cell phone, which I was always going over my limit from calling Bellsouth so much $300-$400 a month. No reimbursement. Now at this point Courtney is suppose to be making around $148,000 a year after taxes, rent, and paying us our commission. However, she once sent me to office max one night with her debit card and asked to buy some paper for the copy machine that never worked. The total was $18 and some change and her card was declined due to insufficient funds! Now, the president of the company who is in a 6-figure income, did not have $20 dollars in her checking account? So guess who had to buy it? Me!
Cheap, cheap cheap. Every CYDCOR manager is cheap. They will tell you that they are saving their money by investing money back into their business; however, there are no stock options, in fact there is nothing to invest back into at all, except maybe the employees.in that case, you would think that they would give the employees a little incentive to come to work the next day right? Wrong, that is why CYDCOR's turnover rate is unreal. I can't even begin to tell you how many people worked there during my time. The sad thing is, is that every person that quit, and every person that didn't want the position was one step ahead of me. That one step quickly turned into 1 day, that day lead to weeks and weeks lead to months. And before I knew it, I had put so much time and energy into the work, I didn't want to give it all up.
Now you might see this story as an Ad Hominid fallacy or attack of the person, but the truth is, I loved the people I work with and miss them a lot, but feel sorry for them now, including Traylor. I know that sooner or later, they will spend as much time there as I did, maybe more, maybe less. Maybe they will make it, but they probably wont. Either way, they will see the light; I just hope it doesn't take them as long as it took me.
So if you are reading this for research reasons before you go in for your 1st or 2nd interview, or maybe you already have the job, re-think a realistic opportunity and do some more research on CYDCOR or DS MAX, you will see people all around the world have been brainwashed into this scam.
P.S. I never got my final paycheck? Ask David Blain how it disappeared
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