You'll note I did not indicate my name or the Empire office I worked in as I fear retaliation.
If you want a good sales job/sales careeer, STAY AWAY FROM EMPIRE.
I worked for Empire as a sales Rep for a number of years and the company has ZERO regard for you as an salesperson or even as a human being. You mean NOTHING to Empire. I had worked for some aloof and even nasty bosses before, but Empire is the only company I've ever worked for that doesn't value the people that feed them. You are like Kleenex to them. They blow their nose on you, then toss you away because in today's economy, another like you will "pop up."
Empire probably has the highest sales turnover in the sales industry: 70%. Everyone on staff when I was fired was there less than a year. Some only weeks or a few months. Every week they're hiring and training because no one stays very long. When a company can't retain salespeople, there's something very, very wrong.
Not surprisingly, the regional manager was not phased at all — he took a perverse pride in it. Me? I would be embarrassed.in my brother's company, the turnover rate is less than 10%. Few salespeople last more than a few weeks or months at Empire. It's like baseball... If they don't like your stuff right out of the box, you're outta there.
First, you mean nothing, and I mean positively nothing to Empire as a human resource. You are forced to not only be a private contractor with no benefits, but the company also makes you incorporate so as not to be liable for anything regardless how they mistreat you.
Leads are given to you which is good, but God help you if you don't sell most of them. You will be berated and reminded "each lead costs the company $400 in overhead to set." Even after seven good weeks of selling, if you have a bad week, Empire considers you a bad salesperson (!) and stops giving you leads. How ridiculous is that?
Oh, and the lovely weekly sales meetings! They are no more than berating sessions, with only destructive, not constructive, criticism given. You walk in six feet tall, you walk out three.
Furthermore, Empire's TV ads are deliberately misleading to the public. They promise an additional two "free" rooms of carpet when you pay in full for the largest room. But what they don't tell you is you pay through the nose for that one room, and labor and pad (just not carpet) on the second two. So it's a shell game. And you have to go in to the customer and put a good spin on the lie that got you in the door.
The hours are atrocious. Up to six two-hour appointments: your gas, your car to carry the samples.By the time you finish your drawings and fax them it's 11p - 12a and you've just been up 14-15 hours... Then it starts all over again the next day.
I was the longest serving sales rep in my office. But if I can be canned, there's no hope for security or longevity for anybody. This isn't sour grapes. It's the opinion I had of the Empire all the years I sold for them.
So be aware: There is positively no job security at Empire. It is one of those companies you're glad you're no longer working for. Take my advice and find a company that values your labor as a salesperson, as a human resourse, and as a human being. If you care about your health, your car, your family, your income, your social life and your self-esteem, stay far, far away from Empire. Empire as an employer is a disgrace.
0 comments