Poor training execution. Where to begin? You spend the first month in endless over crowded video conferences upwards of 30 people which vidicon cant support (which is spotty to say the least) with the corporate trainer in Boston making coaching impossible.
The main problems with Unifirst are as follows.
1) They've just introduced cloud based CRM software (SalesLogix) but only have one application server to support everyone on it. They spent one can only imagine how much money on purchasing the sales force iPads, but didn't do the ground work to support it, and none of their systems have been integrated. They use CRM as a report card and general as it is not a use sales tool. Now that's not to say SalesLogix itself isn't great, bit since it's not supported it creates a lot of redundancies and rework. It's not uncommon to be down all day preventing you from entering in your activities. Unifirst is well aware of this issue, and when I asked what they'd like me to do after spending far too much time on the phone with it, my sales manager suggested I take it home and enter it in on my home computer. Seeing as how I already work a MANDATORY 10 hour work day I politely declined, which was not received well.
2) Speaking of system integration. I literally mean there is none. They have two desktops per sales office which have lotus notes. But, on the iPad itself, the calendar that's most beneficial to use on the road as you can schedule alarms for to do items and appointments are of course not synced to lotus notes. So whatever your sales manager schedules for you in lotus notes you better not forget to put it in the iPad calendar. Then you have the CRM calendar where they want you to schedule your appointments so it shows up on their reports and do you think that calendar is synced with anything else? So now we're at 3 calendars they expect you to manage. But don't forget, because they themselves know their systems are so shoddy, they want you to keep up with a paper planner as we'll. And of course let's not forget the calendar they expect to be filled out on your own time for you weekly plan which is the only thing they know how to use a spreadsheet for.
3) Carbon copy order forms. That should speak for itself. Folders for even the smallest accounts take about an hour, which again should be done on your own time. I could accept the fact that they don't have the money or ware withal to creat a software to input the data, but really? Corporate can't make this a spreadsheet?
4) The GM broke a plastic piece of our conference table in a sales meeting because a coworker asked a "stupid question."
My advise? If you left the 90's with rest of the world run away and never look back...
