Great firm; High Performance Sales Culture can be a drag - Account Executive Salesforce Employee Review

4.0
5 June 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Truly walk the charity talk; Very positive environment; Great to be a part of a wildly growing firm; Pay well; Customer events are first class; Great tech that never fails; Broad platform for interesting customer use cases.

Cons

Ever seen that episode of Black Mirror with Bryce Dallas Howard where she constantly chases positive social ratings in order to keep her place in society? That's whats its like at SF. Faking constant positivity can be draining. Its genuine with most folks but when you have 'real talk' many folks don't take it well. I was there for 3 Fiscal Years and had my territory reduced by 50% and my quota rise by 50% every year. The 3rd time my patch became too small to hit the high quota. Sales mgmt would rather have 10 reps make 60% than 6 reps make 100%. Work-Life balance is tough too. Pressure for growth is massive on RVPs so it rolls down hill. Maintaining 25% growth has an impact on the front lines.

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5.0
11 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay, flexibility, benefits, advancement, development

Cons

Must remain in role for 12 month + for promotion opportunities.

4.0
9 July 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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