In writing this review, I thought it best simply to write out, in a qualitative and non-subjective way, my experience at Geomiq. This will allow other sales people simply to learn what my experience was, and judge whether or not it’s an environment they’d like to be apart of.
The ‘office’ is actually just a warehouse. It’s cold an unclean. A cleaner comes barely once a week. To save on costs they keep the hot water turned off, leading to no crockery or appliances ever actually being cleaned. This had led to a persistent fly problem.
Firstly, sales targets, particularly for new joiners, are grossly unachievable. Even established AE’s, with pipelines that they’ve grown over time, don’t hit the target consistently. As the AE’s who were already there when I joined had started as SDR’s, they had footprints in many accounts, and therefore the best (largest) quotes to close would go to them. New AE’s would be left with quotes from newly sourced accounts, which were usually much smaller. The aim is to build relationships in these accounts, and grow GMV over time. But that’s the key, it takes time.
Throughout my time at Geomiq this was made clear to me by management. That pipeline had to be built over time, that other AE’s have the advantage of having built pipeline over time, and that my performance put me in good standing in the role, despite being below the grossly unachievable posted target. I was told, consistently, that I was doing the right things, and that my performance impressed my managers. They were also impressed that I closed a high percentage of the quotes I received. I was told these things as recently as the Friday before I was let go, the following Wednesday. I never had a single concern raised.
I am also aware that the more established AE’s, despite having existing pipeline built as SDR’s, didn’t get close to their targets in their first months. Furthermore, they still don’t hit target consistently, 6 months + into the role.
So I was let go supposedly for not hitting targets, with the precise opposite of a heads up by management. Note that if you join the sales team, you will be put in this same environment, where success against target is literally impossible, at least in the early days. To give you an idea of the management mantra, I was told by mine in my final meeting with him, that I wasn’t given a heads up of concerns due to "Geomiq liking to encourage its AEs". That makes personal progression impossible as they don’t provide constructive coaching, and are happy to blindside you after heaping praise on your performance by letting you go.
I suspect, however, that my letting go, in truth, aligns with a change in strategy to reduce the sales investment that Geomiq makes. When I joined, I was told that the company was investing in its sales function , and that I was part of a growing sales team. I was let go alongside one other AE (the only other AE in the most recent cohort of hires), who had been there a month less than me. He was also not given a heads up about concerns against him. This means that, despite supposedly joining a growing sales team, the AE function has now reduced back to the size it was before I joined. The SDR team is now smaller. It was confirmed whilst I was there that the initial plans to grow the SDR function will not now be happening.
So either they’re changing their investment/growth strategy, or their onboarding process has been a woeful failure for the most recent hires, compounded by dishonest management in the name of “encouraging the AEs”.
Let's move on to the platform / service that you’d be selling. It’s woefully inadequate. It crashes or bugs more or less daily, and suppliers consistently mess up orders, which directly impacts your ability to make GMV. In my two months of selling there, I lost thousands in GMV due to platform or supplier issues.
So with grossly unachievable targets, management who do not coach constructively or even honestly, a poor quality platform, and a cold and unhygienic office, you’d be silly to work or invest with this company.
Final few things of note;
- Working is inflexible, with 4 days a week in the office.
- Pay is below average in sales
- Cheap equipment, slow computers, uncomfortable chairs
- Socials are always advertised in job descriptions. Although individual teams do go on regular socials, expect to have to spend out of your own pocket, as the budget is far too small. Geomiq will cover the cost of wherever you’re going, not food/drinks etc. It may be to a pub or something with no upfront cost, where you may get a drink if you're lucky.
Just a final FYI, HR chose to not be in attendance in the meeting my manager let me go (this is professionally unusual). I was promised by my manger in that meeting that HR would answer any questions I had over email. I put all concerns / issues that I’ve raised here to her ahead of posting this review. She refused to answer any of the issues I raised, instead just parroting the performance issue. Refused to explain why my performance was praised by management, and refused to justify why no concerns were raised ahead of time. Having seen that she has a habit of replying to concerns raised in other reviews with an air of concern, encouraging to reach out, it seems reasonable to consider those replies to be for PR, rather than a genuine intent to resolve problems.
