Zero training. Zero transparency on company policy, commission and payment plans, and HR is non-existent if you want some of these important questions answered. HR works for Gannett, not you. Management has turned over quickly--I had 4 different managers in less than a year.
They also change your sales territory and accounts without any thought as to what's best for the customer. Accounts move around in ways that make no sense, generally to the detriment of the sales reps and clients. There is only so many times a client wants to hear "I'm your new account executive!" and they will look elsewhere if things keep getting tweaked. My territory was changed without notice 3x in 2 years, and in sales it takes momentum to finally reap the benefits of a stable territory but this isn't taken into account. This conveniently seems to happen when someone is facing a good payout and they are stuck in a struggling territory to 'help revive it with their great sales skills.' Uh huh. Sure.
There is zero career pathing unless you're one of the 'golden children'. I put in for an internal position and never even got a confirmation or thank you for my application. Never heard back. I was promoted 3 times from within before this new regime change so my qualifications were not the issue...
The BIGGEST problem at Indy Star is payment of sales executives: They do not want to pay their sales reps commission. Bottom line. End of story. It's structured in a way that is not beneficial to employees but instead stacked in the Gannett Corporate's favor. Commission is quarterly instead of monthly, and it feels like they are constantly tweaking goals and rules in a way that short changes the sales reps. If you hit January and February 90%+ but an ad pulls and tanks you in March...tough luck. No commission for you, though the company still profits from your success in January and February. Now you must wait at least 4 more months for a shot at commission (it's paid the month after the quarter ends...). No one can afford to live like this! As an added bonus, you'll also get put on a PIP. Goals are formulated in an unobtainable way and they're always too high to be realistic. They DO NOT want you to make commission. Do not take a sales job with The Indianapolis Star unless you enjoy making base-only and being put on coaching plans because of the unreasonable and unobtainable goals that you are assigned.