Sales Benchmark Index Reviews

SBI is "all sizzle, no steak". They say they help companies generate more revenue but there is no way they can prove it. They are more like an expensive temporary staffing agency rather than a strategic consulting firm. By the time the customer figures out they're over-paying and could do things themselves, SBI has likely drained them of millions of dollars. SBI actually keeps a tally of how many customers they take over a million dollars from. They don't have any unique IP or research reports like other firms; most of what we delivered as "solutions" could be found by customers on the internet with a little bit of elbow grease. You can never work long enough or hard enough to satisfy the partners. Vacations were rare and the partners expect people to work while on vacation. 6 and 7-day work weeks were expected and travel was much more than they said it would be during the interview process. Critical feedback came from every direction. Bonuses, if paid, were always smaller than expected as compared to the pre-hire propaganda. Benefits were very expensive and I had to pay almost 100% of the cost myself. I think SBI provided a couple hundred bucks each month to help with benefits but that didn't go very far. The partners play favorites with promotions. The people they promote each year are almost always men and there have never been any women in leadership positions.

The slick sales effort from the Partners captivates desperate clients who are looking for a quick fix to their problems. SBI takes advantage of the prospect's mindset and situation to plop a gigantic proposal in front of them. The Partners and Principals who sell a deal make a bunch of promises that the delivery team needs to fulfill and sometimes it's impossible. This creates tension within the team. If you bring up the issue, the Partner or Principal will usually tell you to figure out how to do the impossible anyway even if it shouldn't have been promised during the sales effort. They talk about being as good as McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Blue Ridge, and other well-known consulting firms but they really just take bits and pieces of what they find from those other firms and package it up as their own unique product. It's a sham. Benefits may as well be non-existent since they are so horrible. Travel exceeded what was discussed pre-hire. Much much more than 50-60%. Expect 75%. Compensation package is average. There is no opportunity for equity except for Partners. Vacations are hard to plan. If you make advance arrangements it's very likely that there'll be a project conflict when the vacation time rolls around. That leads to conflict with the Principals and Partners.