Softchoice reviews

Unlike many of its competitors, Softchoice is not accessing new markets overseas. Unlike its competitors, Softchoice is not growing by strategic acquisition. Unlike its competitors, Softchoice is not expanding its vertical focus. Rather, Softchoice is declining. Sales are down, Softchoice is losing customers and has been for many years. Softchoice is "strategically" dis-investing in many markets, pulling out of specific verticals like Public Sector. While the business has been crumbling, management has resorted to shell games with KPIs to artificially show growth and success. Since acquiring Softchoice, the private equity group Birch Hill has done their best to cut through the baloney that is Softchoice management KPI & reporting. It was this effort that highlighted the declining customer base and really drew attention to the extremely negative impact that has on the company's long-term outlook & financial health. The biggest problem with Softchoice has gone unaddressed for years. The Sales organization is honestly the weakest aspect of the business. But its also the largest & everything revolves around it. Recently Sales Leadership was realigned to report directly to the CEO, but that has not helped. What it did not do was address the high turnover in sales, it did not address the inability to attract talent, it did not address the inability to grown & retain talent, it did not bring a refined sales management process into focus. No, it kicked the can, ignored the real problems with the Sales organization - typical Softchoice fashion. Fast forward to today, Softchoice is finally attempting (albeit unsuccessfully at the moment) to address some of the more fundamental issues with the Sales Org. In the meantime, Softchoice is failing - substantial declines in both top & bottom line financial results. Softchoice's competitors are outpacing it with investments to really drive transformation. PCM has become a managed services juggernaut, actually sitting at #2 on the MSPMentors 500 list Softchoice loves to brag about. Zones was named Microsoft' Volume Licensing Partner of the year at WPC, again. Softchoice is falling behind. Softchoice's competitors are more innovating, bring better more compelling offers to market. With smart investments, they are quickly outpacing Softchoice, while it still seeks to address fundamental issues with its Sales Org. The culture at Softchoice is not good. Its juvenile, adolescent, overlooks real issues, rewards Sales performance and not Customer Success.

The office is too small for its future plans. There are lots of new employees to squeeze in, but not enough managers (or toilets) to take care of these new people. The company is trying to grow its Sales force. Their method has so far been like the Hunger Games - hiring 50+ people every 4 weeks and seeing who survives in their 16-week Sales Academy program. I call it the Hunger Games, because there is no sense of organization within - instead there is so much gossip, backstabbing, favouritism, and unfair advantages. There has been so much toxic energy on the sales floor, with certain employees calling into other people's patches, people tagging accounts that aren't theirs, etc. And so far, there hasn't been any discipline against these measures. The philosophy behind the Sales Academy is worth praising, but its execution has been so damaging. The first 4 weeks, you're inside a classroom, taking weekly tests and learning the theory behind IT. Yes, the classroom part of the training is easy if you study for the tests and presentations. The next 12 weeks however, you're on the phone, cold calling 100+ a day and trying to make some form of opportunity out of thin air. You have to make 500+ leads on your own and try to hit a certain quota within 12 weeks. Fair enough for all sales jobs - but the opportunity however comes depending on your given patch. Plus, some are given a book of business, while some aren't (and who determines that? Who knows?) For example, if you're given an American territory, the difficulty becomes tenfold compared to a Canadian patch. After all, Softchoice is a Canadian company and you're calling in from Toronto - your 416 number will show on the IT manager's desk. American IT managers will usually NOT pick up some Canadian number. The thing is, Canadian companies call into Softchoice all the time for their IT needs. So if you're given a Canadian territory and you hear the phone ringing with a Canadian area code, pick up that phone and make the sale because it will count towards your target. American reps, you're out of luck. I say about 60% of Canadian reps have been successful so far, compared to about 5% of American reps. People drop like flies here anyway, so be prepared for the Hunger Games. But there are the advantages you can definitely take, the things they don't tell you in Senior management. You will see lots of favouritism here, especially if you're an attractive young woman. Take advantage of it, because the tenured reps will swarm around you and give you leads, accounts...