UniFirst reviews

3.6

62% would recommend to a friend

(2,542 total reviews)
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Steven S. Sintros

70% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

UniFirst has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 2,542 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The UniFirst employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Personal Consumer Services industry (3.4 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
2.0
Jan 17, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Coworkers on the sales team were amazing people however you never get to see them. Formal training. Stepping stone for better sales jobs. Get your experience and go.

Cons

Micro managed. Metric driven. Turn over rate is HIGH. Nit pick every way you write up an order. Not only do you have to worry about selling but you have to worry about service messing up and causing you charge backs on your comission statement. Huge divide between sales and service.

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UniFirst Response
10y
Thank you for your review. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the company of your Sales Team. It always saddens us to hear when any of our Team Partners feels they had a less than positive experience at UniFirst. We understand that in many industries, a disconnect may occur between Sales and Service. This is why we encourage our Salespeople to be the start of change if their Location is struggling with this. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
1.0
Sep 22, 2015

Outside Sales Representative

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There aren't many pros about this job. If you can stick it out one to two years to gain the experience you need to move on to a better paying and more enjoyable job, it will be worth it. You'll be doing a lot of cold calling, phone calling, but this isn't bad experience to have under your belt if you can handle it. There are more desirable companies to work for who will like to see this experience on a resume. You'll find there is autonomy and flexibility in this role.

Cons

It is difficult to sell a service that doesn't run the way you are selling it, especially when there is zero communication between the service and the sales divisions. There isn't much, if any, leadership or strategic guidance for the sales professionals truly looking to development themselves and make a career out of sales. The management is lazy and will avoid taking ownership for any mistakes whenever something goes wrong. There is a ton of meaningless busy work, it will not help advance you in your professional career, nor will it help with the real-world situations you encounter in the field with UniFirst or any other sales position. The compensation is actually less than what you discuss in your offer and they will make it seem like much more.

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UniFirst Response
10y
Thank you for your feedback. We agree with you that Cold Calling and making Phone Calls to Set Appointments is great experience to have for any Sales position. We at UniFirst believe these are two important pieces to the puzzle of success in Sales. A Sales Career also provides a great deal of autonomy and flexibility, which for the right person is very attractive. We understand that in many industries, a disconnect may occur between Sales and Service. This is why we encourage our Salespeople to be the start of change if their Location is struggling with this. It’s unfortunate that you felt you were not given the leadership or guidance that you needed. Developing our Team Leaders to be positive, motivational, and supportive is a top priority and we continue to strive for this through our Team Partner education and training.
1.0
Sep 8, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

i was a salesman and saw very few positives with the company except fairly hefty bonuses if you hit certain milestones. They pay $50 toward cell phone.

Cons

Car allowance that didn't cover a fifth of what i spent on gas, maintenance, and depreciation on my vehicle putting 550 miles on it a week, training program was extensive but didn't prepare me to sell, initial sales goal is tough to meet if you don't know the industry - contractual sales means very few customers CAN buy from you in the timeframe you are allotted in the beginning and sales are driven by relationships you aren't given time to cultivate, bad service out of my location and driver turnover meant they couldn't deliver on the promises I was making. Even the senior salesman at my location was on probation for poor sales during my entire 8 week period following training. Base compensation was low compared to competitors. Cintas owned the arena and their superior service and contractual creativity made selling Unifirst next to impossible. They told me I would receive a $500 bonus for meeting my initial goal but did not tell me I would be fired if i did not, like several before me, I didn't and they fired me although my manager told the recruiter who found me that I was going to be good in the weeks leading up to my termination. 50+ hours a week for about $30,000 after gas and depreciation on vehicle. Frequent meetings that didn't instruct or inspire.

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UniFirst Response
10y
Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to hear that our New Hire Ramp-Up Bonus is appealing. At UniFirst we try to maximize the amount of facetime Salespeople have with their potential customers and minimize drive time with our Territory Organization Planning System. It can be very easy to get away from the plan when we get excited about Setting an Appointment, and suddenly we are driving an hour in between meetings! In regards to vehicle expenses, we recommend you check with your Tax Advisor as you may discover that many of the expenses are tax deductible. We do encourage our Salespeople to take a consultative approach and if you buy-in to our proven process it does yield results. In any Sales Position there are quotas to be met and unfortunately if standards are not being upheld and improvements are not being made, it might not be the best fit for some. We understand that in many instances we must “wait out” a contract, which is why we find it helpful to have two pipelines one for Programmers and one for No-Programmers (Prospects without a Uniform or Facility Services provider). No-Programmers really help boost your Sales, while you are waiting out some of those contracts. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!
Viewing 106 - 108 of 2,542 Reviews

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