Pros
Company provided meals are often Due to the large turn over rate, there are opportunities to be promoted to other positions No weekends
Cons
The office environment is a ghetto environment, emphasis on ghetto. Some days I was not sure if I was working in an office setting or a nightclub. The "N" word is openly and loosely used directly on the sales floor among sales agents and some PC's. Profanity is also openly and loosely used on the sales floor. The environment in the Atlanta office is ghetto, there's no better way to put it. It's not uncommon to see women with bright blond, poorly maintained weaves or wigs, head wraps, long fake eyelashes, provocative dressing and men with pants sagging or smelling of marijuana. If you possess class about yourself or desire to work in a "professional" corporate setting, Allconnect is not the place for you. Not in the least. Diversity is low within sales professionals and upper management. One could count the number of white or hispanic sales professionals on one hand but just the opposite in upper management. White, hispanic or any other race other than black are the minority among sales professionals. Black, hispanic or any other ethnic group other than white are the minority among upper management. Now regarding pay. Sales professionals make $11.00 an hour plus commission. During the interview process and all throughout training, the recruiters and trainer's paint a big fairytale picture that agents can make between $4-6k in commission per month, bonuses and hourly pay increases. Yes, that is true BUT what's not being thoroughly explained is, only two or maybe three agents out of 100 agents make that amount. What is equally not being explained to new hires is, agents must max out on all three criteria of the sales metric to even achieve that payout amount which is extremely difficult to do when the bar keeps getting set higher each month. The sales metric and payout changes monthly. The reality is the average agent makes between $500-$2,000 in commission each month. There are far more agents making under $1,000 in commission each month than making over $1,000. Hence why this company is a revolving door for sales professionals. Mainly because of the deceit during the hiring and training process. There is a very high turnover rate with the sales professional position. Agents either quit within 3 months of being on the sales floor or fired. Some last longer but very few for a year or more. Agents are given an attendance bonus for completing 100% shift but what’s not being explained in the hiring process, agents must transfer the money to their company issued prepaid card then wait 4 to 5 days for the money to be posted to the card. Quite a few agents had to wait longer than 5 days to get their bonus. The money is never instantly posted to the card. Agents are made to feel they are in the wrong should they complain about not receiving money that they rightfully earned. The nature of the work. Aside from Monday's it's 8-hour days with 1-hour lunches, no weekends which is a definite plus considering it’s a call center. Monday's 30-minute lunch with company provided meal. Depending on call volume, some weeks may have 30 minutes lunches in addition to regular Monday. However, the company does provide meals whenever 30-minute lunches are required. The meals are generally good meals. Get one 30-minute break each day that agents can use throughout the day however they choose. So with that being said, to step away from the phone for water, a breather or restroom, agents have to use their unpaid time or break. Otherwise, it's dinged against the agent. The attendance policy is strict and fully enforced. Therefore, agents must manage their unpaid time wisely or they will be fired. The calls agents receive are calls transferred to the agents from utility companies. More often than not, customers are unaware why they were speaking to an Allconnect agent. That’s the first hurtle agents must overcome. Then there's the various scripts agents must read. The position is heavily scripted, a good many must be followed verbatim. However, there are some areas within the call where agents can deviate from the script and use word play. One must be good at word play to have any kind of success with the sales professional position or you will fail miserably. Must know the products like the back of your hand or fail miserably. Must be able to think fast responses to objectives. Agents are provided with scripted response, but they rarely work. To be successful in the position, one has to operate as a used car salesman but selling internet, cable, phone. That’s the best way to explain it. If an agent is not good at manipulating the truth, they will not last long in the position which is another reason the high turnover rate. There are several factors that play into agents not being successful at getting the fairytales being told during the hiring process. Customers not passing credit checks, dropped calls, customer disinterest in speaking to agent and here’s my favorite, not being able to pay a deposit. All of which are agents uncontrollable but contributes a huge role in agents not being able to make a good commission. One thing I forgot to mention, if an agent were to be fortunate to make over $2,000 in commission. They’re calls are heavily critiqued by compliance. If that agent fails any part of compliance, pay is deducted and compliance points given. Basically, agents are penalized for having a good month. Now about the managers and team leads. First off, managers are called PC’s. There are some good PC’s then there are some aggressive PC’s and even more aggressive team lead’s. I was fortunate to have a very good PC. However, there were some agents less fortunate. Some PC’s would literally hound their agents by standing over the agent while they’re actively on a call asking the agents how much they have sold. More aggressive PC’s would walk down their team aisle with a megaphone yelling to their agents to sell more. What I found particularly interesting; the aggressive PC’s were the women, mainly black women. Some of them more aggressive than others but overall aggressive. I could never figure out why that was. Literally agents would have to deal with music blaring, PC or team lead yelling at them all the while trying to listen to the caller at the same time. It’s a textbook harassing and hostile environment. However, the male PC’s were more encouraging, mostly left agents alone to do their jobs. Overall, there’s a lot to be desired regarding leadership and professionalism. Now that I shared my candid experience with working there, hope this gives a better insight. If someone were to ask me do I recommend working there, I would have to say, NO! not as a sales professional.