FarmTek Reviews

2.5

36% would recommend to a friend

(72 total reviews)
avatar

Barry Goldsher

50% approve of CEO

42% positive business outlook

FarmTek has an employee rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars, based on 72 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The FarmTek employee rating is 33% below average for employers within the Agriculture industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

72 reviews
2.0
28 Nov 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I think it's important for the integrity of the review to be forthcoming with my circumstance. I was let go from FarmTek/ClearSpan, but I don't think that disqualifies me from articulating a quality review. I think the company's greatest strength is the ability to offer a competitive salary for an entry level sales person, but that comes at a cost. There are also some really great, talented people that work for the company, but their skills and dedication are vastly under-valued. So basically if you can stomach a difficult working environment, serious micro-management, high stress, low customer satisfaction, low morale, long days and a very low level of appreciation -- the prospect of a high salary might help hide some of the glaring deficiencies. And to be fair, the company does invest a great deal of money and resources into trying to raise morale. But I'm not sure that the occasional free lunch, company sponsored bowling outing, or any of the other attempts at making it seem "not so bad", are all that fruitful.

Cons

I'm not sure I even know where to start. I think the biggest frustration is the multiple sources of "constructive criticism." There isn't a uniform approach to the sales process and there are constantly new focuses that go just as fast as they came. Discounts are great. Discounts are evil. Sell using financing. Financing is a crutch. So many examples of this. The company sells products before they are technically ready to be sold, which creates tremendous strain on the sales employees, project managers, designers, customer service and most importantly the customer. The approach is it will be figured out once it's sold. Unfortunately for someone who actually cares about their integrity and their word, it becomes a much harder to service customers after the sale. You are consistently managing multiple projects with unhappy customers through no fault of your own. If you're looking for a job with a high level of satisfaction, this is not for you. If you're looking for a job that could be a career, this is not for you. If you're looking for a job that has management that develops and encourages you and provides a plan for growing your skills in a way that increases your sales and overall knowledge of the product, this is not for you. If you're looking for a job that values your strengths, this is not for you. If you're looking for a job that you're reviewed daily, you painstakingly listen to calls, you're not treated as equals with your peers, you're not willing to work 50+ hours per week, you're approached multiple times a day by the owner asking about your current projects, you are punished for not pursuing leads that any rational person could tell weren't going nowhere, and you don't generally care about your customer's well-being and financial commitments to a product that generally fails more times than it doesn't -- THIS IS PERFECT FOR YOU!

1.0
22 Aug 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Don’t let all the reviews get you down, there are some good things to be had at Clearspan/Farmtek, it is a job, you can make money, and they do allow (for sales folk) unlimited overtime. And that’s about it…maybe experience if you need some for the old res. The rest my friends is down hill from here… Advice if you plan on talking this job, be good with change. Not good productive change, more of a change with no reason or rushed reaction change, frustrating change that will make no sense, less if you ask why and will bother you more if you understand it. Some call it Riding the wave. Just go with the flow, because if you question the wind of change you will drown.

Cons

The bad, you may not want to work overtime, because this is the land of micromanagement, be prepared to have a bunch of bosses that all have no idea how to manage people or do your job lurking over your shoulder (all day/every day), with nothing truly productive, just “what have you got for me today ? Can I drink top shelf vodka tonight?”. And the cream of the micromanagement crop would be the call reviews. Every call you take or make is recorded, so that you get to have call reviews, they happen often(daily), it’s you and a bunch of other sales piers, along with a few managers and if you are lucky, the owner of the company listening to one of your phone calls, this could be productive, but not at Farmtek, here they take turns telling you how much you suck, and what you did to screw up a sales call, very little productive comes from this, most stress about it, then feel defeated after, the ones that don’t stress about it just don’t care about the call reviews or their job. The smart sales reps cut the call off and just start talking about how well it ended, even if that’s not the truth, just make something up – fake it till you make it. This is all they do for real training, listen to some calls, and boy oh boy you better be an expert in everything, every industry, every use for the product, everything…this is impossible, they want you with no experience in a field to tell someone how they should operate their entire business, and if you can’t, because of coarse you can’t, have you ever owned a mining company or a farm or an import export business? well then you suck. As well know that what they tell you is the commission plan now will change, yearly, always in the company benefit (sell more – make less). They are hiring constantly, and not because they are looking for great people, mostly because they need people to fill seats, people leave like buffalo when they sense wolves. They don’t even like when people talk to each other, get caught making friends in the building and they will try and put the kybosh on that post haste. Friends are for the unemployed!!!. Maybe it’s because most of management doesn’t have friends. That’s just an assumption, but I’d guess it is a good one. Be prepared to be written up, doesn’t matter how long you’ve been there or how hard you work, they will write you up for something someday. And the example set by management on some of these things is laughable, Hypocrisy runs rampant in South Windsor CT, don’t get caught doing what management is doing…because you will get written up. In Sales they have Metrics, but don’t ask them to furnish any data on how they came up with your score…they don’t even know how they did it, but you can be written up and fired over it, sound like fun? there’s more. Like I said don’t ask for proof of anything. That gets you promoted. To customer. Know that management truly doesn’t care about you or your family, kid sick need a day off…well get ready you will be treated like Tom Brady in Buffalo, it’s snowing and you don’t feel safe going to work, well good luck they never close, and those that call out get attendance points, which will get you written up. My advice, don’t have kids while you work here, unless you have a spouse that can take a lot of time off work, hell you will struggle to have a dog living under managements thumb. Hey Christmas eve is a Thursday…come to work!!! Who needs family when you have Farmtek (they are your family now), you want the day off? Hope you put in for it early because they want as many as possible on hand incase people call during a holiday to order a widget, ohh the warehouse is closed and we can’t ship anything anyways…who cares stay at work family is for wimps. I would advise not telling anyone why you take time off as well, ...keep it secret keep it safe. most companies have training, have you read some piece or literature that aligns with company goals and how to get there, what to do to keep you motivated etc… not Farmtek, it’s just sales book of the month, who had a good YouTube that management liked about being the Cuban cigar or the cigarette, let’s make everyone read it and talk about their feelings about each chapter as we get through it. Literally 0 sales people here enjoy how this is done, everyone laughs at managers that love the books, but it’s a waste of your time, but don’t let them know you hate it…wait did I just spill the beans here…ohh well sorry y'all In sales get ready to fight internally Like a 22-year-old Mike Tyson for every decent order you have, most departments could care less if your order is done at all, done well, or done on time, it’s a daily struggle to get anyone motivated to do anything, getting an order through is like pulling teeth from a ticked off Bear. Be prepared to apologize a lot to customers, the quality is below the market average on almost everything they make or sell, and it's evident.

1.0
18 Jun 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Your co-workers are a fun and typically the days go quickly. Insurance benefits are a plus.

Cons

This company is a good ol' boys club. Senior management is greedy and sleezy (think high employee turnover = high profits). Sales management is lacking to say the least (can't sell dirt to an earthworm review was right on point) and reps have ZERO respect for them. Goals are unrealistic and unattainable, even by reps who have been there for years. DO NOT BELIEVE THE ADS or what recruiters / management has to say. Everything is smoke and mirrors. I have been with this company for years and can say with confidence that the positive reviews on this site are fake and the negative reviews are spot on. I really terrible for new employees that come in with such high hopes and two weeks later they realize what they have gotten into. This company will shred any bit of positivity you may have then try to boost you with their ridiculous propaganda. Their mindset is truly that we should feel lucky to work there.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 72 Reviews

Glassdoor has 74 FarmTek reviews submitted anonymously by FarmTek employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if FarmTek is right for you.