SmartFocus Reviews

Not sure what to say...there are so many negatives but i'll highlight a few.... The benefit of hindsight is a marvellous thing. If I'd done more due diligence I'd never ever ever have joined. The atmosphere of the company is toxic. Chernobyl-like in fact. With a culture symptomatic of bullying, blame-shaming and ill feeling it's no wonder that employees are fearful for their job 95% of the time (the other 5% is spent in the toilet with nervous guts). Whilst getting to work with some genuinely lovely clients, the papier mache and spit that covers over the cracks is obvious for all to see, including the clients. The clients deserve better - as do the staff, many of whom are decent hard working individuals. With the product needing careful skill in order to sell, it's no wonder that expectations rarely meet reality...anywhere near it in fact. From my perspective I had zero career development which wasn't the impression nor the premise of why I joined. Far from it. The only training you get is to be shouted at by the CEO (and/or the loyal subjects) about how useless you are / your colleagues are / your team is etc. etc. and to be told (because you have to be empathic of course) what you did wrong...even though you're doing exactly what you were told to do four weeks before (which was the last time you were shouted at repeatedly....) Oh joy. What a happy place. I feel sorry for anyone that works in the business outside of London as on the one hand you're virtually ignored with a 'we know better than you' mentality, or worse you're lambasted for not closing business when you were ignored 99.9999999% of the time. The morale in some departments is desperately poor. It's embarrassing to have things like a drinks trolley (woop, woop) and nights out / drinks at the pub which have the atmosphere and warmth of a crematorium. Improve morale by not constantly criticising people, not back stabbing (and front stabbing) people. Culture, ethics and most of all..values come from the top. P.S. As has already been said, ignore the carefully curated reviews. They're just that. Curated/sponsored/whatever you want to call it.

The product fundamentally doesn't do what is claimed. The vast majority of clients use the product for email marketing and nothing else. All the stuff about beacons and proximity is utter hog wash. All the claims about personalization are hard to substantiate. it's hard to find a customer willing to act as a reference. The product is being developed as they go along and sign up new clients. Customer churn is high and they have recently lost some really big long term customers because of poor product and poor service. The Acct managers battle away endlessly trying to appease angry customers, but they are walking faster than sales can recruit new clients. The CEO has a terrible management style. He's abusive. He swears a lot and insults people to their face. There is always a veiled threat of dismissal. ....and he does dismiss good people at the drop of a hat....a lot....and frequently. Anyone who has an opinion that differs is seen as a dissenting trouble maker and quickly removed. Any conversation with the the CEO is incredibly hard work because he has to win, everytime. He loves to play mind games and it's exhausting. He only ever asks a question to which he knows the answer so that he can look clever. If you do know the answer, then he'll change the question mid way through asking it. No need to recruit clever talented people because the CEO has all the answers. He gets involved in every aspect of the business, including those for which he has no skill of talent whatsoever. Morale is awful. Those that do survive are the one's that do exactly as told without question. Gossip and backstabbing is rife as the largely talentless middle management jockey for position. Manager's queue up outside the CEO's office for their regular reviews, during which they are humiliated and demoralised.