W.W. Grainger Reviews

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – Benefits, PST, independence, Corporate is always evolving to market conditions, # of products, Product Support,

Cons – time spent outside of work, in my area the nearest co-worker was an hour away, corporate is always changing pay structure, expectations, the way things are done, etc..., Pricing

Advice to Senior Management – The TSR program currently has a negative stigma attached to it and many people within Grainger do not understand what we do. DSM's and others still think we are a transaction model. They need to have an internal marketing campaign that the TSR program is the "minor leagues" for the account manager program. DSM's and MTS's need to work together to develop this talent. IMO, right now this is one of the biggest gaps for Grainger going forward with the TSR program. This stigma and gap has led to the TSR program having a lot of turnover and low morale.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – The training is fantastic. I've watched 15-20 people get jobs outside the company because Grainger's training is thought of hightly. You get a car and bene's from day one. Free gas and insurance. After a few days you can quickly figure out how to beat the system.

Cons – They pay is horrible. The company refuses to promote from with in. I worked with a guy who was with the company for nearly 10 years. They told him that he was "unqualified" to be an account manager (next level up). Unless your a chick it's next to impossible to get promoted. The MTS's hound you to death with constant e-mails and nonsense. The MTS's are glad-handed yesmen who really don't know how to sell and badger your customers when you have ride-a-longs (which are ALL the time). There are idiotic meetings that are held 50 miles from everyone..and they're every 2 weeks. The goals are impossible to hit unless your territory is in the middle of rural PA or some where like it.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay the people that deserve it and promote from your own team. You're losing way TOO many qualified employees to the competition.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – Profit Sharing but it takes 5-6 years to be fully vested

Cons – Unethical business practices - breaking contracts and changing quotas every month. Not paying Account Manager the commissions that were due to them. All 10 ten Account Managers I started with in 2011 have left the company to pursue other opportunities. The commission structure is awful - the worst in the industry.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to hire Managers that have more experience than selling printers at Pitney-Bowes

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – Training is it. They will position their profit share and upward mobility, but it is decades for that to happen. You will be sold on the time off, profit share, market position, and the ability to grow. The reality is when you join, get in line. On the bright side, their sales training is a good foundation for improving with another employer. Look at it a s a stepping stone psoition. The Grainger name does carry some positive weight.

Cons – Almost impossible to earn bonus or be promoted. Your goal changes every 6 months. There is a fear monger culture. Micromanaged. They will actually follow under-performers to appointments and discipline for tardiness, cancelation, etc. Their competitors, although much smaller, are much more mobile, cheaper, and contrary to what you're told by Grainger, have a better solution and service offering. You will be taught a sales presentation that must be done with every customer regardless of relevance. I never understood why they hired seasoned sales people because you are not allowed to think on your own. I would strongly suggest you analyze your current situation before making a move. To put this into better perspective, when I announced my resignation, I went in two weeks later to debrief and bring my management team up to speed on any open opportunities etc., it happened to fall right after our District Meeting. My entire team, at different times, came up to me and congratulated me. They said they were envious and are working their hardest to do the same.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your employees. Stop scaring them into submission and you will see the growth you desire.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great customers, great offering, front runner in IT infrastructure, consistent profit sharing %age

Cons – Not a place for the money motivated seller. If you are satisfied with the same or less money each year...this is the place for you. Sellers are not compensated for year over year consistent performance. I have been over goal for 6 years in a row and between commision and expense account reductions I have gone from consistent 6 figures to not even considering 6 figures as a possibility. Grainger has its cake and eats it to by increasing sales "credit" goals twice per year so that it compounds and goals raise at an exponential rate. You are not rewarded for high Gross Profit sales year over year, rather you have to generat double digit revenue growth with 40% margins in order to make the exact same pay as the year before. This is an operations company that puts up with the nessesity of having a sales force. Grainger has taken full advantage of the static labor market and has used that to whittle away at what reductions in pay the sellers will put up with. Grainger also manages to the meteocre... If you are smart...stay away. Go somewhere that rewards intelligence. This is a company for sheep. Wolves starve here. Don't walk...Run! Run! Run!

Advice to Senior Management – Reward the high performers and don't penalized them year over year by turning stellar growth into next years water mark. If you want people to shoot for the stars...don't starve them when they are still over the moon. The mass exodus of talent will continue as it has unless you relearn how to retain high performers by paying enough to take the issue of money off the table.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good retirement benefits, good work life balance. People are generally reasonable about workloads.

Cons – Slow moving, older population, compensation not always even across departments.

Advice to Senior Management – You risk losing a lot of young talent by leaving the main offices in Lake Forest.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at W.W. Grainger for more than a year

Pros – Great opportunity to make money.
Great Benefits
A lot of good people.
Good Team Working environment
Company car and gas card

Cons – Low base salary.

Very unrealistic expectation to sell items ridiculously overpriced in comparison to every other MRO supplier, based on the notion of total value or value added when no such value exist or the value does not justify the ridiculous price difference.

Very unrealistic activity expectation. They expect you to meet with far more people they reasonably possible.

Although your manager may not ask you to work from home. He / she will assign work that would be impossible to preform during business hours if you want to be productive.

Lots of work, you will be working 80 plus hours a week.

Remember you are a sales person PEOPLE DONT LIKE SALES PEOPLE. YOU WILL BE TREATED LIKE CRAP. People will lie, hide and avoid you. People will waste your time, not answer or respond to your phone calls / emails. Cancal appointments without telling you, People will treat you badly like a bottom feeding parasite.

The very worst part is Managements ridiculous micro management of employees. There is a teleamatics system in your company car that allows your manager to track when you turn your car on / off, where you are at and for how long. Big brother watches you and questions every little thing.

Company Management manages in the "good ol boy" fashion. Similar to police officers, They take care of themselves, manages do and say whatever they want, with total impunity. Complaining about unfair treatment, abuse or any other negative action on your manager will result in immediate retribution. followed by frivolous accusations, write ups and progressive disciplinary actions for made up incidents until you crack and quit or they feel they have enough paper work on you to justify your termination.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop the Micro managing, senior management needs to not allow there managers to micro manage. Allow employees to be successful. Address employee concerns

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good benefits, strong training, and consistent approach to selling.

Cons – Too focused on metrics and not on strategic consultative approach.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow more flexibility in weekly schedule to deliver on committment to be more consultative

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – They offer great benefits, you can get a consistent schedule with weekends off, Monday through Friday 7am to 5:15pm. They have dual annual reviews to help you know what you need to improve on to help with raises.

Cons – There are some people who seem to keep their jobs even though they are burned out and not working as good team members and pulling their weight.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at W.W. Grainger full-time for more than a year

Pros – Working at Grainger was a very good experience. The sales training in DPS was in-depth and applied to real world sales. The managers in the branches were great to work with and really helped with understanding customers tendencies. Fellow Acct Mgrs were truly there to help and did everything they could to help.

Cons – Immediate management's only concern was to increase their own political capital to further their own rise within the company. Zero concern for the well being of the Acct Mgrs assigned to them.

Advice to Senior Management – Everybody is under pressue to perform, however, if you are truly interested in increasing sales, the stick approach only works so far. Learn to work with your sales force, understand their strengths and help them utilize those strengths to achieve better sales.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend