Account executive - Account Executive - Small/Medium Business (SMB) Salesforce Employee Review

3.0
Sep 2, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great product, team and people. Training is top notch. Benefits and perks are great, as you'd expect, and obviously you have the brand recognition to get your foot in the door.

Cons

Unrealistic quota goals. Every single month feels like it's end of quarter, and end of quarters feel like end of year. End of year is just insane. The pressure every single month is tough to deal with and especially in ESMB, quotas are just not realistic. Big deals tough to come by. You'd expect a sales role at Salesforce to have plenty of inbound leads or plenty of add on business for existing customers - really not the case. Ton of outbound, cold calling, hunting role (but in your limited account base of course). Be ready to have literally everything questioned and expected to tell your manager absolutely everything going on in any deal at all times. You'll be questioned on everything you do. The culture in the NYC office is nothing like the other offices. When there are events or happy hours, everyone is too busy or exhausted to even go. Very much a heads down and focus kind of atmosphere. Path to promotion is VERY political. Be prepared to play the game to move up.

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5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only way I could do that was if you had to do a lot more work and then you would be done by yourself so you would be fine and then I could just go home to you if I needed you and you could just come over here or I can just go home if I need you can just let

Cons

Understand the importance and the value in this

4.0
Jul 9, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I've spent over 8 years with Salesforce in various management and individual contributor roles, all customer or partner facing. Some of the pros: - vibrant, fast paced culture - smart, fun, aggressive colleagues - management is focused on latest tech trends and staying or becoming a leader for many of them - by and large, customers and partners are very positive about the technology - good benefits and perqs - hip urban culture at HQ - a chart-your-own-course mentality that rewards those who aggressively seek out the job they want and pursue it, or sometimes even create it

Cons

After my long tenure and many Dreamforce conferences, I'm nearly fried. To say the culture is fast paced and the focus is always changing is an understatement. The reason Salesforce always seems on top, and chasing the latest trend, and in the press, is because employees are expected to run harder, carry more, cheer loudly, and pivot constantly. It's the world's biggest startup in behavior. But at the same time, with the recent influx of top career sales leaders from Oracle and what appears to be a board-level mandate for doubling revenue, employees are being asked to do even more with even less, fill higher quotas with smaller territories, less help, and the big company bureaucracy is rearing it's ugly head. Worse still is the politics. When you hire a bunch of smart, aggressive people, and put them in an environment of outsized expectations, throw in a bunch of re-orgs and changing management, and sprinkle with uncertainty and constantly changing priorities, you inevitably get people back stabbing each other and throwing others under the bus to appear smarter and more worthy of promotion. The few at the top will get very, very rich. The rest will lose the sense of personal ownership and start to wonder why they've given up health and family

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Salesforce Response
2y
It's not often that you get the opportunity to respond to a review 10 years in but your comprehensive and thoughtful review has managed to hold on as one of our most popular even a decade in :) It’s exciting to see that the things we love most about the Salesforce of today — super smart colleagues, being at the forefront of tech trends and establishing ourselves as leaders in the space, great benefits and perks to name a few — haven’t changed in the past 10 years. We acknowledge the challenges you faced, such as the pace, shifting priorities, and internal politics. Your advice on maintaining our foundational vision while avoiding big-company bureaucracy is helpful as we continue to grow as the #1 AI CRM. Salesforce is committed to balancing growth with employee well-being and staying true to our core values. We appreciate your insights and dedication over the years. Thanks again for your feedback!
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