BEST REVIEW for DSM (District Sales Manager)
Pros
Red Bull’s culture flows into the distribution company as they are related at corporate level. This means cool perks like the opportunity of winning trips to RedBull events (Air Race, Flugtag, Rampage, etc.) Benefits package is, bar-none, the best in the industry! I’ve had employees stay on board strictly for the fact that the benefits are the way they are. - 4 week, 100% paid, maternity/PATERNITY leave!!! - 401(k) match up to 10% - vision/dental/ST< disability/AD&D/LifeIns... free - cheap Voluntary single/spouse/child life insurance - offer cheap legal assistance plans and pet insurance Pay is (avg $55k-$65k DOE) decent when you factor in company phone/computer/car - Company car - unlimited personal use (monthly tax on mileage) - Pay is salary at mid/end of month - only bonuses come on quarterly basis - based on volume VS quarter goal & 1 other KPI - $3k (70% volume & 30% KPI) - free Red Bull lol Upper Management is hit or miss depending upon what region you reside in. If you have a good GSM, someone who doesn’t micromanage your every hour, the sky is the limit. If you are in a branch where the GSM must know what is going on at every hour of every day… Heed the warning and look elsewhere DSM’s have 90% autonomy over their weekly schedules - you decide when you work with your ASMs - you decide when to visit your accounts - you decide when to stay and work “in office” The other 10% is typically reserved for things like management meetings, Market tours, etc...
Cons
Employees, at the distribution facilities, are underpaid and overworked - KPIs and commissions are constantly changing, many times mid-month which frustrates the ASMs. - The “work for a dollar and then pay you a dime...” mentality has taken over in recent years which slowly but surely crushes morale as there's no end to justify the means... - ASM bonuses are based on SIX different metrics - the scale used that determines whether or not ASMs make their bonus is a “bell curve”. ASMs are graded against other distributors, not against their own goals, which is asinine when EVERY MARKET IS DIFFERENT!!! - DSMs metric to hit quarterly bonus is based on TWO simple factors - Volume and PSA score - when its known that the boss is gonna bonus when you’re not... morale, once again, gets crushed... Understaffed - when you’re (DSM) running a route for more than 2 weeks... there’s a problem - when you’re fully staffed you’re good, but being shorthanded shuts down even your own motivation, and in turn your team’s motivation. If you (DSM) have to do 2 jobs it just constantly pulls you away from your leadership role, which is the worst as many ASMs need guidance on KPIs, their metrics, etc. Pay - avg raise is 2% - 4% every year based on merit and quantitative results. This may sound like the industry standard, but when you’re having to hire/train/evaluate your own staff ON top of running the route that may be down... it's below industry standard. - I feel bad for the DSM‘s who run satellite facilities. They have more responsibility than anyone. For example there is no office administrator on site to help onboard new employees. They have to take a full day, or two, out of their schedule just to help them do simple paperwork. The DSM of a satellite is the office administrator, district manager, operations liaison… everything, and they MIGHT make 5% more than their DSM counterparts
