Bait and Switch- TOXIC - Customer Success Podium Employee Review

1.0
18 Feb 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free lunch on Wednesday's for in person employees and onsite GYM access. A lot of my coworkers are amazing people. My direct manager has been one of the only reasons I've stayed.

Cons

In every job opening Podium lists "Transparent culture and Great opportunities for career growth" as 2 of the top benefits which is a COMPLETE LIE. Currently, Podium has not been transparent with the upcoming changes that will dissolve the Customer facing roles while demoting the entire teams to product support with possible pay cuts to come. Everyone outside of the department seems to be aware of the upcoming changes while the individuals impacted are left in the dark. There has been ZERO communication from management on this matter! Everything asked to the management is "TBD!" It’s even been stated in a company townhall "if you want stability Podium isn't for you" WOW is all I can say! There is NO work life balance and you are definitely not valued as a human. Management encourages, if not requires, dishonest behavior and lack of transparency from their team managers. Management has created an environment that is toxic and hostile. Podium claims to be "customer obsessed" but meanwhile, customers are consistently negatively impacted by the continued dishonest sales practices and extremely limited Customer Success resources. We are forced to hold customers hostage to contracts while sales tells customers they can cancel at any time despite the contract and say things like "we won't hold your feet to the fire." Written proof and recorded calls exhibiting these shady sales tactics have been given to higher management. However, NOTHING changes and sales is continually rewarded more than any other department. In addition, our management continues to implement even stricter policies for us to follow when submitting cancellations. There is ZERO accountability for the sales reps, broken integrations or other problems that lead to early cancellation requests. All of this has severely affected my mental health. I'm not able to provide value to our customers when I'm consistently forced to go against what feels right and force customers to continue paying for a product after being promised things we can't deliver on. When I joined Podium I was pitched a completely different work environment and compensation potential. I feel like our leadership and many others are always looking for any way to not pay out your bonus to the amount you earned! The data is so messy and our paychecks are docked because they can't accurately calculate things.

Explore other reviews about Podium

5.0
29 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This has been a great place to work. It can be a lot of pressure, which is probably right on the cusp where some find the pressure to be compelling, and others find it toxic. So, I get why some people may justifiably not like it. Not sure if there's a definitive line between toxic and compelling. But, I personally have found it compelling. The constant challenge pushes me and has helped me avoid complacency. There's always a new challenge and something new to learn. I have a lot of confidence in the leadership, both middle management and exec. To be transparent, I'm distant enough from execs that I'm isolated from any rumored drama or toxicity. But, I've been here for a while and have never experienced any of the rumored toxicity in my infrequent direct interactions with leadership. They make mistakes, but any time mistakes are made, they are pretty quick to learn from them and right the ship.

Cons

It's a lot less fun than it used to be. There used to be a lot more lighthearted fun and silliness in the culture. There used to be a lot more jokes and casual conversation in Slack and heckling in town hall. Thankfully the work is still fulfilling. Just... not very fun anymore. The pressure can be a lot. It requires a bit of thick skin. The pressure is good to push you beyond what you think is possible. But, you have to be able to be honest with yourself and management to be able to communicate reality when the expectations are completely unreasonable. I honestly think it's a good culture. But, only if you can find the balance between allowing yourself to be pushed to learn and improve, and being able to effectively communicate and pushback to prevent burnout. It would be miserable for those that are too scared to surface issues to management or push back on other teams. And it can't just be whining. Frankness and honestly is good (and in my experience, has always been appreciated). Whining is not helpful or good.

2.0
4 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Cool office building, learn from some of the best sales reps you’ll come across in your career

Cons

I worked at podium for a few years. It was the most toxic sales culture I’ve ever experienced. I do not say that lightly It was worth the money a year/two plus ago. They raised quotas multiple times in the last year and decreased the commission percentages. It is wild how many hoops an ae had to jump through to close a deal. In my 7+ of being in sales it was probably the hardest sale to close and I was a top rep. If you want to join podium it could be a good learning experience but it will come with a lot of headaches, anxiety about job security (they pip sales reps out like no other company I’ve ever worked for) and maybe some tears

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