Complaint Review: Smith's Business Consultants - Baton Rouge Louisiana

I found the ad for this position on Monster.com. The posting stated that it was a Management training program and that the company utilized direct marketing methods. It also gave a little bio on the president and the Human Resource manager. Overall the website however was very vague on what the company actually did and had no information on this "Management Training Program" or any of the company's affiliates. This alone should have been the first red flag however being an
overly eager 23year old fresh out of college I actually believed this to be a legitimate company.

I did a quick google search of "Smith's Business Consultants" and nothing negative came up so I assumed everything was alright. The website looked like it had been professionally done and Josh the owner and Jaime the Human Resource Manager were obviously fairly young as I could see from the website pictures so I assumed that the company was still in its start up phase and that I would have a good chance of getting the position. I submitted my resume and cover letter and received a call later that week asking to do a preliminary interview I did my preliminary interview over the phone and spoke with Josh the owner. He seemed like a nice guy and the interview was very relaxed and conversational.

I asked what exactly I would be doing and he beat around the bush so to speak saying that it was a management program that trained people to open their own consulting office. I also asked what were some "Direct Marketing methods" (as stated on the website) that his company used. He just replied that they were more effective than indirect marketing methods and blew off the question. His lack of details should have been red flag number two but I just assumed he misunderstood the question. I naively accepted the offer to come down for a second interview. He told me it would be an all-day interview and to bring a notebook and to dress business professional.

I took $700 out of my savings to book a flight thinking that I was going in for a position in a management training program with a start-up firm. It seemed like great experience an awesome resume builder. I arrived at the office suite that morning and immediately recognized Jaime from her picture on the website. There were about 9 interviewees that morning. Many of the candidates were dressed poorly, had bad posture and just looked like bums. The office was upbeat. There was techno playing in the conference room and Jaime was playing music at her desk. The team members were all smiling and seemed like they really enjoyed being there.

This should have been red flag 4 but again I just thought that I was just had an edge over the other candidates (arrogance on my part) and that the office was just trying to stay upbeat. I was told I was going to be following one of the "top account managers" that day. Here's where I finally recognized a red flag. We went door to door occasionally throughout the day but we did a lot of follow ups with past customers and also spent a lot of time just getting to know some people so it didn't really seem like a straight door to door sales kind of job. The account manager acted like he had years of experience in the company (he had only been in 8-9months). He too was poorly dressed and had a crappy car and chained smoked cigarettes.

He had maintained professionalism for about 2 min until we left the office and got to the car. He took off his tie, rolled up his sleeves and during my interview he frequently bragged about the girls he had sex with when he was younger and told me all his drinking stories. He did try to become professional every now and then and asked me legitimate interview questions so I assumed that he was just trying to relate to me being a young guy straight out of college. He told me that 15/100 people were selected for the 2nd interview and congratulated me (FALSE). I asked if it was door to door mostly and he said that it was only a small percentage of what they did (FALSE) He also said most companies wanted our services because we had the lowest prices (FALSE). I asked what the earning potential was and he said through the roof.

He said that he made $2500 a month on average and had a nice apartment with full cable/internet package with all the bells and whistles (False).  (He actually lived in a shitty apartment in the ghetto I found out later with no cable and internet) . I asked what I would start out at and he said $300-500/wk plus 28% commission (FALSE) He also fed me allusions of grandeur that I would be making 6 figures in 3-4 years and have my own company. He said the business was about creating managers and not so much about sales which was reiterated by Josh after my interview. The campaign that the company represented was Quill, which I researched and was a legitimate wholesale office supply company. Well I accepted the job (why I did still baffles me) and moved down there the next week. 

I came in on the first day and was pretty excited but as soon as I came in I knew something was fishy. There were only 15 people in the company. If they interviewed 100s off people every month why is there only 15 people in the office. I also noticed an overwhelming sense of forced enthusiasm. Everyone was constantly giving each other hi fives and fist pumps and listening to upbeat music. They do this thing called atmosphere which is where the group plays games and chants and gets them hyped up before hitting the field every morning (going door to door).

There was no negative energy allowed in atmosphere. I was very similar to the mentality in North Korea I thought. I noticed how all the newer people were constantly force fed inspirational quotes and stories from business moguls like Trump and Charles Schwabb. They constantly down talked corporate America and people who were actually behaved professionally. I was often told that in corporate America that the companys goals were to keep you in the lowest position possible and that that was what sets this firm apart.

They often would try to convince us that hardly anyone had a chance making it in the corporate world and that this business was the way to go because they aimed to promote people. The conference room walls were bright orange and plastered with pictures of the people who supposedly "made it" in this field. After the morning atmosphere session Everyone would go door to door in business districts wearing full suits in the middle of the Louisiana heat. Associates would have to drive all over Louisiana and not get reimbursed for gas or hotel accommodations. This adds up when you drive and SUV. After a full day of slaving away we would return for an afternoon atmosphere session.

Depending on how many sales you made that day you could ring all these bells or shakers to recognize yourself within the group for having performed well that day. Everyone would then stand in a circle and each person would run around the circle and give everyone a hi five. I felt like I was in a cult and if I didn't go with it I would be penalized. I knew I wanted to quit already but I had just driven 900 miles and I was curious what other crap they had up their sleeve. All the office members constantly hung out after work as well.

If someone didn't go they would be more or less ostracized. They constantly talked about all the other offices success and how everyone could achieve that success. At one point I was even told by the account manager that I had followed that they hire a bunch of deadbeats that can "hack it in the field so the office can make sales". Ideally the best team members would emerge and be able to build a strong team within the company and that's how they would get promoted. (This was probably the biggest falsity in their belief system) This is also where I started sensing the pyramid scheme part of it.  

I was often told to concentrate on the long term goals and not worry so much about the money. This made sense because I noticed how everyone there was on a tight budget. Everyone was constantly broke. Even the Josh the office owner had nothing to show for his so called accomplishments. Maybe he wasn't materialistic but he sure did like to talk about all the things he would have one day. Additionally I found out that you are only paid 28% of sales you make but you are encouraged to give coupons to these businesses as part of the pitch thus lessening the amount you sell them. There is no 300-500 a week as I was told. Working the field is straight suffering.  You would be lucky is your paycheck exceeded what you spend in gas.

Finally on the third day they sat down with the new guys and explained how the company worked. This is how I finally found out that the business was an ICL (Independent Corporate Licensing) or subsidiary of Cydcor. Its funny yet strategic how they don't tell you this before. Now I finally have some more information that I can actually do some simple research on. Now I actually asked some one earlier about it and when they told me it was Cydcor they told me not to google it. I found this quite suspicious so naturally I googled it. If you google Cydcor you will find 1000s of horror stories and scams just like this one with various ICL's under different names around the United States. 

It was terrible to discover what this business was all about. I had taken a substantial amount out of my savings already. I had my gut feeling all along but I'm glad that I went through this horror so I can reach out to any other potential victims of this corporate devil. Smith's Business Consultants had not been recognized yet publicly as being associated with Cydcor. At least not as far as I've found. I want to simply bring this to light that this company is associated with Cydcor.

I dont even need to go into the evils of Cydcor, a simple google search of this company will speak for itself. This business targets new graduates and innocent individuals who want to get a head start in their careers. MLMs rope them in by promising economic opportunity, materialistic things and subsequently fills their heads with grandeur of false hope and unattainable success. I have no intent to personally bash any of the team members, not even the owner Josh. I personally believed that they were nice guys I just firmly believe that they are so brainwashed by this bogus yet somehow legal scam that they will actually succeed in this business.

Yes it is possible to succeed but the method to get there is unsure and EXTREMELY unlikely.  I've done a lot of research on Multi -level Marketing schemes (pyramid schemes) and 99.99% of the time people end up losing money. I lost a little over a grand from my savings from being a waiter during college by investing in moving down to Baton Rouge to work for this company. My story is not the worst though. I've read about families with kids who have had their houses foreclosed because of investing too much into these types of businesses with no benefits.

The company has their team drive all over the state without reimbursing them for gas. These poor hard working people have become slaves for this company by being lied to and deceived. Not even the best salesman make less thank min wage. I cant even tally how many lies I was told over my few day period with this business. My purpose for writing this article is only to spread awareness about these types of businesses. I can only hope that these people will someday realize it and get out while they can and that its just a sense of false hope that drives them. Its unreal the amount of psychology and delusion that Cydcor ICLs uses. Bottom line DONT TAKE A JOB WITH THIS COMPANY! YOU WILL BE LIED TO DECIVED AND WILL MAKE LITTLE TO NO MONEY DOING THIS!