02476220500

Had an interview with Matt in belfast. Really decent guy, seemed friendly and caring. As i sat in the chair I thought to myself 'why is he wearing a cheap lookin suit with creases all over if hes minted'. Went out on my first day of training with a really decent and dead on guy (wont name him) . He was my leader and the person I looked up to. Came in for my second day and was in the atmosphere room. Everyone was jumping about, music was bangin loud, everyone shouting, smiling and dancing. First thing that came to mind was BRAINWASHed. Then I met Mitch. He was the most unfriendliest person ive ever met, big fake smile and fake tone of voice. Cheap suit, ripped shoes. Telling me hes on 1000 a week. BS!! Anything you make in the business, they take a percentage off for expenses. £3 everyday from every 'employee' to cover everyones petrol money. They tell you your self employed so that takes away any liability from them. Whole thing is a massive scam. DONT BUY INTO IT

master manipulators lol

Is it just me or does the name Matthew Goodchild come up numerous times within these companies! Hes the managing director of the MSG elite marketing and something to do with blue mountain??????? pretty sure i saw it on another companies name too! Sounds iffy to me!

Just stumbled upon this on ur post :
LMC Marketing
Ivor House
Bridge Street
Cardiff
CF10 2TH
seems very like the base address for MSG marketing! so typed it into google and what do i find?  marketing companies, many of which are labelled on these posts attatched to this same address!!
Would one of these so called HARD WORKERS WHO LOVE THEIR JOB ON COMMISION that are so much better than every1 else care to explain this???

you obviously didnt ask or didnt listen when you went for a interview
i got a question

how long did you last

and by way is it not a good thing you get taken out to see what you would be doing
your not tied to stay there if you didnt like the look of it at first why did you stay

Just my 2 cents on all this!

Little disclaimer: I am no longer working for this company, but I worked for one of these companies for over a year. I have no ties whatsoever with them anymore however.

Yes, quite simply it is direct sales, usually on a door to door basis but sometimes it's an event based team or business to business team. It is commission only. It is long hours. If these things scare you off then just stop reading and don't go, it's not for everyone.

It's also hard work, and takes a lot of willpower and determination. If you're the sort of person who slacks off in a storeroom for an hour each day, or spends more time on facebook than on your work in the office, then it's probably not for you either. I'm sorry to be blunt, but it takes a level of work ethic to succeed in these companies that most people don't have, and if you're sat there reading this and feeling even slightly like that's you, then no wonder you're blowing up a huge complaint about commission: you're lazy and afraid of hard work.

Now that i've hopefully insulted or scared off all the people who wouldn't make it anyway, here's how the business works. It's a multi-level marketting scheme, in which your progress and pay is directly related to how hard you work: the harder you work, the better things are for you.

- Everyone starts off at the ground level, doing door to door. Once you've shown you can do a basic number of sales, and you've learnt the basics, you'll get moved up to team leader.
- Once you're a team leader, you'll still do sales but also do team management, interviewing, teaching, training, public speaking, running business trips, conference calls, market research, run small meetings and help organise and run the office as a team. The idea here is to show that you can begin to run your own office. You'll take people out on day's of observation, and if they like what they see and aren't afraid of hard work either, they'll be placed under your supervision and training. You goal is to try and learn to replace yourself, building up a team or "crew". Once your crew consists of 4 team leaders below you, with at least one of them having a team leader below them (proving that you have replaced yourself because at least one other person can teach, train and interview too), and your crew can hit a target number of sales in a week for two weeks (your "push weeks") running, you'll become an assistant manager, or assistant owner as they'll tell you when you get there.
- It's called assistant owner for a reason, because the whole scheme is to get your own business. Once you can handle all of the paperwork and you get a company name set up (which they pay for, along with paying your first four-six weeks in office with regards to overheads) you then have your -own- one of these companies, calling people up and trying to get them in for interviews, and having them write stuff like this forum about your company on the web. From this, whatever company you represent and sell for pays the manager who trained and promoted you 4% of what you make (NOT taken from what you make, it's extra, so if you make £100, you get paid £100, and your manager gets paid £4)

Reasons you may get a bad impression:
- Most managers are aware of this stuff, and don't want to say things to scare you off or make you write bad reviews.
- All managers are advised to live their first year in management like they're still in the field - paying themselves next to no money in comparison to what they make so that they can save up money to fall back on should things go wrong with their company, as afterall it is THEIR company.
- All managers were once sales reps. This is why they can come across pushy.

How the pay works:
The product I was selling used to pay me between £20 and £40 per application, depending on my cancellation rate and the package I sold the customer. The one most people sold got them paid about £25 per application however, unless you were good at selling the higher end product. My target was 4 sales a day, so £100 a day. I did learn to hit this target almost everyday towards the last few months of my year, before which I was usually on 2-3 sales a day, 1 on a (rare) bad day.

Whenever I made £25, my manager made £15, so if I made £100, he made £60. But there was 20 of us in the office, and if we'd all been hitting the target of 4 a day he would have been making £1200 a day, £7200 a week.  Obviously not everyone was hitting that target, as an office we were doing about 20-25 applications a day. This is still between £300 and £375 a day he was making, so between £1800 and £2250 a week. He didn't just get given this on a plate though, it took him 12 months to work up to a manager position and then about 6 months to get steady as a manager. I joined when the office was only 6 people strong, and we were all closing 2-3 applications a day.

As i said, I no longer work for this company. If you want to know why, I built a crew and went on my push weeks, but one of my team was a manipulator and convinced a bunch of people to spend the last day of the first week in the pub, so that we would fail the weeks and go back home (we were off on a roadtrip in wales). I then got rid of everyone on my team who had done this, leaving me with two people on my crew. We all then got moved onto a new campaign, under a different manager who had completed the program in my office and was just starting up. I couldn't stand working for him, and I didn't like the new product I was selling as we were being actively encouraged to lie about who we were on this product, whereas my previous one I could be completely honest about what I was selling because I knew it was good.

Anyway. All this aside the business is not a scam, unless you count "scam" as "having to actually work for your money." Despite not working for them anymore, I still believe the business has plenty of good points and has taught me things about myself that will benefit me for the rest of my life: I'm more confident, I'm upbeat about things (seriously, why get bummed out about things, it doesn't help anybody), I don't let things I can't control bother me and I have a more direct approach to problem solving and getting the job done, leading me to be much more successful in the things I do now. I also have much easier interviews because being able to say that I managed to make a decent living from 16 months of commission only work, 70 hours a week, shows ANY employer that I'm not just going to sit on facebook all day ;) The business will change your life, and only for the better as long as you're prepared to put your back into it, and work hard at something you want. I'll point out that as much as it seems like it, not everyone gets offered the job unless the manager is a desperate one. With a little research you can pick the company you'd be selling for, and the office location, these places are EVERYWHERE.

So long story short: if you want a shot at making lots of money in the long run, and aren't afraid to work hard for 6 months to a year, this is the career for you. If it's not though, it's no skin off my nose or theirs, they'll happily keep making their money with or without you.

Thank you soo much for this message i just got a interview saying the exact same thing. Funnily enough when she phoned me i got a miss call. so i called back then she said (the so called admin lady "helen") "congratulation you have got a interview tomorw" wait a minute let me put you on hold she did this a couple of times. the unprofessional attitude got me thinking seriously. A reply back in 2 days!! carnt be true. anyway after hearing this i will difinetly not be attending the interview I may need a job but, but being this desperate im not thank you and all the best.

praetorian marketing is another company in coventry, actually I guess it is the same company, they just keep changing their names. AVOID AVOID AVOID unless u dont mind cold callin door to door.

If you still work there, can you tell me why people have been sacked from talk talk and are using other people's Id badges to do sales? Surely if this in a professional organization this shouldn't happen. Don't even write back saying it isn't happening because it is! I can start to post a few names as to who was doing it as well if you'd like me to ;-) The whole thing is a load of bollox. The people within this organization know this as well but are forced to continue working there due to the high rate of unemployment. All MSG is doing is preying on the public because they know people need the work. This is to line the managers pockets. They don't give a [***] about anyone within their office's!

i had an interview there today, sounded amazing told me id start at entry level and in 10 months be a top manager jetting off to the offices in spain italy portugal etc! then i realised, i dont actually recall applying for this job! and it all sounded too good to be true, but none of my questions were answered and i left not knowing what the wage was and what the job was, been invited for  hour obserevation day tomorrow and after reading all these think il not go, [***] them wasting out time, people should really be made aware of this fsfs everyone watch this http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015r35d/Panorama_All_Work_and_Low_Pay/

I just had a very similar experience with SOURCE MARKETING DIRECT this week. Got a call from them saying they were impressed with my CV and would like me in for a first interview on Thursday and got told to bring a copy of my CV by a woman called Courtney Sagar. So with all my naivity I went to the interview, was made to wait 1 hr before she could actually see me. From the time the interview started it was clear that she never read my cv as she had a quick scan of it as she was interviewing me, wrote down stuff on the back on my CV and asked me nothing about my CV at all. Instead she just read off a power point presentation about how awesome the company is and how quickly people get promoted from within the company to a managerial role. They were not looking for people with sales experience but leadership roles. Before I even had the chance to ask them what my role would be in the job she finished her power point presentation, ushered me out and told me I would get a call back later that afternoon for a second interview if it was successful. So within half an hr of finishing this interview i got a call back for a second interview and was told to bring a notepad a pen and comfortable shoes cos i would be on my feet for much of the day. I dont mind that at all i had the idea that we would be going around to different companies pitching whatever product we were selling and that isnt a problem for me at all (I am a confident speaker) and i always welcome business meetings.

So I went in the following day for my second interview, was told to get there at 9am, and once I was there my alarm bells started to go off. There were two guys there who I saw the previous day who had also made it for the second interview. We were made to sign a document which said we wont be paid for the day and we cant claim any benefit or hold the company liable for anything. We were all sat around the reception doing nothing till 10:30am when one of the guys came and got us and introduced us to the Assistant Managers we were gonna shadow for the day. The assistant manager I was made to shadow was a former lorry driver who had been working in the company for two years and is now in stage 4 of the promotional process (stage 5 being the highest promotion possible). As he was telling me about his "career" it was clear he was a brainwashed drone. Somehow he thought it was a good thing that he has no time for friends family or a social life anymore as he works so hard to achieve this promotional stage in 2 years (10 months to stage 5 is how long it usually takes according to them). So the drone myself and 2 other employees headed out to pitch to customers in "the field" which i thought was a list of scheduled appointments with other businesses etc. Turns out we went to a shopping mall set up a stand and basically harassed every person who walked by us grabbing their hand for a handshake, not letting go and trying to persuade them to donate to the British Red Cross for 12 months. I was made to stand about 2-3 meters away from them and observe them harassing shoppers and any passerbys.

During the course of the day I was asked to write down some answers in my notepad to questions the drone asked me, silly things like "15 good qualities of a manager" and "6 reasons why people dont give their card details to us". And then around 1 o clock the drone sat down with me and went through the numbers. Turns out the job is commision based only, we are all made to be self- employed and the comission is based on signing ppl up to donate to British Red Cross for 12 months or longer.

Talking to one of the employees there he told me he was working there for 3 weeks now and the job is brilliant and he was "rolling in the doughs". I asked him about his hours and how many sales he makes and what he told me was actually laughable. Lets break it down shall we.
In week 1 he made 3 sales, week 2 he made 7 sales and in week 3 he is currently on 9 sales. He is working 6 days a week from 9am to 6pm. With £23 commision, this is what you get:
Week 1: 54 hrs and £69 =£1.2/hr
Week 2: 54 hrs and £161 = £2.98/hr
Week 3: 45 hrs so far and £203 = £4.60/hr
This idiot is actually working below minimum wage for 3 weeks, working his ass off for scraps and he thinks its good. And all because of a promotion that he will get in maybe a month or two that will increase his commision by £2 per sale. You only have a chance for promotion if you can make 15 sales a week consistently for a few weeks, i.e. 15 people a week signing up to British Red Cross for a period of 12 months or longer.

I was also told by the drone assistant manager that when the day ends, we will go back to the 2 room office and fill in a questionairre around 6:30pm and if successful (I have a feeling everyone is successful) we can start on Monday after having a final interview to be brainwashed with the promise of a promotion. My stage 4 assistant manager couldn't even tell me how much money stage 5 makes. And then he said the stupidest thing.. he told me from what he has seen so far I will most likely be promoted to stage 5 in 6 months and that is something that concerns the managers. I need to demonstrate my loyalty to the company in the final interview. Funnily enough not once did he say if you make it to the final interview, he was assuming all day I would have the final interview for sure because lets face it everybody does!

After standing around for 2 more hours I figured out that this is truely for people with no brains and who are being scammed out of their lives. So around 3 o clock I said screw it and walked out of there. When i got home I googled some reviews and it turns out there was 100s of scam direct marketing companies like this who troll jobsearch and reed and other job websites and call up recent graduates with a lot of false promises. Funnily enough as I was coming home i got a call from Monster Marketing with the exact same pitch who wants me to come to an interview on Monday! I DIDNT EVEN APPLY TO WORK THERE!!

So finally all I have to say is thanks but no thanks to there direct marketing companies. I do not wish to be told to beep off 9 hours a day so maybe 2 or 3 people will come and be naive enough to give me their bank details. Also if you work for these companies, you are basically working as a self-employed person and when tax time comes you will have to pay tax from whatever commision you make. How people can be so stupid and work for these companies, I really have no idea. But then again, from what I saw from the employees there, they are all a bunch of dumbasses. I did not graduate from university with a degree for such a demeaning job.

I did a bit of research and this company started in the USA in 2001 and was there till 2008, before people realised that this kind of work is a total scam for employees at the bottom. You get no benefits from working there, no sick pay, nothing at all and if you dont make a sale all week (which happens sometimes according to one of the employees) you work 54 hrs a week and make no money at all. Also you are expected to pay for all your travel costs and you have to travel all over London the whole day. The drone said he spends £300 on travel a month. What a [***]!!

u forgot to mention if ur ill u get no pay/benefits, ur self employed so gl with tax.. get some qualifications and a real job u dumbass

I just would like this add; now I am working in finance, my salary is 18k a year and I get paid every hour of every day I work. Now that's working for your money, not standing outside all day treating people like numbers and sales and seeing £ signs above their heads.

When I went to the interview for my current job, I was asked about previous jobs and I mentioned the name Mike Poole, my interviewer laughed out loud very hard and then when I mentioned MP Solutions Direct (the company Mikey Poole directs) he laughed even harder.

Anybody reading, ANY direct sales/marketing company is like this these days. Unless you get a basic salary and commission on top, maybe it's worth it, but don't go to work every day just to be laughed at. Remember, you are worth much more than those brainwashed idiots.

zeus global coventry 02476 220521 is now using the number mp uses smg are using 02476 220522 all same

Worked 1 day at SMG solutions in Coventry and the company is based on [***] and unethical values, a proper sales job is basic wage + performance, you register as self employed so they can work you long hours and treat you like [***], they [***] you at the start by saying that this company will make you a manager in 12 months earning 1000K a week. I was prepared to put up with it and just carry on but what done it for was when my team leader Steve Brown conned a little old lady into the £11 a month games deal for lovefilm. You get moaned at for asking about the exact pay and they will [***] you by saying the average person earns £200 a week but this is 12 hours a day for 6 days a week with no lunch breaks and you even have to pay to go to areas your working and this could be all over the UK.

Went to an interview at SMG Solutions yesterday i had done what anyone would and checked their website. when i arrived i didnt know what to think the website had pictures of a nice skyscraper with huge glass windows etc. i was shocked to find a house with a printed peice of paper in the window. DONT SEND IN YOUR CV it wont be as it seems

My boyfriend got a phone call today about SMG solutions, he applied for this online the night before. Receiving the phone call today, we honestly thought this might be some good news. Then whilst on the phone to this lady called shara, she said come in for a interview tomorrow nand we will discuss your salary rates, and what part of the business he would be working in. After reading these comments, I have gathered its commission based job. They just want people to work for slavery! Load of bollocks.

i am so glad i came across this website especially in regards to SMG Solutions in Coventry.

I had an interview two days ago after seeing the position on a jobsite and applying for it at 2 in the morning. Dont get me wrong it was one of those advertisements where i got fed up and fort f**k it im fed up of not working, but the advert seemed up my street. Newhoo following day i got an email of the receptionist sharna, who asked for me to call bk wen i did so she said she will ring in 20 mins (turned out to be a hour). was so pleased when she offered me the interview as my luck was just turning round.

During my interview I dressed smart as that what sharna stressed down the phone. got into the place it was small and claustrophobic face kissing the desk more or less. as i was waiting their i was thinking i wonder where the offices are, because on the phone sharna said it was a busy office environment, but contradicted the polite talk by saying your welcome to come down and see what we do and the office.

Got to the interview room after goin up some flight of stair which i can only describe as lookin like one of them old time flat stairs but that didnt faise me. . neways they explained how they work with i mean market for  amazon and lovefilms seemed interesting pulling name like dis out the hat.

what set my alarm bells ringing was when interviewer started drawing over my application form, drawing a diagram of the process of the business. i was thinkin in this office your trying to tell me you aint got no spare paper instead of drawing over something you asked me to fill out. all in all the interview was REALLY vague. After the process they said they will be doin observations in the next few days and will i be available. i think the invisible ink of desperation was becoming legible over my forehead at this point..

coming out the interview it dawned on me i still dont know what the job is entirely and the only way i could describe it to myself was a quick management scheme.as they claimed to make you a project manager in the next 18 months.

After talks with my boyfriend who said they aint a serious company especially from the time they are doodling over your application. which I thought true.

Now i meant to of had a second interview with SMG Solutions, but you know when your head is flipping coins to go or not )esp when they are saying start @ 1230 end till 830 i aint lazy im don to long hours did it before working in night clubs n tin BUT what observation day is dat long of duration ???) i never thought of typing into google SMG SOLUTIONS REVIEWS, but im glad i did. the insight of the people who have had dealing with such companies is unbelievable over the last so years this forum has been open.

I am going to say to people who manage to see this page and see this comment, if you feel it aint right dont go for it .. trust your instincts as oftenly they are right. which is what i did.. something smelled fishy.

i did fone up about an hour of the second interview after reading these blogs, and it seemed like i wasnt the only one to say sorry no today.

well i know now definitely not to go to the adverts that state URGENT-NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED and no clear job title ie MARKETING/SALES which one is it make up ya mind.

I wasn't called but actually applied on line to give it a go , having been out of work for 3 months , but everything that everyone is saying above applies to this company as well , they sell you the job like you have to sell the product , I was on a Talk Talk campaign and its complete [***] as you need to make at least 4 sales a day to earn £400 per week and out of that has to come your tax , NI and all travel expenses because you will always find that the areas close to the office have already been 'targeted'.

THIS COMPANY ARE IN SOUTHAMPTON SO PLEASE BEWARE.