Source Marketing Direct
Reviews and Complaints

This is an open letter to Source Marketing Direct.

As I have already indicated on Twitter, I have many questions about Source Marketing Direct.
Let me fill you in with my personal experience with your company, and my understanding of your system.

On the last day of my traineeship with a digital marketing company, I began job searching on Linkedin. I quickly came across AJG Direct's now critically acclaimed ‘Worst Graduate Job- Don't Bother'. A job description, much like many of the ones that both your company and AGJ Direct post regularly, containing little to no actual description of the job being advertised. Although clearly written to prey on gullible students and people with little experience in the working world; I applied anyway, not looking to throw away any potential opportunities.

Within the hour I was called on the phone by one Linzi Crawford. Linzi, an insincere, cold calling machine like woman with a Scottish accent, was quick to tell me that I had successfully applied for a Direct Marketing role with Source Marketing Direct and how darn excited I should be. I was confused by this, and in addition to the other standard phone interview malarkey, I asked her repeatedly to email me this job role with Source Marketing Direct that I had supposedly applied for. She couldn't do this (obviously) and instead decided to direct me to an assortment of Linkedin pages. Source Marketing Direct's page, Hector Montalvo's page, anything to quell my doubts.

This is where I come to my first question. How are Source Marketing Direct and AJG Direct connected? By occupying the same office space and employing individuals from opposing job postings, they are surely operating as the same company. Is Linzi, or whichever secretary is available, given a document with a list of names and phone numbers collected from hundreds of job postings, with a goal to maximize the number of in house interviews?

I attended an interview in your Stamford St office the next day, although calling it an ‘interview' is being generous. I entered from the rain, and the first thing I noticed was the booming music coming from an office room upstairs. See, this is another thing I don't understand. Why would you need to play music so loud upstairs that visitors downstairs can't even hear the music being played on the TV music station? Are your ‘Atmosphere' meetings really that loud? After having made my presence known to Linzi, she handed me a form on a clipboard. While filling out this form I noticed the sheer number of bodies in the room. A whole lecture hall's worth of students. I also noticed the rack of ‘business magazines' with Hector Montalvo's face on them, no doubt self funded or self published in a similar vein to your endless online articles on websites like Journalism.com, praising them as the next great thing in business. These magazines are clearly put there as an attempt to impress visitors, to give them a fleeting view into the life of this God like man that Source Marketing Direct's employees worship so fervently.

The actual interview was pretty standard as far as interviews with these companies go. The person I was being interviewed by admitted it wasn't a ‘marketing' role per se, and then began faking an interest in everything I said and pretended to be incredibly impressed by all of the answers I give to his questions. Essentially finding any excuse to give me a chance at the job. I was told right then and there that I was successful (of course I was, I had a pulse and didn't ask any big questions) and I was invited to shadow an employee on the following day.

I arrived at your office the next day and waited an hour to be assigned to a team. I was eventually assigned to a man named Mark's team, although I spent a majority of the day with Michael Kalu who was presumably looking for people to recruit as he was moving into a management role. I was told we were going to an ‘event' and we headed off. On the train ride there (that I paid for) Michael relayed as much information as he could on; the Superiority of Source Marketing Direct over other Direct Marketing agencies (mainly that they were no-win, no-fee, a roundabout way of saying that the job was commission only), street selling (Traffic Light Theory, 5 Stages of a conversation, law of averages), why SMD was looking for new recruits (I was told that new positions were opening up which is partly true, but turnover in Direct Marketing companies is always high and they're always growing so constant hiring is necessary), and my career trajectory with SMD (1. Entry Level, 2. Leadership, 3. Crew Management, 4. Assistant Manager, 5. International Management).

We then arrived at the ‘event'; a fold out table in a high street with a St John Ambulance banner strewn across it. Michael then brought me a coffee, which was very kind of him because that must have cost half of the money he'd earned that day, and I would spend the next 7 hours being ordered to write endless lists on marketing and the qualities of a leader as Mark's team failed to make any sales across the street. These lists include but are not limited to:

10 Direct and Indirect Marketing forms
10 Pros and cons of Direct Marketing
10 Pros and cons of Indirect Marketing
30 Characteristics of people that inspire me
20 Characteristics of a leader
5 Characteristics of successful people that I have
5 Characteristics of leaders that I have
5 of my strengths in detail
5 of my weaknesses in detail
What makes me the best candidate for the role and separates me from everyone else. What value can I add to industry?
Short, mid, long term goals (in job or not)

None of this was to test my knowledge, but instead to gather information on how well I could follow orders and repeat mind numbing tasks over and over again without question.

By the time the team left and started to head back to the office it was 8PM. I was exhausted and bored out of my mind. I was tired of Michael's constant bragging of being the ‘Best salesman in London', and his promises of me soon earning over a grand every week were clearly complete [censored]. Aside from Michael and Mark himself, Mark's team was a complete wreck. Their newest recruit, a young girl in her early 20's, had been dead silent all day and hadn't made a single sale. She looked absolutely terrified. The final member of the group, a guy in his thirties, was held up as we entered the station. He hadn't had enough money to pay for the train back and was in tears. Michael topped off his oyster card for him and promised him that things would get better. That this would all be worth it one day. This man also remained dead silent on the journey back, clearly regretting his decisions.

Upon returning to the office the team rushed to that day's sales celebration. Michael handed me an assessment sheet with questions pertaining to information he'd been sputtering at me all day. I just copied my notes, nobody was there to notice. Eventually Michael took me outside and told me he was about to see Hector. He told me to sell myself. He asked me why I should be hired, why I was special. I replied with some nonsense about the 4 F's. Michael acted unsure about my answer but promised to put in a good word for me. To this day I do not know quite which word it was, but it must have been a very special word because when I was sitting across him in his office, Hector was falling over himself to give me a job. I was chuffed. Chuffed to bits I dare say. Of course I was until I got home the next day and did a little more research. I called Michael to ask him why he said nothing about the job being only commission. About it being classified as self employment so the company can avoid paying minimum wage. He gave me a scripted answer and said ‘all companies have online reviews like that'. I wish him and his family well.

In conclusion, I recommend avoiding Source Marketing Direct, AJG Direct and any other Direct Marketing Agencies when job searching. I also recommend reading the Devilcorp blog for more information on such companies: https://thedevilcorp.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/the-devilcorp-smart-circle-the-smart-circle-smart-circle-international-cydcor-innovage-ds-max-the-landers-group-the-cobra-group-perdm-and-appco-group-are-all-the-same-company/
As well as watching this insightful documentary that goes further into the details of the misleading practices of these types of companies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCRzBt7GuY&t=1856s&list=PL_wMLlBN6f8VFCsFxIJ7n6xYwUd4ZQAyJ&index=8.

If you're reading this after having been invited to an interview, then I'm sorry your time has been wasted by this company. Good luck in your continued job search. I Look forward to reading Source Marketing Direct's scripted reply in which they; write off my personal experience, deny having any record of my interview and trial day (as if that matters in the slightest), attempt to change the subject, attempt to justify their practices as 100% super absolutely legal and not a pyramid scheme (which doesn't justify their misleading of recruits and manipulation of employees), praise themselves for earning money for charity, and tell me how I'm a loser that just isn't up for the challenge of making them money.

Unlike many people here, I didn't even go to the interview stage.
It did seem far too good to be true, but since it was advertised so well and was on the Jobsite page, I was naturally reassured this wouldn't be dodgy.
Kaya was the person in charge of the recruitment process and it all seemed well. I was just planning to respond to her email but having read all of the complaints, I want nothing to do with SMD anymore.
I thought it would be a genuine alternative to uni, but clearly not.
Their flashy website was tempting - but then again, anyone can pay for something like that.

Thank you all.

http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/event-sales-assistant-london-waterloo/22635958#/jobs?keywords=source%20marketing%20direct

This link above is supposedly the job that was advertised by what i thought was a reliable site like Reeds. Hearing the words events, plus an actual stated salary I thought I was replying to an amazing opportunity. I replied late into the afternoon, and by the next day a lady called Courtney called me to set up an immediate interview, also stating there has been an immense interest in this job so I had to act fast. By Monday morning I headed to there office, all the while thinking this office was set in the backstreets of Southwark, but when I got to the office I was informed this was due to Hector living locally and wanting to be there for his children, and not miss things due to work commitments. When I entered the office I was made to fill out another form and wait to be seen by the owner of the company Hector Montalvo. Let me tell you, this guy has all the right things to say! He showed me a quick presentation about what they do, throwing in a few big names along the way. Then he made notes on my CV and before I knew it I was out of the office waiting for a phone call at 4. I received the call and was asked to go back the next day to observe. I thought after years of trying and studying I had finally been given a break. I overshadowed for the whole day, all the while being spoon fed all this crap about all the opportunities I would have come my way. What can I say I fell for it all and by the end of the week had all my in house training and was ready to start work. I was told I would have to go on what is known as a "road trip" only finding out after these are optional. I paid for my travel, accommodation and food while there. All the while the others I were with, all seemed like this was normal. All in all I paid 240 pounds for 5 days, to then be told I was to only receive a wage of 55pounds as that was the total of my sales. Also if the customer is in fact to cancel I would not receive anything, after putting in 12 hour shifts for 5 days! This however was explained differently to me on my observation day and I was given a rough estimation of what I can potentially be on. So after a disastrous week, I left the company only to find this site and read all this. I feel sorry for the employees there, they have been brainwashed and promised management at the end of the year, which isn't actually certain. When I inquired bout things I was brushed off and told I did not work to my full potential and I let other commitments get in the way. But isn't that why Hector has his company where it is? To not let work over run his life? So working 12 hour shifts plus paying out for my expenses is not me working to my full potential? All the staff there are young and fed all this crap bout incentives and have these weekly meetings that are meant to drive your ambition. I would receive texts and read passages from others to apparently "drive" me to achieve. I have since left, also leaving my part time job for this job, now out of pocket and in debt. I have had to sign on to job seekers allowance all because I fell for their industries biggest lie "feel good factors". Avoid this place at all costs!

I had originally applied for various jobs via reed.co.uk, I had applied for this particular one and send off my cv via reed. The following morning I received a phone call from Courtney Sagar who is thr receptionist with a South African accent. She asked me if I was available for an interview the following day at 5pm. Which I agreed on. On arrival at this shady office in a small alley way near southwark station, I was greeted by Courtney at the reception desk asking me to complete a form about myself and my experiences etc. looking around me, there are about 10 others waiting for an interview. After speaking to to a few of them, I found out they had all been booked in for 5pm. (Strange, as usually interviews are allocated at different times). Speaking to one of thr girls, she had told me last year she escorted her friend to an interview with source marketing direct but in a London bridge based office. So in my interview with a bloke by the name of James, I asked him if the company also had an office in London bridge. He nodded his head as if to come across clueless. During the end of interview 1 he said he would like me to come back for a second interview tomorrow and there will also be some training involved with a sales rep. I asked him what he liked about me and his response was I had a great aura about myself and that looking at my cv I was in this top one or two candidates. Once the interview was over, I spoke to a girl who had her interview just before mine and told her what James had said about being in his top one or two. She replied and said he said the same thing to me, which was quite bizarre.
Anyway, the following day I was introduced to a bloke by the name of Harris who is supposedly the top salesman in the company. We visited an event whereby I watched him and a recent recruit selling charity fundraising to the general public. I thought ok, top salesman and yet he has only made one sale all afternoon. He could certainly talk to the talk when it came to telling me about how much of a big shot he is, how he was too good for his previous roles etc. but when push came to shove he generated one sake all afternoon. I reckon I could have done more. I mean he went off for half an hr having breakfast when we got to the place. Setting me three tasks to complete to keep me occupied all afternoon so I couldn't hear his awful selling techniques. At 2pm he read my tasks I had completed and made a phone call to his superior to made a recommendation about myself. Which he did in two mins and returned. I was told to go back got the southwark based office for final round interviews with the head of the company Hector. Filled in another form, and there are another new set of young candidates waiting to be interviewed which was quite strange as both days, morning, afternoon and evening there seemed to have been numerous individuals waiting for their first round interviews.

20mins later hector calls me into the office for my final interview. Raving on about the company and James caan etc. 10 mins later he says to me that after my recommendation by Harris he would like to offer me the post. Very simple. I ask him what happens next, he says text Harris and he will inform u about the next steps. I txt Harris thanking him for his recommendation. He calls me back at 8pm telling me to come to work tomorrow at 8am and to bring my ID, NI number and proof of address. I asked him what about my p45 and bank details. He said no, which I again thought was bizarre. I then get a txt from my gf saying she has been doing research on the company and this is where I found this forum.

The company are scammers, they use graduates or whoever they can find their dirty little hands on, make them work like slaves with no basic salary. 100% commission based earnings. £20 per sale. Based on today's experience with Harris it is difficult make a single sale, let alone more. This would leave me with £20 in my back pocket ... Times that by 7 because ppl here actually work 7 days a week. Which would generate £140 per week for over 40 hours of work. Worth it? I'll let u make ur mind up. My advice.. Stay WELL clear!