Terrible New Leadership: The new leadership team brought in will run this company to the ground. They do not understand the complexities of the software, therefore didn’t realize the value of customer success. No one from current leadership came from an organization where customer success was a deep part of the strategy.
Customer Success: At Sprinklr, Customer Success truly are the ones who maintain the day-to-day relationships with customers. They understand pain points the customers face in their business and with Sprinklr. They are the ones who identify opportunities from the start, as well as risks through daily analysis, early warning signals, and more. Unfortunately, Customer Success was the biggest function impacted during a recent 15% (over 500 employees) layoff. It’s baffling that just weeks after this mass reduction, there was a surge of job openings for new Customer Success Managers. This raises serious concerns about the company’s understanding of the value these roles bring—and was incredibly hurtful to those impacted, knowing Sprinklr was replacing experienced professionals with less seasoned candidates.
Routine Layoffs: Layoffs happened routinely at Sprinklr—around 2-3 times per year. Everyone was in a constant state of stress and worry, not knowing if they would be next. While historically, leaders had more say in who they kept, in recent times, it was reported that a third-party made the selections. This led to many people with similar tenure and pay being impacted, while others were not. The process was confusing and unjust. Additionally, many pregnant women and people on medical leave were impacted.
Account Pod Structure: The new COO implemented the "Pod Structure," where each CSM was aligned with one AE. The challenge here is that they were not equal, leading to situations where a CSM had 3-4 AEs. Within most "account pods," sales did not join weekly team meetings or, if they did, didn’t approach them with a customer-centric mindset. It was incredibly misguided for leadership to believe that Sales could handle the day-to-day care of customers. Sales rarely joined customer calls either.
Unhappy Customers: Customers were no longer as satisfied with Sprinklr as they had been in years past. To be successful on the platform, there was a massive investment required in additional professional services, premium support, and more. After leaving, I had several former clients reach out to share their frustrations, including an inability to get responses to emails from Sprinklr. Churn became a constant battle, and the reasons why were glaringly obvious. Unfortunately, leadership wasn’t listening, instead spending time on unclear and misguided initiatives, like "Operation Bear Hug."
Growth Opportunities: Growth opportunities were virtually nonexistent at Sprinklr for the most part. The most deserving employees over the years were consistently passed up for well-earned opportunities. In fact, someone recently promoted into an enterprise role had zero experience in that area, having come from the advertising side of the business.
Lack of Work/Life Balance: The majority of employees over the past 2-3 years were unhappy—overworked with no clear strategy or vision. This lack of clarity only added to the stress, especially with initiatives like "Operation Bear Hug" that left everyone scratching their heads.
Treatment of Employees in India: The pressure on colleagues in India was overwhelming and unmanageable. They were expected to be available at any time, even into the early morning, with little to no recognition. Special mention to the Product Managers, who truly deserve the utmost respect for their hard work.
Lack of Diversity: There were already very few women leaders of color, and with the recent layoffs, many were impacted across Success, Value Teams, Professional Services, Solutions, and more. Now, only a handful of women leaders of color remain, and they’ve been left to carry the burden of representing "anything women-related," even though they are all that's left.
Toxic Leadership Culture: Historically, Sprinklr prided itself on the saying, "People never forget the way you make them feel." Unfortunately, this has not been the case under recent leadership. It has been traumatizing to witness how Sprinklr has treated some of its employees. Examples include the sudden layoff of a tenured leader to downsize layers out of the blue, employees being demoted or asked to shift roles due to a sudden shift in vision from an ELT member, and many more. The lack of transparency and consideration in these decisions is mindblowing and can turn any employee from an advocate to detractor.