For the few not the many. Do not leave a steady job for here!
Pros
Hmmm - A nice large new office for our shrinking unhappy workforce, good breakfast cereal and milk collection Some pleasant hard working people across different teams/functions Most staff do buy into the vision of building a hotel chain from scratch in the UK hence joining, Basic pay is okay and tech is not terrible. L&D/Training are doing their best under difficult circumstances.
Cons
Ok where to start: Over hiring - 300+ BDM's hired across the UK in just over a year- a tiny fraction are closing business. Many reps are on probation which will be extended or terminated in the coming months. 90 percent of BDM's not selling. Insane KPI structure for 2020. Many sane capable people will leave. Sales Tactics - Hotels down South are getting terrorised by OYO, owners are really getting pissed off with being doorstepped by BDs who are not equipped with collateral and stats to showcase OYO effectively. BDs are increasingly getting thrown out of properties who have said no to multiple reps over a short time period. Its horrible for the hotelier and horrible for the BDs.. Customer Focus - Building an empire in the UK without a genuine customer focus and empathy will not work. Too many hidden fees and moving parts at the moment. Churn becoming a problem, not good after 14months. Lots of properties not going live. Sales Strategy - Based on a combination of harassment and hope. OYO are Selling a complex 7-10 year franchise agreement in the style of an agressive fruit and veg salesman doorstepping restaurants. . Mid Mgmt - In over their heads. Promoting activity for activities sakes. Everyone out of the office lets do more doorstepping with nothing new to share with hoteliers who said an emphatic no only last week with no good collateral, no case studies. They will be HR managers for the next 2mths managing out the many non performers on their teams. Snr Leadership - They have a massive task to turn OYO around in the timeframes the investors have set and have not been very visible since i started. New deal structure - At first glance is far less attractive for hotels in the OYO sweetspot (less than 50 rooms, 3* and below, independent). It will be a huge challenge to switch to a revenue mgmt/tech partnership due to a lack of case studies and data to prove OYO revenue mgmt actually works. You do not see successful tech companies asking their clients to display their brand externally or asking for a % of their annual revenue for mediocre tech. Good luck to the very few who close business regularly in this place and even get near targets - i bow down to their resilience, patience and perseverance.
