CAREERS
Lightbulb Moments: How Virtual Training Boosted Wendy’s Sales Skills
If you chat with Wendy Fadala about her hobbies outside of work, it won’t take you long to realize she’s an adventurous person.
Her favorite hobbies include scuba diving and swimming with turtles. She joined her husband, a newly-licensed private pilot, in their 1970’s Cessna on his first “real” flight this year. And she loves to take her fat-tire e-bike off-roading on the dirt paths and hills near her home in Arizona.
Of course, one adventure Wendy was not prepared for was a pandemic that drove people inside and employees to remote working.
When she joined Cox Business in March, COVID-19 had turned the world upside down. Wendy, who found her way to Cox when a Cox Recruiter reached out to her directly via LinkedIn to tell her about a new opening, turned right along with it.
Shortly after starting with Cox Business, she was enrolled in Cox Business University (CBU) Program – a comprehensive internal training program designed to help Cox sales employees deepen their expertise. In fact, Wendy took part in one of the first CBU programs that was fully virtual.
“The training was to not only give us a foundation of knowledge on the services that Cox offers, but to improve our sales skills so that we can effectively show the benefits of our solutions aligned with the customers’ needs,” Wendy said.
The six-month program included in-depth training on sales tactics as well as Cox products, from voice and TV services to Cox’s Managed Cloud Solutions.
“I can say that I had a number of lightbulb moments,” Wendy said. “Even being in the industry for a number of years, I learned things that I should have been taught in prior roles.”
CBU has instilled greater confidence in Wendy in her role as the single Enterprise Account Manager in Tucson, where she works with some of the largest customers in her market in areas like healthcare, finance, utilities and social services. The training she received early on in her Cox career journey have emboldened her as she connects with customers, processes their requests, discusses their existing services and introducing them to new offerings.
An unexpected benefit of the CBU program was the relationships it generated.
“Our cohort group of 14 contained a wide range of Cox employees, such as inside reps, outside reps, people with no sales background and experienced salespeople moving from one Cox company to another,” Wendy said before adding that she and her cohort group continue to support each other over Microsoft Teams.
Whatever her next sales adventure at Cox may be, Wendy looks forward to being part of the company’s distinct culture and professional development opportunities.
“I absolutely love the Cox culture,” Wendy said. “I have been amazed since the beginning. The amount of time invested in training is incredible. From my small team to leadership, it feels like Cox cares about each and every employee.”
Interested in exploring a sales career at Cox Business? We’re hiring! Explore here: Sales Jobs at Cox Business