Luke Wagner is a Media Consultant at Cox Communications. He’s also a beekeeper, athlete, outdoorsman and graduate of Cox Media’s sales associate training program. Read about his journey below.
Freedom and flexibility
Luke Wagner is a modern-day renaissance man.
He’s a beekeeper who manages 30 hives. He’s an avid soccer player, playing four days a week. He’s an outdoorsman who loves fishing and hunting. And he’s a sales and marketing expert at Cox Media (a division of Cox Communications), helping local businesses find brand success through television and digital advertising.
Luke, who lives in Baton Rouge, finds that the flexibility of his “day job” allows him ample time to explore his many interests outside of work – be it harvesting honey, playing sports or taking fishing trips to Alaska.
“I love the freedom of working here,” said Luke, a media consultant who has been a Cox employee for three years. “If I’m doing the right things and hitting my goals, I don’t have a set clock-in and clock-out time. The PTO policy and pay scale are amazing, and I have a really great team behind me. From my very first day at Cox, everyone was so nice and treated me like a member of the family.”
Learning the ropes
When Luke graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in marketing, he knew a bit about sales; he had worked part-time in college, selling health and life insurance. But he wanted his full-time career to be something more fun; optimally, something that combined his passion for marketing and sales.
“I knew a good bit about television marketing – I interned at a local broadcast station one summer – and I knew that’s the area I wanted to be in,” Luke explained. “I knew that Cox had plenty of avenues to explore that.”
To help Luke learn the ins and outs of working in sales, Cox offered Luke a position in the Cox Media sales associate training program. This program is designed to help new sales employees become better acquainted with sales best practices and progress their careers.
“The sales associate program really helped me get off the ground,” Luke said. “They teach you, instead of throwing you to the wolves. You learn how to sell, how to be a better salesperson. If it wasn’t for starting off with the sales associate training program, I wouldn’t be the successful media consultant I am today.”
Luke fondly remembers his very first client at Cox Media.
“It was a local garden center,” he said. “We helped them launch a Christmas tree campaign in November and December, and they ended up actually selling out of inventory and having to order more, which had never happened before. That was a really fun day.”
Now, Luke oversees 20 clients each month, managing their requests and concerns and ensuring that they are getting the most value for their money – clients like a local restaurant owner, who was struggling to attract customers, and was uncertain about the future of his beloved business.
“He was going through a really hard time a couple of years ago trying to get his name out there,” Luke said. “We started at a low budget, but I stretched it as far as I could and now, he’s thriving.”
Forging connections
As a salesperson, Luke is keenly aware of the importance of relationships.
“I love being able to start conversations with strangers,” Luke said. “That’s a lot of fun in the sales world – striking up a conversation and talking to someone as if we’ve been friends for years.”
Luke strengthens relationships with his clients by listening to their needs, providing bespoke solutions and delivering excellent sales results. He’s even been known to sweeten the deal by sharing honey and beeswax soap from his own hives.
Luck recognizes that it’s vital to have strong interactions with teammates, too.
“Your workplace relationships are a big part of your job,” he said. “Find a good group of people that makes you happy. I definitely have that at Cox.”
