How Jordan Knope solves sales and marketing puzzles
For Jordan Knope – an advertising account executive early in his career at Cox – putting the pieces together for clients is all in a day’s work. Keep reading to learn how.
First job, first pandemic
It’s natural to be a bit nervous about your first job after college. And starting your career during a pandemic adds another layer of apprehension to the process.
Jordan Knope experienced this firsthand.
He started working at Cox Media – a Cox Communications company – in the summer of 2020. This is his first full-time job since receiving his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Arizona.
“It’s been a little bit weird because I’ve only set foot in the office twice now,” said Jordan, who lives and works in his hometown of Tucson, AZ. “It’s been a double learning curve.”
But Jordan has navigated the learning curve well, receiving a promotion from sales associate to advertising account executive within six months of his employment at Cox.
“The opportunities to grow and advance have been really solid,” said Jordan. “I’ve received a lot of training around perfecting my sales process. I had some familiarity with B2B sales before this, but actually implementing it and seeing it in the real world as opposed to the classroom has been great.”
Jordan has also been surprised by the amount of flexibility his sales job provides.
“One thing that I really like about this role, especially in the past eight months, is that I really do set my own schedule,” Jordan said. “My manager and my team are there to set expectations, but I don’t ever feel like I have to be at a certain place at a certain time. I feel like there’s a lot of flexibility and that’s been nice to have this year.”
The marketing puzzle
Jordan is passionate about piecing together solutions to support clients. His job is all about building bespoke advertising campaigns for regional businesses. This kind of problem-solving is appealing to Jordan, who likened his work environment to the agile, fun environment of an agency.
“To me, marketing is a big puzzle,” he said. “There’s sales and there’s psychology and there’s technology and it all wraps together into accomplishing a specific goal.”
One of his favorite puzzles to solve came in the form of a local motorcycle gear shop. Jordan himself is an avid motorcyclist and recognized an opportunity to help this business. He recommended a geofencing marketing strategy to identify devices in the area. Essentially, every time a customer would walk into a local motorcycle dealership, they would be pinged with an ad for the gear shop.
This kind of real-world experience has been rewarding for Jordan, whose love for marketing shines in his creative solutions for clients.
“I really like working in media,” Jordan said. “That’s where my passion lies.”
Driven to win…and to work together
Like any good salesperson, Jordan has a competitive streak.
“I really like to win,” he said. “I like to be the best at my job. Anywhere I go, that’s the goal.”
And while Cox’s culture is sales-friendly, it’s anything but cutthroat. Rather, it’s collaborative. Jordan enjoys partnering with colleagues in similar client-facing roles, as well as people in creative, production, editing and more.
“The people that I interact with are friendly,” Jordan said. “Even the people who have very busy schedules and have a lot of clients are always willing to answer questions and help me out with things.”
Interested in exploring a sales career at Cox? We’re hiring! Explore here: Sales Jobs at Cox Media
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
Standing Side By Side: How Reggie Supports His Team During a Pandemic
Reggie Ellis is a Retail Market Manager at Cox Communications. As he oversees Cox retail stores in Northwest Arkansas, he strives to demonstrate servant leadership during a particularly difficult year.
From an early age, Reggie Ellis was inspired to be a selfless person.
Reggie watched closely as his older brother, a gifted academic and star cross-country athlete, turned down a full-ride scholarship so that he could go straight into the workforce and help care for his siblings.
He observed his mother, a “relentless hard worker” who put the happiness of her children before her own needs.
And now, as a Retail Market Manager at Cox Communications, Reggie says that he tries to demonstrate similar qualities of servant leadership.
“I firmly believe in not asking my team to do something that I wouldn’t do or champion myself,” Reggie said. “Even through our current pandemic, I’m side by side with the team. I want them to understand as much as they think they work for me, I genuinely work for them.”
Reggie is accountable for the overall performance of all Cox retail stores within the Northwest Arkansas market. An employee of Cox for 12 years, Reggie has held a variety of roles: tech support agent, customer satisfaction analyst, direct sales supervisor and more.
“There so many opportunities here; truly the career opportunities are endless.” he said.
Of course, nothing in Reggie’s previous roles prepared him for how to respond to a pandemic! So how does he oversee safety for the stores in his purview? Reggie said that health screening measures are in place for his stores, which include a temperature check for team members before they enter, a mask mandate, gloves for employees, plastic shields at registers and social distancing requirements. Additionally, extensive cleaning happens throughout the day, especially in high-touch zones.
“This gives us peace of mind and makes it easier for us to focus on taking care of customers and communities,” Reggie said. “Speaking for me, there wasn’t a point I felt that the company or our leaders made any decision without the health and wellbeing of team members in mind.”
In this new normal, Reggie has found a rhythm.
“I usually start the day in one of my stores before the store opens and before the team arrives,” he said. “I typically learn a lot from an engagement standpoint; I gain early feedback from team members and support the store manager by sharing any company initiatives. I observe our customers, the reasons for their visit, and glean anything I can learn to help us adjust to better deliver on their experience.”
Ever the team player, there are days when Reggie seamlessly becomes part of the team: working as a door greeter, or breaking down boxes and taking them out the back door.
“It means the world to me to set the right examples not only around values, but how to give voice to those values and always do the right thing.”
Reggie has myriad of activities outside of work. A former professional basketball player in Australia, he stays active by biking the beautiful trails in his community. He’s a husband and father and loves traveling with his family. He’s pursuing his master’s degree in business and is even working on a mini-album to highlight his musical talents. It’s a busy lifestyle that matches his mantra: “Be bold and be fearless – in thought, but also in your actions.”
Want to read more stories like this or discover a day in the life at Cox? Check out our employee blog or search for open roles to learn more.
Fatherhood Changed My Life
How fatherly lessons changed Stephen Spinner’s outlook on life and how to make the best of any situation by boasting positivity, motivation, and selflessness.
When your kids are born, you have unconditional love for them because they belong to you. But for Stephen Spinner, parenthood was a little different. He met Jose when he was 4-years-old after learning that Jose’s mother could no longer support him.
Stephen stepped into fatherhood as a single parent to now, nine-year-old Jose. Stephen’s newly minted relationship with Jose helped strengthen his own relationship with his father, Charles. After a few short weeks of parenting turned into a few months, Jose lived with Stephen for a year. During this time Stephen taught Jose how to be respectful, how to enjoy the treasures of life, including vacationing to New Jersey, sight-seeing and visiting family. Jose also, like any kid, enjoyed video games and took on Karate as an afterschool activity. Stephen admits that during this time he developed a great relationship with his father which made him extremely happy.
“The opportunity to help someone else gave me the greatest experiences of my life,” Stephen shared.
After four years passed, Stephen lost his father Charles and Jose also left to reconcile with his mother. While these times brought a lot of grief, it did not stop Stephen from remaining positive and motivated to keep making a difference.
“There are so many people less fortunate than I am, in more challenging circumstances, and with bigger struggles to overcome. I don’t have a good enough reason to be a negative person,” said Stephen.
That’s when Stephen joined Cox Communications, starting out in the call center working on the retention team or “Saving Our Customers” team as he describes. However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that Sales is where he wanted to grow. Stephen is a part of the Multiple Dwelling Units Direct Sales team in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been working with Cox for two and a half years now.
“I’ve always been more of a face-to-face person, so when I had the opportunity, I searched for different positions where I’d be able to deal more directly with customers.”
Stephen’s experience at Cox has been quite memorable.
“This is an amazing company to work for because my team is full of motivated and professional people. What makes the biggest difference to me is the leadership within the company. Every leader that I have reported to has been available to listen, help, and support.”
Stephen goes on to share how the company has helped him to grow and appreciates the culture of open communication.
“Knowing that my voice matters to the company I work for is a big deal. We are developing and producing services and technologies that are shaping the future of the industry, and it’s important that Cox is a forward-thinking company. We are always looking for ways to improve our products and make our name the industry standard.”
Stephen’s upbeat personality and outlook on his career also carry over to his personal life. He strongly believes in staying positive and motivated in his health too. He is active in CrossFit, enjoys hiking and cycling, and plays basketball. On top of that, Stephen is very selfless and is always putting others before himself best modeling what Cox Stands for – doing the right thing, always and leading by example.
Thank you, Stephen, for sharing your story! If you want to read more articles like this one, view our open jobs or experience a day in the life at Cox? Venture over to our Careers page to learn more about our Sales jobs at Cox.
How to Maintain Work-Life Balance
For Monique Cobbins there’s a quote by Vince Lombardi that best represents her life, “Winners are willing to go longer, work harder and give more than anyone else.” Since joining Cox Automotive, Monique has experienced incredible balance in giving her best time and attention to her career and family.
By: Monique Cobbins, Inside Regional Sales Manager
My story begins on a car lot in Independence, Missouri working as a Used Car Sales Consultant. My weekdays and weekends were incredibly busy, and I didn’t notice that I had a missed message on LinkedIn from a Cox Automotive recruiter. Once I responded to the recruiter, I received a call immediately and was thrilled to know that he felt I was a good fit for the position and even offered me to interview for a Dual Sales role. On March 2017, I accepted my new role as a Business Development Consultant.
Balancing Family
Prior to joining Cox, I had never heard of the company, and it was important for me to join a company that valued time with family. I’m a single mom to three boys: my 14-year old son Simeon and my 11-year old twin boys Kaeden and Kennedy. Finding time to spend with my boys on the weekends was hard at my prior job and I knew with my boys playing competitive basketball, I wanted to be their biggest cheerleader. I’m grateful that my career here at Cox has allowed me to build memories, and experience life to the fullest!
Balancing Work
Within my first year at Cox Automotive as a Business Development Consultant, I was 2x award winner for “UpSell Member of the Month” and was presented with an opportunity to become a Regional Manager for VinSolutions. As an Inside Regional Sales Manager, my job is to generate revenue within the New England/Northeast territory by offering VinSolutions products to local automotive dealers. I work very closely with my partner Emily Gallagher who travels into the dealership to present a demonstration of our products. Once the best product package has been consolidated, I present the proposal and begin the negotiation. Once accepted we push the information to the product implementation team for installation at the local dealer’s place of business.
Best Moments
Working for Cox Automotive has been life-changing. I work for a company that cares about my quality of life and that’s priceless! As a Cox Automotive team member, I feel secure and confident in my career here. I also get to work with others who share the same work ethic, and passion for the automotive industry that makes for a perfect fit!
The one thing Cox Automotive does better than any company is not making you feel like an ordinary employee! From the onboarding process, I knew that I was joining an organization that cared about career growth and success! At Cox Automotive I believe you will be rewarded for outstanding work ethic versus a “pat on the back” like most large companies.
Thank you, Monique, for sharing your story! If you want to read more articles like this one, view our open jobs or experience a day in the life at Cox? Venture over to our sales page to learn more about life at Cox.
Want to know about the Cox SUMMER SOCIAL?
The 2019 Cox Summer Social was sizzling this year as we got a crash course in esports and welcomed players, the head coach, costumed fans and the general manager from the Atlanta Reign.
Our President and CEO Alex Taylor kicked off the Cox Summer Social with the introduction of our special guests the Overwatch League’s Atlanta Reign team, our company’s most recent investment. He shared how the team came about and admitted that he wasn’t sold initially on the idea of people watching other people play video games. But the more he learned about it, the more convinced he became that esports was on its way to becoming a booming industry. In fact, esports are predicted to have more viewers than every professional sports league but the NFL by 2021 — surpassing the MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS.
An Esports Overview
Soe Gschwind-Penski, a commentator, host and international celebrity in the gaming community, provided a quick overview of esports before hosting a brief discussion with our Chief Financial Officer Dallas Clement and our special guest, the President and CEO of Atlanta Esports Ventures Paul Hamilton. The discussion was about the journey of owning and operating our first esports team and our partnership with Province Inc. to form Atlanta Esports Ventures.
Raving Fans
Our event was decked out with vintage arcade games, while employees enjoyed ice cream on the outdoor lawn and more games under the tent. While others scored some free swag items, souvenirs and peeked inside the Atlanta Reign’s official team van. Fans also got a chance to meet Atlanta Reign players Babybay, Kodak and Gator, head coach Brad Rajani, and take pictures with cosplayers (costumed characters) from the Overwatch game.
- “My favorite part about working at Cox is the incredible events they put on. I think they are such a great way to increase exposure to the company as well as the culture.” Sam Jobson, Cox Communications,
- “During my time here at Cox, I have been lucky enough to encounter some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life.” Shujan Valiani, Cox Communications
- “I like working at Cox because it’s family oriented, and they think of their employees. I tell other people to come and work at Cox because of the culture, we are so tight knit, and we try to make employees feel like family. I think it trickles down, which is so cool.” Mirlene Jean Simon, Manager of Economic & Industry Insights
- “At Cox we are really good at building relationships, the comradery is what makes the company so great.” Karen Bass, Manager of Technology
We couldn’t be more thrilled to kick off the summer in a big way for our employees and learn and celebrate our newest investments together.
If you want to read more articles like this one, view our open jobs or experience a day in the life at Cox? Venture over to our Careers page to learn more.
One Team with One Goal to Escape!
When most people think of the word family, what often comes to mind are blood relatives. However for Cox employees, their team is like family. Hear Evann’s story about about how she enjoys working with her team.
By Evann Lee, Account Manager, Cox Media Group
Selling suits for Hugo Boss out of the Mall at Millenia is how I worked my way through college at the University of Central Florida. I took a class called Selling Electronic Media and fell in love with the idea of media sales. I interviewed for several Account Executive positions until a friend of a friend introduced me to Mario Mendoza, Jenny Bromiley and Brian Cole of WFTV 27. I interviewed with them and practically begged for a job knowing that I would love it and hopefully excel in the opportunity.
Since then, I have never looked back.
A Day in the Life…
Typically, I start my day by discussing the overnight numbers from the day before with my teammates. We all grab a coffee and talk about what premiered; which advertisers we saw last night on TV, and discuss our day-to-day happenings before diving into appointments or office work.
I’ve been fortunate to develop lifelong friendships with my clients. They trust me to deliver results day in and day out, making a huge difference in moving the needle for their businesses and it’s an amazing feeling.
Outside of work, you will find me at the beach or with my family and our three dogs, Niko, Olive and Nori — we are the crazy dog people that treat them like kids! Speaking of kids, I am also 6 months pregnant and have seriously considered giving my daughter the middle name “CMG Orlando” (LOL!) because of how loved and supported I have been by everyone at this company.
Our entire team had a day of team building at Escape Room. This is when a group has 60 minutes to solve puzzles and unlock clues that lead to an escape out of a themed room. It was so much fun to see everyone jump in, split into groups and tackle each side of the room. We snorted, almost cried out of frustration, praised each other whenever a clue was solved, and all the while positively encouraged each other. While we didn’t make it out this time, we had a blast and became even closer because of this experience!
The culture of the company truly makes me love my job. Our team is like a family — we all work super hard and never say “I’m too busy to help”, or “I’ll get to that later.” Everyone digs in and takes a couple minutes to help each other and make sure we all have what we need to win every day!
Special thanks to Evann for letting us get a glimpse of her day to day in this version of our Cox Employee Spotlight.
Want to learn more about #LifeatCox? Visit our website.
Cox Social Networks
