Written by Rebeca Piccardo
Discovering a company that evolves with your career progression is like finding a diamond in the rough. But that’s how Tim Kelley feels after eight years at Cox.
“Honestly, I couldn’t even imagine working anywhere else after working here,” he said. “We’ve built a lifetime of friendships with the people that we work with.”
Cox is also where Tim found a new trajectory in his career. He took a contract role in tech support after the e-commerce startup he worked for folded.
It wasn’t long before people noticed Tim’s natural ability to carry on great conversations with customers. Another manager at Cox tapped him to join his customer retention team — a step toward future sales opportunities.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do at Cox, I just knew there were a lot of jobs and opportunities,” he said. “I was having a lot more personable conversations and just put my name out there.”
In 2021, Tim was officially back in sales as an inside solution representative. Within his first year on the new job, he became a Winner’s Circle recipient — Cox’s highest honor for top-performing salespeople across the country.
Here, Tim shares the keys to his continued success at Cox and the best parts about his job.
Having the knowledge to back up conversations.
Knowing how to speak confidently about what you’re selling and how it meets a customer’s needs can be the difference between making a sale or not. That’s why Tim said his time in tech support has been invaluable.
“I got an education on every single product Cox offers and how customers use them,” he said. “It definitely gives me a lot of confidence to be on the phone with these customers, especially at a higher level when I’m interacting with an IT professional, because it’s not too far over my head.”
Here, you have the freedom to succeed. Nobody’s micromanaging you. You’re given the tools to succeed, and then you’re off on your own; it’s almost like you’re running your own business.Tim Kelley, Inside Solution Representative @ Cox Business.
A more human way of doing sales.
Tim believes in talking with customers or prospects and building trust with them beyond making transactions. And he appreciates that his sales leaders espouse an approach of following up with customers to make sure their services are running smoothly.
“Customers remember that,” he said. “You don’t always want to just be reaching out to people because you want something or need something. We don’t like to feel that way as individuals and humans in our lives, and we don’t want customers to feel that way.”
A chance to be entrepreneurial.
For Tim, one of the best parts about working in sales at Cox is getting to work on your own terms.
“Here, you have the freedom to succeed,” he said. “Nobody’s micromanaging you. You’re given the tools to succeed, and then you’re off on your own; it’s almost like you’re running your own business.”
A place where your talents and accomplishments don’t go unnoticed.
A big part of Tim’s success story at Cox is that others took notice of his sales ability and encouraged him to think about his career trajectory within the company. He appreciates that about the culture at Cox.
“How Cox celebrates success is different from a lot of companies,” Tim said. “My manager’s constantly celebrating different wins that we have; he’s letting us know, ‘we see that you all are doing the right thing.’”
