Creating Our Own Sales and Consulting Pipeline

Career development at WWT is a top priority, and part of what makes us a Great Place to Work for All for 12 years in a row! Through partnerships with schools and universities, our summer internship program and various early career programs such as the Associate Academy, we create connections with the next generation of talent to develop and support career development within WWT.  

The Associate Academy was created to meet the demands of our customers, partners and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as satisfy the need within our own organization for passionate individuals who possess efficient sales and technical solution skills. To meet this immediate need, the program has two different journeys: Sales and Pre-Sales Engineers. At the conclusion of the program, associates have a thorough understanding of the technology sales process and can bring immediate value to their teams. 

One of the most impactful pieces of this combined program is the capstone project, which provides students with real-world experience in solving problems for our partners and customers. The capstone is the final project the Associate Academy completes before embarking on their independent journeys in the field. The project comprises 7 modules to be completed within 9 weeks. As the modules progress, participants are completing an account planning strategy to be reviewed and assessed weekly by the program mentors, facilitators and account team. This allows program participants to receive feedback each week to improve the account strategy along the way and demonstrate the value of the APS to mentors and the account team. Xavier, Associate Academy Cohort 3 member completing the ACSE journey and his Associate Academy Sales teammate Riley, dive deeper into their unique paths through this program.

Xavier Roznowski

My name is Xavier, and I am a student in the Associate Academy at WWT. I was drawn to this program after learning the role of a CSE is heavily reliant on the ability to bridge the gap between products, solutions and customers. An effective CSE understands sales techniques, technology and problems faced by their customers and prospective clients. I have always enjoyed solving problems and figuring out ways to overcome challenges for myself and helping others, both which are foundational for a CSE. The Associate Academy has taught me to find the right resources to solve problems and overcome challenges. The program has developed my public speaking skills, taught me to adapt and overcome surprise challenges and allowed me to participate in hypothetical situations. One of the major exercises we have done that includes all of these skills is the capstone project. This project is a 2-month assignment focused on developing an APS (Account planning strategy) with the use of a mural board. Weekly we are prompted to submit recordings of our progress. At the end of the capstone, we deliver a 20- to 30-minute presentation on the entire strategy, showcasing our extensive research, challenges we have identified and resources to address the challenges. This is a valuable exercise for my role as an ACSE because it challenges critical thinking skills while looking at a potential customer and identifies how to bring value to an account. Additionally, this project supports practical application while working with a sales counterpart and a member of a high-performing team, allowing me to practice listening for potential opportunities to improve or implement solutions to alleviate a customer's challenge and drive value. 

Riley O'Brien

My name is Riley, and I am a Client Development Associate at WWT. A career in IT sales was not foreign to me, as I have had the opportunity to observe my family and friends progress in their careers in this field. The material and self-starting nature of the role has continued to fascinate me. The Associate Academy at WWT was a great place to continue my education and begin building my brand as a client development associate. Initially, the Associate Academy is highly focused on onboarding new hires into WWT and laying out the foundation of the depth and breadth WWT has to offer its customers. In the first couple of weeks, you will see us engaging with WWT's partners and learning about each of the unique capabilities the partner has to offer. Networking and gathering an understanding of our go-to-market strategy just touches the surface of what we experienced in our partner-of-the-month sessions. The Associate Academy strategically captivates each business unit within WWT to enforce the amount of support our sales teams are able to provide our accounts. We wrap up our time in the Academy with a capstone project to reinforce the training we learned throughout the program which was centered around research, discovery and outreach.  During the capstone, we are encouraged to take our knowledge a step further one step at a time. As each week progresses and we are building out our account planning strategy as a high-performing team (engineer and Sales), we finish off the project showcasing our ideas and plans to the entire account team. Here we do a full walkthrough of the research we've done, the conclusions we've drawn and actionable steps to begin building a meaningful relationship with the account. The capstone is a great ending to the Associate Academy as it provides meaningful experience in working with an engineering counterpart and flushing out our ideas before we ever sit down with a customer.

More about the program

So, what does an industry-leading technology solutions provider do to continually retain their talent and develop the right people? Create their own Associate Academy to develop passionate individuals who align with The World Wide Way. Upon completion of the program, this next generation will become members of a sales team with the knowledge and skills to bring value and drive regional growth. Visit the Associate Academy community to learn more about the program!