The WOW! Buzz

Rhett Billings was hired by WOW! on March 9, 2009 as a direct sales representative. (Happy Anniversary, Rhett!)  When he completed his orientation he took time to compose a letter of appreciation.  I take the liberty here to share excerpts from his letter because Rhett captures the essence of what it is like to be a newcomer at WOW! much better than I could.  (Besides, my perspective might be just a little subjective.)  Please enjoy Rhett’s first hand observations on what it was liked to be welcomed to WOW!.

As I was leaving the building yesterday afternoon I was struck with a realization, “Never in my life at any other job have I felt so valued on my first day of orientation as I did today with WOW!.”   I want to thank everyone who played a part in providing the impressive and smoothly orchestrated orientation including lunch and the sweet treat at Dairy Queen.  My fiancée is terribly jealous already.  If your goal was to make me feel valued, inspired and ‘Right at home’ …I have good news for you:  it worked!

I can’t think of a better way to welcome newcomers than to take us around to see the whole region… see smiling faces and put names to them… see the equipment that makes it all possible and gain some insight into how it all works.  This will certainly put a twinkle in my eye and affection in my tone when I speak to our customers because I have a picture of the whole WOW! organization living in my mind and in my heart.  I loved seeing all the happy (WOW!) people in the video and even the bloopers were powerful, heartwarming and fun.  It made me want to be a part of it all.

I shared in some terrific conversation in the van to and from the various WOW! sites as well.  The gentleman sitting next to me was working with me to figure out how WOW! has managed to create and maintain such a palpably warm, yet professionally effective social climate.  The conclusion we came up with in part was this:  Whenever this wonderful country of ours recovers, a lot of folks are probably going to look around and evaluate the business models that helped lead us to the economic mess in which we now find ourselves.  After that, they will look around at more spiritually evolved models that are thriving and producing impressive numbers, cohesion, longevity and most importantly – a consistently positive reputation with the folks who matter most – the customers.  I believe they will look at companies like WOW! as a prototype to help build a healthier America, and for this I think we should all feel proud.  WOW! is way ahead of its time.

Well Rhett, as the Culture Editor of this blog I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Your letter and the passion that is reflected in it shows exactly what we strive to create in the corporate culture of WOW!.   Thank YOU.