Our Teammate of the Quarter award gives the opportunity for teammates to nominate one of their peers for standing out and embodying our company values. A committee chooses one teammate who really went above and beyond, and the award is presented in a company-wide meeting. These awards are an important part of our engagement here at Next Level, as they bring our mission to life while publicly celebrate the right behaviors and good work.

For the Fourth Quarter of 2017, we celebrate and thank Shannon Prekop. Shannon has been with Next Level for over three years now. Her journey started in Sales and she then moved from Sales to Marketing, with a focus on sales enablement. She has proven to be a valuable asset both teams, and to the company. Her hard work, determination, flexibility, and one-of-a-kind personality contributed to her Q4 win.

In an interview with Shannon, she describes the important role(s) she has played at Next Level and what each means to her:

Q: How would you describe your position at Next Level?

In Q4 of 2017, my position was Solutions Advisor. In that role, my responsibilities were very diverse, allowing me to grow in many facets of the company.  My main purpose was to become knowledgeable of the industry, as well as the solutions and services Next Level offers so that I could lend support to marketing campaigns, inbound leads, meetings with prospective clients, and creating marketing materials.

Q: How has your role changed throughout your time here?

Initially, I strictly assisted the Marketing Team with traditional Marketing functions, such as creating materials for our sales force and obtaining as much industry knowledge as possible to assist in push and pull marketing strategies. As time went on, I was given more responsibility on the Business Development side of the business, allowing me to grow in areas of prospecting and outreach, which ultimately lead to my recent transition to Business Development Manager.

Q: What is your favorite part about your job?

As a former social worker, I would have to say that I’ve always enjoyed relationship building and I love that I can continue to do that at Next Level. I enjoy talking to prospective clients, learning their needs, and seeing how we can assist them. I am also grateful that I can build relationships internally, as I get to work with every department in the company.

Q: You won Teammate of the Quarter for Q4 of 2017. What were some highlights of your performance this past quarter?

Another great thing about my position is the ability to work autonomously. In an effort to revamp our automated campaigns and give our prospective clients the information they need, I was given the opportunity to build a plan on how to best carry this out. It was great to be able to analyze and research this on my own, but also work with the Next Level team to pull all of our resources together to deliver the best service possible to clients, prospective customers, and my Next Level teammates.

In Shannon’s new role, she will play an even bigger part with our Sales team. We are happy and proud to celebrate her contributions. Congrats, Shannon!