Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales: James Peploe
Apprentice
| Reading time - 5 mins
We’re excited to announce James Peploe is the winner of our 2023 NAW Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales. James is 25 years old and is on a Level 3 IT Technical Salesperson apprenticeship, working as a Sales Engineer at Virgin Media O2 Business in Reading. Let’s hear more about his apprenticeship experience and why he was crowned one of our Top Tech Talent.
Why did James choose a Technical Sales apprenticeship?
James went to college to study for his A-levels, after which he went to the University of Southampton to study aerospace engineering. But he soon realised we wanted to take a different career route. “I wanted to get into the telecoms industry,” James explained. “Taking a technical apprenticeship was the best way for me, personally, to get into this industry.”
What skills and knowledge has James developed on his Technical Sales apprenticeship, and how has he applied these at work?
James said he’s learnt too many new skills to list out! “All of my new skills and recently acquired knowledge benefit me and my company every working day,” he said. “I now know how to undertake account management within a business-to-business sales context. I have also learnt a lot of the technical details behind delivering a telecoms service such as optical networking.”
Beyond his new role-specific and technical knowledge, James has also experienced personal skills development. He has a better understanding of how to work and network with colleagues and staff at other companies for both his own benefit and to meet the objectives of his team. James also uses the time management skills he’s gained on his apprenticeship to not only fulfil but exceed the tasks expected of him.
Beyond his new role-specific and technical knowledge, James has also experienced personal skills development. He has a better understanding of how to work and network with colleagues and staff at other companies for both his own benefit and to meet the objectives of his team. James also uses the time management skills he’s gained on his apprenticeship to not only fulfil but exceed the tasks expected of him.
What are James’s career goals and aspirations, and how have they changed since starting an apprenticeship?
“Since I started my apprenticeship, my career goals and aspirations have significantly changed,” James said. “I am now resolutely focused on progressing through learning to achieve more senior roles as quickly as I can.”
James's Top Tech Talent nomination
James was nominated as Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales by his Pathway Planner at Intequal, who said:
“James has been an absolute star from the beginning. Always gives 100% in everything that he does, balanced the apprenticeship and the vast volume of knowledge and skills he has obtained within work, and always positively contributed to every training session. James wanted to create a spreadsheet to track his own off-the-job training hours and shared this back with the team so others could also use it if it was helpful. He even proactively went to a school in his area and promoted apprenticeships because he could see the value in everything he was doing and wanted to share this with others. I have been so impressed with his standard of work. Everything that James has achieved and the standard he has achieved it has been outstanding. “
We also heard from James’s manager Tony Player, Sales Engineer, on why James deserves to be named Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales. They said:
“James has been an absolute star from the beginning. Always gives 100% in everything that he does, balanced the apprenticeship and the vast volume of knowledge and skills he has obtained within work, and always positively contributed to every training session. James wanted to create a spreadsheet to track his own off-the-job training hours and shared this back with the team so others could also use it if it was helpful. He even proactively went to a school in his area and promoted apprenticeships because he could see the value in everything he was doing and wanted to share this with others. I have been so impressed with his standard of work. Everything that James has achieved and the standard he has achieved it has been outstanding. “
We also heard from James’s manager Tony Player, Sales Engineer, on why James deserves to be named Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales. They said:
“I believe that James is a very worthy nominee for your Top Tech Talent awards. From the moment that James joined our team, I knew that he was going to be a pleasure to work with. His proactive, consistent and reliable approach to learning and performing tasks has made him a very valuable member of the team....and all within 12 months. He applied himself 100% to the external apprenticeship training provided by Intequal with the support of their brilliant Pathway Planner.
“He also gave everything he had to the Internal training and mentoring provided by our Sales Engineering team. His understanding of the sales processes and the customers’ sales journey is amazing for someone still relatively new to the business. During the last few months, James has been leading some virtual sales teams on qualification calls, delving into the customers’ business requirements and then later proposing solutions to meet their needs, whilst generating profitable revenue for the Virgin Media Wholesale Business. James truly is an asset to our organisation and I am certain he has a great career ahead of him.”
“He also gave everything he had to the Internal training and mentoring provided by our Sales Engineering team. His understanding of the sales processes and the customers’ sales journey is amazing for someone still relatively new to the business. During the last few months, James has been leading some virtual sales teams on qualification calls, delving into the customers’ business requirements and then later proposing solutions to meet their needs, whilst generating profitable revenue for the Virgin Media Wholesale Business. James truly is an asset to our organisation and I am certain he has a great career ahead of him.”
James works incredibly hard to ensure his standard of work is completed to the best it can be, and actively goes out of his way to share best practice and knowledge with others. He set out to inspire others to start an apprenticeship after having such a positive experience during his programme.
He is truly passionate about learning and the opportunities that apprenticeships bring. James’s hard work deserves recognition by being crowned our Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales!
He is truly passionate about learning and the opportunities that apprenticeships bring. James’s hard work deserves recognition by being crowned our Top Tech Talent in Technical Sales!