Casey Moffit, 33
Account Rep
Viking Electric
Casey started his career at Viking Electric—and in the electrical industry—in 2015. “Prior to that I did commercial tile, which was awful, and before that I did auto body work,” said Casey. Ultimately it was a connection between his wife and the wife of another Viking employee that brought Casey to his new career. “I didn’t think working inside, in an office would be for me,” Casey recalled. But once he decided to give it a try and accepted a position at the city desk, he found he liked the job immediately. Soon after he moved to inside sales. “I really enjoy engaging with people. Picking up the phone and talking or chatting with customers when they come in. I like to joke that this is the best job I never wanted,” Casey laughed.
Over the past several months, of course, the pandemic has made in-person customer contact a challenge. “It’s been much harder to engage with customers,” Casey said. “It can be done over the phone, etc., but everybody is competing for attention and we have to get creative if we want to stand out. Most of our customers aren’t really interested in another Zoom meeting.”
Casey said he is experimenting with email approaches to help differentiate his correspondences from the hundreds of others his customers receive daily. “It’s hard to grab people’s attention so I’m trying to correspond in engaging ways,” he explained. “For example, I’m sending marketing videos from our different vendors. When the video has been watched the recipient is entered to win a prize. It’s easy to use digital tools, but at the same time we all get numb to them.”
Looking ahead, Casey said that as much as he enjoys his current job, he is interested in moving into other positions. “I would like to move into projects,” he said. “Lighting appeals to me most, but so does gear. Eventually, though, I would like to be in outside sales. I like making phone calls, talking to people, finding what they need, answering questions, and then moving on from there. I like dealing with people and developing relationships.”
Asked what advice he would give to someone contemplating a career in electrical distribution, Casey said “If you have an interest in it, start early. I graduated from high school in 2005. Today I think if I would have started at Viking right out of high school I’d be way ahead as far as time spent in school and my other jobs…and I’d probably have more money in my pocket!”
When he’s not working Casey enjoys spending time with his two young children—Willow, who is 4, and Hudson, who is 7. “[During quarantine] we are just spending a lot of time in the backyard,” said Casey. “Hudson has started liking fishing, so I bought a fishing license. There’s a pond next to Viking’s parking lot so a number of us fish during lunch—and I’m finding out how terrible I am at it!”
Each year tED magazine recognizes 30 of the industry’s best and brightest under the age of 35. Please visit tedmag.com/30Under35 for nomination information and updates about the 2021 program. Questions can be sent to tED Editor Misty Byers at mbyers@naed.org.
Tagged with 2020 30 Under 35, 30 under 35