This summer was the happiest I have been in a work environment. Under alum Josh Kline ’99 and Jared Adams (IU Kelley School of Business Alum) I helped launch their business in sales and marketing. I got an in-depth understanding of the responsibilities of operating a small business. GoCode Overland is a company that specializes in Mercedes Sprinter van building, selling components to custom campervans, and renting converted vans to businesses for unique use cases. I was able to help work with our admissions office to create a partnership between GoCode’s rentals and the Admissions office. Wabash will now be using a “Wally Wagon” Wabash-themed custom van at various events to draw attention from prospective students. I believe this will help differentiate the experience of high school recruitment. I sold approximately $35,000 in van parts to other van-building companies across the country. I reached monthly quotas and developed relationships that were helpful to each other and GoCode Overland’s topline revenue. This was the sales side of my internship which consisted of cold outbound phone calls and converting these leads to sales and relationships. On the marketing side, I helped manage GoCode’s social media. I created Instagram posts, TikTok videos and ran SEO blog writing through a content map to create website traffic for the company.
The company resulted in approximately 450 more followers on Instagram, a similar increase on TikTok, and an average of 250 users daily on the website. Some of these increased users lead to sales. This increased brand awareness helped the sales process and gave us a popular reputation in the van-building community. At this point, we have a great mix of outbound and inbound orders. Some other fun stuff: I got to work in the shop and take a shot at being helpful to the van builders of the company. I worked alongside master carpenters Luke and Jake to learn the basics of carpentry. I made incredible friendships and shared lots of laughs with the guys in the shop as we worked to further the vision of the company.
