The Employee: Blake Tennimon (Longview Office)

The Client: Rader Funeral Home

Blake Tennimon, philosophically speaking, doesn’t believe in service call-backs. He believes that’s what the client pays for: 100 percent first-call completion.

Exceptions exist, obviously. But that doesn’t prevent Blake's aspirations of “doing 100 percent of the job, 100 percent of the time,” and taking the necessary time with each client to make sure they truly understand their printing device.

Speaking of printing devices… the Canon imageRUNNER at Rader Funeral Home in Longview plays a monumental role in every single service the company holds, from printing bulletins, obits, to CD labels for each service.

Blake’s above-and-beyond efforts, on multiple occasions, have helped Rader Funeral Home avoid last-minute catastrophes and pull off funeral services as planned.

What was the client's need?

Most recently, on a Friday evening, Rader was attempting to print CD labels for a Saturday afternoon service. Unfortunately, the paper was not feeding properly. Blake was there early Saturday morning to show the client how to feed the paper properly, so that the labels were printed with time to spare.

On two other occasions recently, Rader was caught in a bind on the eve of a Funeral Service with operation questions, copy quality issues and/or a down machine. Both times, Blake was there late on Friday and/or early Saturday morning to assist and to ensure that the necessary jobs were run as intended.

How did the team approach the challenge?

Once the equipment is back up and running, Blake doesn’t just look to provide resolution: He provides reassurance.

“In scenarios like those recently at Rader, when they are in a bind, it doesn’t take much time to stand there and let them finish their print job. When you’re willing to take a little time to make sure they get the job they need done and also verify that the quality is there, people are appreciative of that,” Blake said.

He continues… “You can go fix the machine, tell them to have a nice day and walk out, but  I believe in taking just a little bit of time, go over everything thoroughly, and in the end everyone comes out better off.”

In the end, Blake says, “the service we provide is a big contributor to whether or not a customer stays with us. Word of mouth is pretty powerful. You let the job that you do speak for the service being provided. Do what needs to be done to the best of your ability, and more often than not, you’ll come out on top.”

What makes them a Raving Fan?

When Rader calls Datamax, they're more likely than not on a deadline crunch.  Once Blake arrives, they are confident that the issue will be resolved, and the service will go on as planned.

“They recognize me when I walk through that door,” Blake says. “Usually, the conversation starts with ‘Thank goodness you’re here!!”