(Account Representative - Hot Springs Office) - It’s the Friday before Molissa Jordan-Spradley embarks on the coveted sales’ President’s Club Trip in Montego Bay, Jamaica (an accolade she’s earned an astounding three times in five years at Datamax). No time to think about sandy beaches just yet. There’s still a lot to be done. She’s far from fully packed, and more importantly, a handful of client needs await her attention before she flies out on Sunday.

Molissa’s not one to stop when things need to get done. She often works late into the night and into the weekends. Even so, pulled aside from her tasks for a few short minutes to visit with the Rave Review and reflect on her career, one gains a quick snippet of just how far Molissa has come, and how deserving she is of the success she enjoys today.

Humble, calculated, knowledgeable, and unequivocally passionate about creating “raving” experiences for her clients, Molissa is an account representative who came into this role unfamiliar with this industry, but who has developed her own specific professional style and serves as a model for other salespeople to follow.

Ask her about that career trajectory, and she’ll tell you pretty quickly: Like anyone else, it’s been a process.

What led me to Datamax?

Molissa worked in sales at the historic Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs prior to accepting a role at Datamax. At the hotel, she was charged with group sales, bus tours, and managing corporate events. As luck would have it, Datamax held an event there in 2016, and she first met Datamax Area Sales Manager Lee Wheelington. The two kept in touch.

“When he later had a position open up, he didn’t reach out to me and say, ‘I have a position, would you be interested?’” Molissa recalls. “It was, ‘I have a position open, do you KNOW anyone who might be interested?’”

Molissa didn’t respond for a month. Maybe it was fate, maybe she was just having a bad day, but she eventually replied to Lee: “If that position is still open, I think I’M interested.” She was hired shortly after.

“My first impressions of Datamax were just wonderful. Our Hot Springs office is like a little close-knit family,” Molissa said. 

My experiences at Datamax:

Molissa’s background is in accounting, which has served her well in the long run here at Datamax. But developing her own unique sales strategy has been a process. Lee has served as a phenomenal mentor for Molissa in both learning the business AND her unique approach as a salesperson.

“I entered the business not knowing a thing about copier sales. Honestly, it took a good two and a half years for me to be able to wrap my head around the business, and develop a sales strategy that works best for me and my personality,” Molissa said. “Throughout, thankfully, Lee has allowed me to do just that and never said ‘it has to be done this way.’ Everyone’s different when it comes to sales. I’m thankful for Lee for allowing me to develop my own strategy.”

What is that strategy? It starts with developing relationships. It’s about making everything (from proposals to ongoing professional needs) as simple as possible for the customer. It’s also about a careful, strategic eye on the dollars and cents of every sale. 

“I’m big on developing relationships. If a customer calls with a need, I normally just go running to take care of their problem,” Molissa said.

Molissa took over a territory that had previously been managed by two veteran Datamax reps with deep client relationships. As a newcomer, Molissa had to overcome some steep challenges to win over these long-time customers, challenges that would have crippled a lot of people, Lee says. So how did she do it? 

"I credit her personality and her work ethic. It was humility and servitude that allowed her to gain the trust of these customers. It was  'What can I do for you?' And then responding to those needs and continuously building upon those relationships. I was so impressed at how she took these challenges and ran with them," Lee said. 

What makes me want to stay at Datamax?

“I just love what I do. I love the people I work with. I love the relationships with the customers I’ve built over the years. Right now, I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else,” Molissa said.

It’s been a process. But it’s been a highly successful one, for both Molissa and the organization she represents. Come Sunday, pulling into that Jamaican resort, she’ll deservedly get to step back, and however briefly, savor that success.