Email on the First — April 2020

Editor's Note: On April 1, in a team-wide email, Vice President of Sales David Holzhauer addressed the Arkansas sales force to both empathize with their current circumstances and emphasize their significant importance at Datamax right now. Essentially, he spent a day in their shoes. After a full day of prospecting from home, he shares his experience and breaks down his methodology. Holzhauer's leadership message, both sincere and succinct, resonates with us all at Datamax as we endure doing business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read his email below.

Folks,

To get a little taste of what you all are going through when prospecting from home,  I decided to try it myself to see what you all are facing. I’ll say right off, it’s not my favorite thing to do and that it was a grind, but it got better as the day went on. I made 35 prospecting calls to current customers and 35 calls to non-current or FTA accounts just to put myself in your shoes. I learned right away that there were right and wrong ways of doing this so I thought I’d share what I learned.

First off, here’s my results from the 70 calls.

FTA’s — I reached 28 companies that were in operation, talked to 15 decision makers, got equipment or lease information on 7, but had notable conversations with 19 of the companies that I called. I also verified the contacts and got email addresses to add to the database for 18 of the calls as well. As for the current customer calls I reached 31 customers and had conversations with 19 decision makers and the rest were just influencers that were listed in the database. I also added 14 email addresses on these.

End results are that I found 1 FTA proposal to do and 7 opportunities to add for a year plus down the road. As for current customers, I sold one machine (Rep can thank me later), but I only found one other potential upgrade for six months down the line. With the customer calls, I didn’t target expiring leases, they were random accounts and even those conversations went great and they were appreciative of the call.

Our customers are scared, uncertain and many are hurting right now so we have to be sensitive to that when making calls.

Here’s the background to how I broke the ice to build enough relationship to ask and receive information about their company.

I had a clear message that I was going to the field with and it was well received when delivered appropriately. Every contact started with extreme empathy. In a nut shell — We are sensitive to the current situation and here to help, we are open we are available and we are eager to help you solve whatever technology problems you are having. I also wove into the conversation, especially when talking to an owner, that we are working hard to keep the wheels of commerce rolling! They love that stuff. I also learned this enabled me to broaden our contact base in accounts and get to the higher level people we want to work with vs those we are forced to work with.

Try putting this type of message in your own words with the intent to build relationships and not even sell in the first call. There is plenty of time for that and the ones that are in the market now, will beg you to help them. The seeds you plant right now will reap you the rewards for the future. This is the cycle of our business with a new customer. They all typically don’t take place on the same call.

1. Build relationship
2. Discover needs
3. Become the Trusted Advisor through your relationship
4. Put them in the market with “Relevant Technology” that lends an advantage to Datamax but helps solve problems for the customer (someone with an lease expiring in a month is a prospect but not the best kind of prospect) your relationship is not there yet. Hey, but they’ll do just fine for now. Sell as hard as you can. It takes time to build that many relationships in each of your territories and that should be your goal.
5. Close the Raving Fan to solve their problems or increase their efficiency — and oh yeah, COMMISSIONS. You win too.

I make it sound simple right??? Anyway, I am working on the what’s next conversation but I have had success with this and you know the rules keep changing, so keep your conversations relevant.

Folks, I think it’s important you know that the Company has never needed you more than now. Your work results are what we’re banking on and are the reason we remain at full staff and full pay.

I am convinced you are the key to keeping a consistent number of prospects coming in, which makes for a strong Period 5 and 6, while at the same time keeping the supportive employees working in the meantime. We have to have consistent production to maintain our support mechanism. It is up to us to help preserve the jobs in the company and what you accomplish every day is your contribution to that effort. Plus, you earn commissions on your efforts which helps your families. Datamax has committed to do their part.

I continually balance realism and optimism and I know full well, you guys have what I described to each of you at one time as “the Hardest Easy Job in the company.” (I know I’ve told most of you that in your interviews) But I believe the current situation adds a degree of difficulty to the equation because you all have to be your own self-starter and motivator now that you are working remotely. I can’t change that but in those same interviews we saw the qualities necessary for this or you wouldn’t be working here. So let’s roll up our sleeves and continually adapt our message for relevance, then put in the necessary effort to prosper while our competitors falter. It’s a Brave New World we are working in today.

How’s that for a Rant???

Your Raving Fan,

David Holzhauer

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