Letter on the Third — July 2020
Dear Datamax Family,
Have you visited our websites lately?
If not, I would encourage you to do so. Both our Texas site and our Arkansas site are a wealth of company information. As I’ve mentioned before, every person in our company is our best sales person. If someone asks you about Network Management, or Unified Communications, or our community efforts, what would you be able to tell them? Our websites are a wonderful means for finding that stuff out.
In this Rave Review issue, you’ll learn more about the process behind the current iterations of our websites (Texas going live with its version in 2015, and later Arkansas in 2017). You’ll learn more about how much changing buyer behaviors impacted our vision for constructing these sites. And you’ll discover a few resources that can help you in your everyday role at Datamax.
Some of you may wonder why we have two sites.
First, Texas and Arkansas had a number of specific marketplace differences at the time, and as discussed with Vice President of Marketing Robert Caldwell, both domains had already built up a certain level of page rank with Google. Our intent was not to disrupt that, but rather to continue to meet the needs of our specific marketplaces. We had to be cognizant of that.
Furthermore, many people want to know, when they search a company online, that they are buying locally. What Robert and I discussed, when we looked at the different communities, was having the same top shelf visual presentation, but vary content slightly based on specific marketplace needs. Either way, we wanted something different, and something that would make competitors cringe in its professionalism.
Every industry is different in how its website is utilized.
For our buyers, I liken it to having a physical ailment. You’re going to do your share of research online before you ever visit a doctor, and you may know that there’s four different possible procedures. But you’re not going to make that decision. Our buyers are researching our services and solutions extensively before they ever contact us. But once they do, it’s up to us to help understand their needs and craft a relevant solution — to help them make that technology decision. It’s important that we not just sell our products, but sell our thinking, our expertise ... the things that truly differentiate.
Our websites aren’t just a benefit to prospective customers.
We continue to hear in Key Person Interviews how the attractiveness and structure of our site built confidence in their decision to join our company. I’m proud of our online presence. I’m proud because what you see in these sites wasn’t built off a mass template by some outside vendor. It’s unlike any other site in this industry. Collectively, we came up with how we wanted it to look and feel. It’s our own vision. It’s our culture.
With that said, I wish each of you a Happy Fourth of July weekend. Just as I remind everyone in my weekly videos, be smart, stay safe, and upon return, be ready to dig in and make every minute, every hour, every day count. The Best is Yet to Be.
