Letter on the Third — June 2019
Dear Datamax Family,
To me, if you’re not growing, you’re going backwards.
Datamax only looks one way – and that’s forward. As of today, we are officially announcing our acquisition of Firmin’s Office City’s copier division, with locations in Texarkana, Longview and Terrell. I hope that you are as excited as I am to welcome the Firmin’s team to the Datamax family. This strategic move gives us the opportunity to expand our geographical territory and send a definitive message – to our customers, to our own employees, and to the people at Firmin’s - that we are a company steadfastly intent on growing. After meeting with Chuck Firmin and more recently with the people that were supporting his copier division, we feel very confident that they will fit into the Datamax culture wholeheartedly. They’re genuinely excited about the future that lies ahead.
Growth depends upon us understanding our clients. The more you know, the more you can be relevant to your customers. One particular area I see potential is in the arena of Production Print. Where we feel we do the most for production clients is by understanding their workflow and understanding the production process from end to end. It’s not just selling hardware. It’s knowing how to calculate color. Understanding different software packages that drive the machine. Having success in the production print area is dependent upon us truly understanding their industry – their relevant pain points and their path to profitability. In this month’s Rave Review, you’ll find a lot of valuable information from our own production print experts at Datamax. I encourage you to read it. Study it. It’s to everyone’s benefit to learn more, to discover how we can remain relevant in the production print industry.
Finally, growth depends upon continued development. We can’t think that we’ve arrived. I ask people often to discuss his or her own internal differentiators. What is your brand? What do you want your legacy to be? Every single job here is important – I don’t want anyone to ever feel like it’s not. Can you look in the mirror after a day at Datamax, and say “I was of great value today?” Sometimes we cheat the person in the glass.
What are our differentiators at Datamax? I like to begin with the Little Blue Book. When we have customers in I always have one handy. I start at the beginning and I go over the philosophies with them – I read every one of them. Then I go into the principles, which come down to how do we deal person to person. It’s important for me to actually present the book, to highlight its significance. After all, this book is our culture. It’s important that we discuss it, make it meaningful to people. Otherwise, it’s like someone recommending a book but never explaining its value.
We’ve got to live with our culture. Our culture is built upon relevance, and of continued growth and opportunity – for our customers as well as you, a valued employee.
Are you growing? Or are you moving backwards? The Best is Yet to Be.
Your Raving Fan,
