Letter on the Third — September 2020
Dear Datamax Family,
On the weekends, I love grilling bratwursts for family and friends. But not just any brats.
They’ve got to be Johnsonville Brats. And you don’t just throw that sausage on the grill. They have to first be boiled in beer for 20 minutes, and only then are they ready for an open flame. Finally, a generous amount of peppers and onions is essential.
In cooking, and anything else in life, doing something that’s worth raving about requires focusing on a process and finding that passion for your craft. Raving Fans don’t just come along. They have to be created.
I first heard the term so synonymous with our culture in 1993, from the Ken Blanchard book “Raving Fans.” As I read it, the message hit home for me immediately. People still today talk about “customer satisfaction,” but that’s never what we wanted for our customers, because satisfaction alone’s not enough to become a recommended, trusted technology partner. If somebody were to ask one of our customers about Datamax, I would want them to say “They’re the best. They’re amazing at what they do.” Never just, “yeah, they’re ok.”
The “Creating Raving Fans®” mission statement was born out of this idea. But it didn’t stop there.
In 1993, we enjoyed sudden, significant growth in our Arkansas office. But because of that, morale internally was suffering. We didn’t have enough technicians. People were running around like crazy. I knew that moving forward, we were going to have to make some changes.
I first shook hands with Mike Riordan in 1995. We began utilizing his SBS (Success by Selection), ASK (Attitude, Skills and Knowledge) and TEAM methodologies to properly train our managers. We also made sure that all applying for managerial positions were the right person for the right position. By running their Interest Analysis (IA), and matching that against the Success Profile for that role, we knew we had the right fit (not just promoting the best sales person or the best technician). This process also helped all the people in the company understand that they could apply for an open position.
Through the process of working with Mike Riordan, crafting the “Little Blue Book,” and taking a hard look at our company culture, we began taking necessary steps to begin Creating Raving Fans® inside the company as well as outside. All that is to say, when someone asks you, “where do you work?” hopefully the response isn’t “Oh, I work at Datamax.” We want the response to be: “Oh, Datamax. If you’re not there, you’re not with the best company.”
That’s what culture does. The commitment to our customers, and to our employees, never wavers. Just as Blanchard writes in “Raving Fans,” “Consistency is critical. Consistency creates credibility.”
In this month’s “Rave Review,” you’ll read about many of our own “Raving Fan” recipes. You’ll learn some of the tested and proven “key ingredients” to delighting our customers. There are many methods for this, and I know you have your own unique abilities to create service experiences that go well beyond “satisfaction.”
I encourage you to focus on the process, and find that passion for your craft. Raving Fans don’t just come along. They have to be created. The Best is Yet to Be.
