Food has a funny way of bringing people together.

With 40 years in front of a grill, Datamax VP of Sales and New York Native Clay Mills knows this. From embracing what he calls “Cowboy Culture” in Texas by preparing a brisket, or introducing his Lone Star State friends to the NYC-staple Spiedies (chunks of meat marinated for days, cooked on a metal skewer and then slid onto a roll), Clay recognizes and embraces the food culture around him and shares it with his friends and family.

The words emblazoned on the front of signature apron read: “Clay’s Bar-B-Q: Many have eaten, few have died.” One could argue that, regardless, ALL have enjoyed.

Weekends are a communal experience for Clay and those who join him around the dinner table. It’s a labor seasoned with love: He huddles over a charcoal weber grill, grilling or smoking meat to perfection as he’s done in many settings, only for his excellence with food and fire to be recognized and savored by those around him.

“Breaking bread, having meals together, it creates a certain culture – it involves servitude, comradery. These are elements that really bring people together,” Mills said.

So, several years ago, Mills brought that idea to the office.

Clay had a huge hand in introducing the Dallas/Fort Worth employee appreciation barbecue (which did not occur this year because of COVID-19). At this event, management prepared and cooked the food, served it and then cleaned up afterwards. It was a team building exercise with food as the focal point.

“When I started here my mission was to improve our culture,” Clay said. “This event broke down walls between departments and employees, we all got together, shared food, shared conversation. It was really a well-received gathering.”

Though he’s known for an assortment of seafood and meat dishes (including the gigantic Tomahawk ribeye), Mills is perhaps best known for his Delmonico steaks, a cut of meat named for the famous New York Steakhouse Delmonico’s. He cooks the meat on hickory on a charcoal Weber, and pairs them with jumbo freshwater shrimp.

Process is crucial for Clay as he executes this meal.

“About an hour and a half ahead of time, I’ll put steaks on the counter. I’ll put the spices on, and I’ll clean the shrimp. After peeling them, I’ll marinate the shrimp with a little olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic, fresh oregano and thyme,” Clay says. “I’ll grill the steak (turning only once!) and take them off when they reach 120 degrees. And then, I’ll let the steak rest for 10 minutes – meanwhile, I’ll cook the shrimp quickly on the grill.”

Just as food and culture are tightly interconnected, so too are sales and culture. Clay shares his thoughts on envisioning and executing a successful sales culture.

Clay’s Raving Fan Recipes for A Strong Sales Culture:

1. Trust

Start by doing what you say you’re going to do, Clay says.

“You’ve got to be a resource for your customer. You don’t need to just be a trusted partner – you need to be a strategic partner. We have to provide the forward thinking so our clients can rely on us to be that trusted partner as they grow … or as they shrink.”

2. Common Goals

“Common goals are the goals Management and the reps establish at the beginning of every year in our Business plan meetings,” Clay says. “We meet individually with the reps quarterly to review progress and chart our goals moving forward.”

3. Skills Development

“This Is the focus of our management team. We conduct continual training for our sales team to insure they have all the skills and tools needed to succeed,” Clay says. “We just finished a 3-week telephone prospecting training with 6 separate phone prospecting blitzes during the three weeks. “

In the first 2 blitzes, the DFW team set 5 appointments each. The last blitz, they set 18 appointments for a total over the three weeks of 68 new FTA Discovery appointments.

4. Positive, Encouraging Work Environment

It could be that ring of the sales bell, and the ensuing cheers from those around it. It could be a communal gathering around food, where a culture comes together. But a positive, encouraging work environment points back to the Gift of the Goose, a staple of Datamax culture and the ongoing encouraging cheers that helps our Creating Raving Fans mission take flight.

Clay Raises the Steaks with these Grilling Best Practices

1. Roll with charcoal.

“I only use a charcoal Weber. Years ago, I had a gas grill run out of gas. I wiped the dust of the Weber, and the next day, I threw that gas grill in the trash.”

2. Once is enough.

“If you’re flipping the meat several times on the grill, you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re forcing the juices out of the meat.”

3. Let it rest.

“This pulls the meat down to the ideal temperature, and allows the juices to return to the center.”

4. Keep it fresh.

Clay pulls inspiration for recipes from family, friends, events, and places he’s lived and visited throughout his career. And while he enjoys a Texas brisket and a side of beans as much as the next guy, he recommends keeping your repertoire fresh.

“When I got to Texas (from California), I was surprised that every party I attended was brisket, and baked beans. I’m used to mixing it up,” he says. “I’ll do a variety of sides, meats and themes. My forte is good steaks on the grill – I’ll do surf and turf, rotisserie chicken, salmon, sword fish, etc.”

Mills on Meals.