A moment of reflection for David Rhodes takes him back to 1982 and a dark grey Mazda GLC.
It was the Mazda with the manual transmission, no AC and a hand-cranked moon roof perfect for driving to each Datamax customer.
Dec. 13, 1982 was the day he was hired on as a service technician with Datamax of St. Louis. In 1982, the Canon equipment he worked on the most was the Canon NP 120 (with the ability to copy on “virtually any paper,” up to 10” X 14” at 12 copies a minute). The GLC was the service vehicle the Datamax Texas President used to get from business to business. The tools and resources available included a tool case and a limited number of books.
No Canon Snapshot. No Imageware Remote. No FM Audit.
“And no cell phone,” David says.
“The technology has obviously gotten better over the years,” he continues. “I think customers are more educated on how to operate the machines also… But one thing that hasn’t changed is a service department that must have urgency, respond quickly, and resolve the customer issue as quickly as possible.”
The methods have certainly changed. But the mission remains the same.
Reflecting on a Career
Looking back, David’s first impressions of being a copier service technician were juggling a lot of tasks simultaneously.
“You’ve got the customer with their demands. You’ve got dispatch and their demands. And then you’ve got a machine that has its own agenda,” David said. “So you’ve got all those things you’re trying to satisfy in a given situation, and that can be difficult at times… You had to really be self-motivated to quickly learn on -the-job training.”
Given his background, David is intimately aware of the paramount role the service technician plays in an organization’s reputation and success. At times, he says, we might lose sight on how important they really are.
“If they’re doing the job right, they’re out in the field. And they’re seeing customers face to face more than any other person in the company,” David says. “As a company, we need to continue to acknowledge how important they are, even though they’re not in the office from 8 to 5.”
David’s own dedication to an excellent customer experiences was mirrored by his eagerness to learn new technologies. He quickly rose through the ranks of the St. Louis service department.
In 1990, he moved to Texas to assist in the start-up of Datamax Texas. As the division enjoyed rapid, aggressive growth, David was promoted to the Vice President of Operations, overseeing the service, administration and warehouse departments.
But those service goals instilled in him never left.
“The service goal then – much as it is now – was to develop a sense of urgency, and a skillset that would provide customer resolution as quickly as possible. To keep machines clean, to keep parts replaced proactively and, ultimately, have that great customer skillset and the mindset that ‘the customer is always right,’” David says.
In 2003, David assumed the position of division president for Datamax of Kansas City. For nine years, Datamax of Kansas City flourished under David’s leadership, so when an opportunity became available to return to Datamax of Texas as the division president, David followed his dream back to Texas.
Reflecting on 2019
Reflecting is important for businesses, and not just for sentiments’ sake.
In the past month, with the annual Business Plan Meetings on the horizon, David’s had plenty of time to reflect over the past year.
Combing over numbers and metrics for 2019 has given David the ability to assess, and then accurately develop plans for the coming year that ensure the company’s vertical ascent. He’ll meet with department managers and fellow executives later this month to collaborate, to challenge one another and to come together as an organization.
“(The business plan meetings) are a very valuable time at the end of the year to reflect back on how the year has been, and what are some of the top things you can improve on for next year – not just your department but as a whole organization,” David said. “It’s about accountability. It’s about setting goals, both performance and budget wise. The main thing is to take ownership in the department you’re in, thinking outside of the box at times, and getting your employees involved with their ideas to make the year better.”
Reflecting on the Mission
On Dec. 26, 1982, just 13 days after David started his job at Datamax St. Louis, Time Magazine published an article selecting the personal computer as the “Man (or in this case, machine) of the year.” The magazine's essay is a reminder of the era's dawning awareness of the computer, and an accurate foreshadowing of technology in general, as a force in modern life.
“There are some occasions, though, when the most significant force in a year’s news is not a single individual but a process, and a widespread recognition by a whole society that this process is changing the course of all other processes. That is why, after weighing the ebb and flow of events around the world, TIME has decided that 1982 is the year of the computer. ... TIME’S Man of the Year for 1982, the greatest influence for good or evil, is not a man at all. It is a machine,” the article stated.
The writing was on the wall.
David chuckles when he compares his tool case with the technological resources held in the palm of a technician’s hand today.
But he also recognizes the essential value of his early experience. How it shaped his philosophy as a technician and later as a division president. After a few minutes of reflection, one can truly understand what’s changed, what needs to be revamped, and what consistently, year after year, drives our business forward.
And with that, he reflects once more on the year 1982.
“Customer expectations haven’t changed. They want a piece of equipment or software or a network to be up and running,” he says. “They’ve got other things they need to be doing. That’s why they trust us to be that partner, to take care of them. That hasn’t changed since the day I started … if we need to do something to Create a Raving fan, we’re going to do it.”