Growing up in East Germany, resources were undoubtedly scarce, giving Beate Hall a unique perspective on the journey of life, on crafting one’s skillset, and on the irreplaceable impact of empathy.

Just for our perspective: As a child in the city of Leipzig, her family always had potatoes and cabbage. They were lucky where they lived to have milk most of the time. But butter was expensive. Bananas were available maybe twice a year if they were lucky. And automobiles? Due to a variety of factors, one might wait 10 years to get his or her hands on one.

“There were so few cars in East Germany growing up there. But the few people who were working on cars, they really knew what they were doing, because there were so few models to work on. It was amazing how they got these things to run 30 or 40 years because, well, they didn’t have a choice.”

This unique automotive expertise intrigued Beate greatly. At an early age, she took a natural interest in vehicles; how they work, and more importantly, how to repair them. She is a self-prescribed “hands on person,” and her interest in cars would be her foray into Beate’s career in the copier industry.

“I was interested in them (automobiles), but at the time the attitude was ‘a girl doesn’t need to know about that,’” Beate, who grew up with four brothers, recalls.

This was frustrating, sure. But it didn’t stop her from pursuing her passions. In some ways, Beate’s been honing her mechanical expertise for a lifetime. She’s evolved with where life has taken her — most recently as a Datamax technician who just celebrated her five-year anniversary. Her Service Manager, Mark McKinney, notes the journey and the evolution of one of his go-to technicians.

“She’s come a long way since she started here,” Mark recalls. “She’s worked really hard to be where she’s at. If I need someone to be out at a site quick on short notice, she’s one on the top of my list.”

An Expert Mechanically.

Beate’s mechanical experience started early. As a 7th grader in East Germany, part of her school curriculum included working at a factory. All the students would work on machines like drill presses and blades for four hours a day – just long enough to get an idea of factory life.

“I did figure out that I liked to work on machines; I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life because of surrounding experiences at the factory,” she recalls.

Years later, Beate met her husband at church. The US Citizen was over in Germany visiting a friend and the two hit it off almost immediately. They dated for a bit before he returned to the United States, after which they kept in touch via phone (at a rate of $2 a minute). When Beate came to visit him in Florida the next summer, the two decided to get married.

“It was my husband who said, ‘you always wanted to know how cars work. Why don’t you go to school for automotive technology?’” Beate said. “So that’s what I did.”

Beate studied at Utah Valley State College and landed a job selling auto parts – a perfect gig for a soon-to-be mother. Beate would go on to study Machine Tools Technology at the University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College, working as a machinist, and a service advisor, before eventually coming to Datamax.

“My husband had a friend who was a technician at Datamax. He advised me to go to talk to him about fixing printers,” Beate recalls.

An Expert in Focus.

What does Beate love about her role at Datamax? The ability to focus. One machine. One office. One customer at a time.

“I like for things to make sense. It helps my brain to focus in and eventually truly understand something,” she said. “Printers are like that. This does that. And this does that. Therefore, the problem must be here. Sometimes narrowing that down takes a little longer, but again, I like it when it truly makes sense to me.”

Mark echoes Beate’s ability to focus squarely on the task at hand.

“She is very detail oriented. That gives her the advantage of sticking to the book and doing what the manufacturer does. She’s really good at staying on task and finishing something, following through with whatever she runs into,” Mark said.

An Expert at Empathy.

Ask Mark about a major focus of his department, and he’ll certainly mention building that customer relationship. Empathy is, in a sense, expertise humanized. Beate has an uncanny ability to put herself in her client’s shoes and apply the Golden Rule to perfection. There are many customer surveys that point out Beate’s ability to nurture a customer with kindness, education, and empathy. Here’s a few:

• She's always our tech and is always very thorough.
• I had another employee present because I was not in the office. Beate wrote down instructions for me if the issue happens again.
• Prompt excellent service. Very personable technician.
• Not only (resolved issue) but helped with guiding me through some important uses of the printer so that I can use it at its maximum. Exceeds 10 ranking.
• Tech (Beate) was great!! Explained what she was doing and had machine serviced in no time at all!!
• I would give Beate Hall two thumbs up. She explained that the issue we were having with our equipment was not a common one, but she knew exactly how to fix it. She also had the needed replacement part in her vehicle that she had been carrying around for some time, so she would be prepared when it was needed. Because of Beate's experience and knowledge, the downtime with our equipment was far less than it could have been if she had to spend time figuring out the problem.

Beate says she’s been treated wonderfully and poorly in life, just like anyone else. She’s run into angry customers and grateful ones; but she always welcomes the opportunity to educate them and feels a unique satisfaction in knowing they’re getting back to business when she walks out the door. Ultimately, the way she projects herself – treating others the way she’s always wanted to be treated – that’s where her true expertise lies.

“Customers don’t want to be ignored. They want to be taken seriously,” Beate said. “I’ve been treated well and bad… which way did I like? I believe in paying it forward. Not only does it make their day. Eventually, it will come back to you.”