Providing an on-point, creative solution that increases a client’s return on technology investment and produces the Raving Results we constantly seek to deliver.

The Client: Grace Outreach Center

The Account Representative: Becki Whitman

When Major Accounts Representative Becki Whitman closes a deal, she usually gets a hug (or at least, she did pre-COVID). There are many reasons for this — three in particular.

1. She exudes confidence in her discovery findings and her solution recommendations. Becki says she doesn’t mind telling a CFO his or her numbers are wrong, only because she makes sure to do her own extensive homework.
2. She’s quickly familiar with a customer’s own work environment. By the time paperwork is signed, she understands how departments are run, who hates their job, who loves what they do, and who hides the paperwork they don’t want to work on.
3. She’s always available. In efforts to build a partnership with a prospect, she makes known that their needs are her priority.

One example: Grace Outreach Center in Plano. In working with this recent FTA victory, Becki made clear just how available she was ... and would continue to be.

“I live fairly close to the church, so I told (my contact), you have my cell phone number. If you need me, I am there. If you need additional training, if something stumps you, just call me and I’ll be right there.”

The staff at Grace Outreach Center appreciated this personal approach — it’s something that had been sorely missing with their last copier vendor.

The Business Challenge

More than any equipment issues, the relationship with their previous vendor had gone sour. There were service issues. Last year, they proposed a large production unit that wasn’t relevant; in fact, the church didn’t even have anyone qualified to utilize it regularly. Lastly, there were billing issues with a third party leasing company, to the extent that they couldn’t obtain copies of their own leases.

It was incumbent on Becki to be relevant to their work environment, and responsive to their needs.

The Thought Process

The initial meeting between Grace Outreach and Datamax happened late last year, when the church met with then-account manager Brian Drexel. The church wanted to revisit any plans for new equipment after the first of the year.

What did Becki do in her first meeting? She started over.

“I wanted to revisit everything. Do my own due diligence. I didn’t want to take a proposal from a few months back and run with it. It was important that I made sure that I was meeting any current needs they might have, and that nothing had changed,” Becki says.

In the end, she proposed a c165, along with three 58 series MFPs (in contrast with the competitor’s 4 35-ppm machines). In her mind, this lite production workhorse offered them the flexibility (and a ton of additional capabilities!) that would make them feel comfortable and confident in whatever was being printed.

“I really just played up the strengths of the 165. They could use heavier stocks. They could print their business cards, print brochures. And also, the user interface on the 165 is the same as other walkup models. So when people came in, the (interface) didn’t look like a space ship to them.”

The Prevailing Results

The new c165 and MFPs were installed in mid-March. Delivery went great, and the very next day, Becki received an email on how much the staff loved their new equipment.

They also know they’ve got Becki’s cell phone. If something comes up, she’s available. In the end, because of COVID-19 protocols, Becki didn’t get that hug that traditionally follows the signing of paperwork. But she got something even better — another Datamax Raving Fan.