Solutions Success

The Employees: East Texas Team

The Client: UT Health East Texas

The silence was almost deafening for Datamax Texas President David Rhodes.

Months after knowing the East Texas branch’s largest customer was being acquired by another company, there was still zero dialogue between UT Health East Texas and Datamax. With no opportunity to sit down with key stakeholders there, Rhodes’ – and the team in East Texas’ – hands were tied. And a competitor, they knew, was lurking.

But not a single person involved was prepared to lose. You could sense it in the office and on the faces of those who’d come to know employees at UT Health on a personal level over the years: failure was not going to be an option. Not after so many years of blood, sweat, and first-class customer service.

The deafening silence gave way to dialogue. Dialogue moved to building solid rapport and, eventually, to advocacy from key members at UT Health. And almost one year after initial contact was made, there’s a historic reason to celebrate at Datamax. UT Health East Texas stands as the largest single transaction in the history of Datamax, going all the way back to 1955.

1,265 devices for those counting at home.

It’s a paramount accomplishment for the entire Datamax organization. It’s a perfect example of what happens when a team works in unison towards a single objective, one that seems insurmountable otherwise.

It’s also a real life testimonial on the power of demonstrating value year after year after year.

Getting a Conversation Started.

One of the most challenging components of the entire process was simply creating the opportunity to sit down with key UT Health stakeholders and discuss what a future with Datamax would offer the health organization.

“They were in middle of transaction. They had new personnel, and our key contact there had only been there less than two years,” Rhodes said. “It was a real struggle to get in front of them.”

For VP of Operations Stephen Hampton, it was personal.

“It was difficult for me. It was an account I’d been involved with for more than 20 years, it was difficult processing what was the reality at the time. We could lose the account without ever been given a chance to visit with upper management,” Stephen says.

But Account Manager Rick Fedell, and others, continued to reach out to key contacts they’d developed relationships with over those years, and a meeting was finally set up.

“It was simply a matter of persistence,” Stephen says.

Stephen says he didn’t know what to expect from that first meeting. Was the UT Health group just appeasing the Datamax team because of our persistent efforts, or to make sure they were getting a good deal from a competitor? There were many unknowns, but as Stephen says, we just needed an opportunity to present. If we could just get time in front of a decision maker, we could begin to build our case.

“One of our main objectives was to make sure that they understood what we’d done in the past…. Around the clock service, loaners, the relationships made with different departments around the organization, and what they had to say about our customer service,” Stephen says.

Building a Rapport.

“We had over 20+ years going above and beyond what a normal vendor would do,” Rhodes said. “We had to sell him on that, to where he felt that there was real value being presented. We were up against very tough competition with our competitor, because they had gotten all the business in other accounts and cities UT Health’s parent organization were located in.”

Because of our reputation and level of support, Datamax had a distinct advantage. Given the time that the process drew out, UT Health’s leadership got to witness that level of service firsthand – not in a board room, but out in the field.

One example: In May, UT Health’s imagePRESS in its print shop was down. There was a job that needed to go out immediately for managers there. Datamax brought that job in house and ran it for them, and in the meantime, East Texas technicians were able to get the device in their print shop up and running.

“He was able to see us fix problems that came up with the account through this whole process,” Stephen said. “We followed up with him. We continually showed him just how much this meant for us at Datamax. He was able to see for himself, ‘hey, Datamax does really care.’”

Working closely with Canon was also paramount. Under Rhodes’ efforts, Canon stepped up to the plate with aggressive pricing that made a compelling case financially. The Datamax team also, through working with Canon, had to get confirmation that the devices we were recommending would work with UT Health’s array of new workflows and solutions they were ready to roll out.

Stephen can’t recall the specific moment, but in time he noticed a subtle shift forward in the dialogue between Datamax and UT Health’s key contact.

“At some point, we actually saw him become an advocate of Datamax, and he started making comments like ‘I’m trying to push this forward.’ We knew he wouldn’t be asking us all these questions if he wasn’t really interested.”

According to Area Sales Manager Kenny Prince, they also saw the depth of service available on a local level with Datamax, a distinct advantage over the competition.

Rallying the Troops.

Choose your cliché: “All Hands on Deck.” “Total Team Effort.” “Pulling all Resources Together.”

They’re all applicable here.

Robert Baker and Rachel Rhodes worked in tandem (often around the clock) to develop pricing and provide the countless number of spreadsheets during the back and forth negotiations. Datamax President Barry Simon and VP of Finance Stephen Sumner played key roles throughout the 10 months of negotiations, including the outstanding flexibility that Datamax Leasing was able to provide UT Health.

Every member of the Technical, Logistics and Admin Teams had a hand in the efforts with UT Health East Texas, from either doing department walk-throughs or working behind the scenes with UT Health employees.

While field service technicians worked out at UT Health, others filled in the gaps to take care of other customers.

“There’s not a single one of us that’s as strong as all of us are together,” Stephen said. “I think the team environment really kept everybody motivated throughout this long process.”

Stephen also expresses his appreciation for having such a talented group of people to work with, not just in East Texas but in Coppell.

“In DFW, they’ve committed to and have been involved with this since day one,” he said. “Knowing we’ve got that level of support, is a great feeling! Our company is truly blessed to have been given this opportunity. And so in all things we give thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Demonstrating Substantial Value.

“I think what makes me feel really good is how certain individuals put a lot of effort and time and knowledge into our solution,” Rhodes said. “I think you could tell this was more than just a customer. This was our pride. Nobody wanted to lose without a fight.”

All the while, Datamax had time on its side – time, of course, being the past 20 years of demonstrating value to its largest customer in East Texas.

“It comes down to going above and beyond,” Rhodes said. “We were a very highly rated vendor, it just came down to getting a good, fair proposal that would save them money. If we had not been the incumbent, and had the 20 plus years of excellent support, we wouldn’t be getting this deal.”