Red River’s Impact on Our Customers: Healthcare for Veterans
Melissa Tucker has been an inside sales rep for about seven years, as Red River has continued to expand its business in the federal healthcare space. In the nine and a half years Tucker has been with the company, all of the work performed in federal healthcare is done to support the veterans and make sure they’re given the best service when they return from active duty.
“I don’t look at my work as, ‘oh, I’m just selling a bunch of widgets.’ The overall impact of my work with my counterparts is that the customer is ensured that their projects are performed successfully and run smoothly. I want to be sure that the work that I do gives veterans the best healthcare possible.”
One of Red River’s goals is to transform technology and create an impact for its customers, partners and people that are helped along the way. For instance, the impact from the recently implemented ‘Blessing Bag Initiative’ – something that Inside Sales Account Manager Melissa Tucker started a few years ago in Red River’s Clermont office – ended up taking off and has made a considerable impact on the veterans who need healthcare services. The Blessing Bag initiative was created to be an account that Tucker could sell into and give back to over time. As per the initiative, she collects donations for needed supplies for veterans in need and assembles bags for veteran shelters and like-minded organizations.
“In the past year, our organization has expanded our drive to all of the hubs within Red River,” Tucker said. “We can pull it off with a lot of remote work and I have some other folks help me behind the scenes, almost like a mini team.”
In a recent instance, a customer placed an order with a specified budget and made a mistake, finding themselves unable to get the additional funds they needed to continue. To find a solution, Tucker worked with two partners on the sale to come up with a creative solution to get the customer what they needed. Under the order, Red River can provide the services to enable more flexibility in how money is spent resolving issues or mistakes, ordering hardware for the customer and working with their service provider to make orders efficient and accurate. In working with the customer, Tucker can land on a quote for a purchase order that effectively met business needs and managed the mistake, resulting in high customer satisfaction and continued business growth.
“I do all of the quoting, and I work with all of the customers post-award,” said Tucker. “I track things if things are missing or if there is a long lead time, like the material shortages that we’ve seen across the board because of COVID-19.”
For customers who are ordering from Red River, Tucker assists by directing them to the accounts in federal healthcare for solutions. Her experience in solving problems involves a range of multifaceted duties, including checking courses for distribution that may not be on normal distribution paths. Tucker stays involved by working with customers on identifying and implementing interim hardware known as “seed gear” – functional equipment designed to get the customer through an interim period until the ordered gear is delivered – that an OEM partner may have available by a specific date or time.
“In going above and beyond with certain customers that I’m working with – whether it’s another reseller that I’m selling to or the customer directly – some of those challenges that they experience are reliant on Red River to serve as a trusted go-to partner,” said Tucker. “Although they may not buy directly from us, the customer knows that if Red River is behind the sale, they can feel confident that they’re purchasing from somebody who knows that if anything goes wrong, we’re going to make it right for them.
