IDIOTS

[Jules Winfield]

I believe, that for the sake of productivity, alone, we're taught to think that more visits to a customer is bad. But in actuality, taking care of all problems, no matter how slight, is keeping your "foot in the door". Customers don't, or rarely, care how often they see you. And if it's positive, it keeps them loyal. Next time you're dealing with a customer who can't add toner, or staples, without wrecking the joint; try offering to do it for them. Tell them to just place a fake "jamming" call, when they need to add supplies, and go take care of them. It's extra driving, etc. But these people will stay with you, and not shop around when it's time to upgrade. Ask your service manager to implement a customer satisfaction survey, and these "pain in the asses" will show the boss what really matters to the bottom line.

I would strongly advice against this approach unless you're bored or you just really enjoy talking to customers. Really, this just sounds like an attempt to pad your numbers so your stats look better. Sales people should be doing stuff like this if anyone. Doing this sets a precedence and the customer will expect a tech out there every time they need to add toner, staples and maybe even paper. People who are too lazy or incompetent to replace toner aren't usually included in the decision to upgrade equipment anyway. And even if they were, they would just go for the lowest bidder.

[glewisme]

If your sales staff is anything like ours then the techs wind up doing the training any way.Hard to train on a machine that you have no clue how to use yourself.LOL Damn salespeople!!!

[KEVIN900]

I would strongly advice against this approach unless you're bored or you just really enjoy talking to customers. Really, this just sounds like an attempt to pad your numbers so your stats look better. Sales people should be doing stuff like this if anyone. Doing this sets a precedence and the customer will expect a tech out there every time they need to add toner, staples and maybe even paper. People who are too lazy or incompetent to replace toner aren't usually included in the decision to upgrade equipment anyway. And even if they were, they would just go for the lowest bidder.

Actually, this does the opposite of padding my numbers. It actually makes it appear that my machines don't last quite as long as my fellow techs do between calls. If your customer has no way to differentiate you and your company from all the others out there, they should just go to the lowest bidder. "It's not my job, tell the salesman to do it." Perhaps not the best approach, is it ?

[blackcat4866]

On the subject of customer abuse; that is so easy to diffuse. "There's no need to scold me" or "I see, I'm on it" usually work. Or remind them that it's a machine, no need to take it personal, usually work. Calm, measured replies will always work better than flipping out. Another tactic I use is simply acting like I didn't hear a customer's snide comment. Non-reactive. And before you leave, always check their supplies inventory. Don't just tell them what they need, but phone it in for them. They'll appreciate it, and it's probly faster for you to deal with your supply department, then for the customer.

My favorite tactic when I get some trite, ignorant comment is to stand there silently, an look at them. Some even repeat their ignorance. It sounds even more stupid the second time. Then they slink away to their cubicle. A+ to the non-reactive response. =^..^=

[fixthecopier]

I would strongly advice against this approach unless you're bored or you just really enjoy talking to customers. Really, this just sounds like an attempt to pad your numbers so your stats look better. Sales people should be doing stuff like this if anyone. Doing this sets a precedence and the customer will expect a tech out there every time they need to add toner, staples and maybe even paper. People who are too lazy or incompetent to replace toner aren't usually included in the decision to upgrade equipment anyway. And even if they were, they would just go for the lowest bidder.

Hate to tell you this, but I have customers who are dependant on me to change the toner, and your government gives them guns. I tell them to call for everything they are in doubt about. I would much rather put the toner in a bizhub than have to rebuild the toner delivery system after someone has crammed the bottle in wrong. Most of my Army contract machines are underused and only changing the bottle twice a year, so I don't leave spares unless they ask. This is not an effort to pad my numbers, it lets me take care of the customer , but more important, it lets me solicit paid work on printers. I make my boss an extra $30,000 to $40,000 a year, give or take a few grand, picking up side work on my copier contract. I give out my cell number to everybody and will book more calls myself than my shop sends me on. I lost a contract on base last year to a low bidder. I still get calls from these people to fix their printers and put my company sticker on it, while it sits next to my biggest competitors copier. I just got called today by one of my regulars about a printer bid for 12 color printers. I told her the cheapest thing I would sell would be $300 to $400 more than what she was buying. She said she did not care, she wanted to buy from me. Stuff like this keeps me employed.

[KEVIN900]

Hate to tell you this, but I have customers who are dependant on me to change the toner, and your government gives them guns. I tell them to call for everything they are in doubt about. I would much rather put the toner in a bizhub than have to rebuild the toner delivery system after someone has crammed the bottle in wrong. Most of my Army contract machines are underused and only changing the bottle twice a year, so I don't leave spares unless they ask. This is not an effort to pad my numbers, it lets me take care of the customer , but more important, it lets me solicit paid work on printers. I make my boss an extra $30,000 to $40,000 a year, give or take a few grand, picking up side work on my copier contract. I give out my cell number to everybody and will book more calls myself than my shop sends me on. I lost a contract on base last year to a low bidder. I still get calls from these people to fix their printers and put my company sticker on it, while it sits next to my biggest competitors copier. I just got called today by one of my regulars about a printer bid for 12 color printers. I told her the cheapest thing I would sell would be $300 to $400 more than what she was buying. She said she did not care, she wanted to buy from me. Stuff like this keeps me employed.

My point exactly. What separates a run of the mill tech, from copier ninjas is the willingness to reach out to your customers. Have them RELY on you. Build a relationship. When they know they can count on you, they will stay with you.

[unisys12]

I would strongly advice against this approach unless you're bored or you just really enjoy talking to customers. Really, this just sounds like an attempt to pad your numbers so your stats look better. Sales people should be doing stuff like this if anyone. Doing this sets a precedence and the customer will expect a tech out there every time they need to add toner, staples and maybe even paper. People who are too lazy or incompetent to replace toner aren't usually included in the decision to upgrade equipment anyway. And even if they were, they would just go for the lowest bidder.

I agree with Kevin900 totally!! There's no pune intended here, but the soap box is open, so...

Kevin is right!

What the hell are you people thinking?

Who pays your darn bills? cricket... cricket.... cricket... Right! Your customers!

When I started working for the company I work for now, there was was nothing we wouldn't do for a client. Even if it meant that we had to learn something new and go outside our comfort zone. We did it. Yes! There were times that I wined about having to drive 30 miles to install ink in a duplicator for a client and I just could not understand it then. Nor could I understand having 10 calls, having to drive 100 miles in a day, with 5 of thous calls being toner deliveries and those deliveries adding 30 or more miles to my round trip for the day. Also the fact that we actually went the extra mile to install the toner for the client was beyond me.

Then again, you have to understand the climate I came from. When I started working on copiers, I was an Agent for Xerox. We didn't do that sort of thing and it was programmed into us that we were above that! And to be honest, in Xerox's climate, you are above that. Because you only know how to repair the machine, not work it. That was the clients job to work the machine and salesman job to train them to work it. I just changed units, trouble shot boot sequences, updated firmware and called tech support.

But after a year or two at my new company, I got it. Our clients liked what we did! They loved it that I came in and showed them how to do something. They actually gained something by it as well.... Knowledge! This might be were I disagree with Kevin, in that no matter how much my best client loves me to death, they do not want to see me everyday. And it took me awhile to get my brain wrapped around this, because I thought it was either all or nothing, at this point. But it's not!

We cannot rely on our sales people to fully train every client and person within a given space. When was the last time your sales personal went to school on how to use one of your copiers? Probably never! Sadly, but I will bet it right here right now! Ok, maybe they went to school, but I can bet you that it was only how to sale copiers and not how to use them. See, you actually use and know more about any given product that your dealership sales than anyone else there. Because you work on that same product everyday and you know its weaknesses and strengths. Not the sales people. Hell, even Ricoh was guilty of providing sales and technical staff with different info, a few years ago. But not now!

My bottom line on this subject - It's our job, as technicians, to educated our clients how to best take advantage of our products. Whatever they are!! It is our job to go out, after the sale, and make our clients happy, safe and secure. So that when it's time for a new piece of equipment or replace an aging piece, they will call our office or their local sales rep related with your company.

Out of high school, I was a auto mechanic for 10 yrs. And I cannot ever remember cursing a salesman for selling someone a car. I will never forget the first time I learned the lesson I am preaching here tonight... I was working on a BMW 7 series. It was missing above 70 mph. The owner was from Chicago, Ill. And he was complaining that he should not be having any problems. Well, the car had 150,000 on the OD and the plugs and wires were only good, by the book for 75 to 100K. This guy was furious and thought that we should do the services needed for free, which would have totaled well over $1000, just because it was a BMW and we were a BMW dealership. After several hours of talking with the owner, I decided to go over and have a chat with him. So I did, service book in hand. After 15 minutes, he agreed to the work. I performed it and not only was he happy with the result, I got paid a hefty sum for the work from the dealer, but he came back the next day and gave me a 50.

It was then that I realized that the customer my not always be right, but it was my job to teach him where he was wrong. And do it politely!!

[fixthecopier]

I noticed you brought up how Xerox does things. Every time I come up against them, I win. One unit has bought 3 full size Bizhubs from me in a year. Xerox was their old contractor. The customers say they do not like Xerox admin and contracting. They have to get 3 bids. When they got the first two, they showed them to me which made my bid easier to submit. This started from them liking me from the way I fixed their printers. It really pays to have them like you.

[Stirton.M]

Actually, this does the opposite of padding my numbers. It actually makes it appear that my machines don't last quite as long as my fellow techs do between calls. If your customer has no way to differentiate you and your company from all the others out there, they should just go to the lowest bidder. "It's not my job, tell the salesman to do it." Perhaps not the best approach, is it ?

Where I work, we have CSRs to deal with such issues as training. Whenever a customer calls in to dispatch for anything, our dispatch screens the calls off to the specific areas. Any network/print related issues are first passed off to Technical support, who walk the customer through specific things. Any "I cannot figure out how to read the "pictograms" on how to add toner or staples calls are immediately passed to our CSRs, dispatch passes those on too. Anything either of those departments cannot handle is passed back to dispatch and eventually to us field techs.

In any given day, I can do perhaps 4-6 calls on the small boxes, depending on if I need to return for parts or not or what is needed on the machine, on those days I can put as much as 150Km easily. Every machine we visit gets a cleaning, specifically the transport and feed rollers. It gets checked for problems and if we can at that moment, deal with those. Including updating of firmware, enabling V-Care, IU enhance and on and on. Minus any repairs, I can be at a call for almost an hour just doing that.

Much of my time however, is dealing with our production lines, the C6500-6501s, C500s and so forth. I might be able to do a couple/few calls a day on these, depending on what the problem is. PMs are quite time consuming and I have a large base of these all doing high volume.

The attitude from management is that our field techs have enough on our plates to do in any given day. Courtesy calls is encouraged ONLY when our other calls are completed.

Doing that extra little bit is fine. I agree with that. But when we do not have the luxury of time because of response time requirements that are actually part of the contract with any company we sell to, there are certain luxuries that are waved. With a couple thousand colour boxes of assorted models and options and only 6 techs to service all those at a rate of 20-30 calls a day on average, courtesy calls are no longer practical.

However, if I am at a customer's office already for something else, I will take a few minutes to help them on other issues. I even make it a point to ask if they have any other questions or concerns before I leave. And if I can, I empower them to be able to resolve problems on their own, such as directing them towards the manuals, or the instruction pamphlet that is sold with EVERY consumable item.

As someone else here has in their signature, I am willing to help those willing to help themselves by RTFM.

Thus far, this hasn't hampered our ability to retain customers.

[Rob Sandberg]

You can fix 100 machines a day if you do not fix the customer than you have failed.
You can fix 1 customer a day and no machines and succeed.
If the customer cares to know the plan and is involved they are usally happier.

Rob S