The Employee: Charles Williams

Location: Hot Springs

The Fans: Keith Smith Company

 

Charles Williams has been in and out of customers’ offices for much of his career. Working as a technician for a local cable company, and later with Dish Network, he understands the types of positive interactions he creates, and a fast arrival, make a big difference.

One thing he hears often at Datamax when he arrives on a customer site? “Dang, you’re already here? We just called!”

Hearing that is a source of pride for Charles. But the customer experience doesn’t stop there. Charles doesn’t just arrive — he follows through. He goes above and beyond.

One recent example comes from the Keith Smith Company, a Hot Springs-based business that is the largest independent producer and provider of broiler hatching eggs in the U.S.

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The Fan's Need

The initial reason for the service call was simple enough, a service fuser error.

“These are fairly common. I carry one with me, so it was a quick and easy fix,” Charles said.

He asked if there were any other issues with other printers inside the office. From that point, the customer mentioned another machine that was inadvertently changing the paper type. Charles updated the firmware in hopes that would resolve the issue.

“When that didn’t resolve the issue, I said ‘let me get on the phone with Lexmark. Let’s get you fixed.’”

After restoring the printer to factory default, and again updating the firmware the issue was resolved. The customer was delighted to know that Charles went above and beyond the service ticket itself and examine the fleet as a whole. Ultimately, it’s one less service call that customer had to make.

The Team’s Approach

First things first.

“I have to make that customer happy. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have a job,” Charles says. “I work hard to let them know what happened, what I’m doing to resolve the issue.”

He also tries to educate the customer on “quick fix” items (paper jams, lines on the print outs, etc.) so they can minimize any level of downtime.

“I always say, we’re more than happy to come out. But something simple? If it takes us a couple of hours to get out there, they could get back up and running in no time.”

Which is Charles’ primary goal as a technician – rapid resolution.

“It’s all about getting out there, getting them fixed up so they can go on with their day. When a customer says something like ‘you already got it fixed?’ that’s what my job is all about.”

What Made Them a Raving Fan?

In this case, the customer says it better than we can.

“He solved the issue that initiated the call, and went above and beyond to help us with a couple of other issues that had not been called in. It's very easy to talk to Charles. He is very thorough, detailed, does not rush, and shares information freely. Always professional and helpful.”