The Employee: Chris Hoefer

Location: Longview

The Fans: Upshur County Rural Electric Coop

 

Honesty is always the best policy.

Friendliness, expertise, and responsiveness: These are all key traits to being a great technician. But veteran Chris Hoefer would add that honesty, at all times at every interaction, is one that should not be forgotten.

It’s certainly won him over with the folks at Upshur Rural Electric Coop.

---

The Organization's Need

Chris knows this organization well. He’s been working with their equipment since they first started doing business with then-East Texas Copy Systems more than 10 years ago. When they were experiencing excessive jamming and requested an equipment cleaning recently, it was no surprise when Chris walked through the door.

“I’ve serviced them ever since we got them,” Chris recalls. “We were at first servicing oddball stuff and they finally got their copiers with us.”

The copier in question dates back nearly that far. It had recently moved from the front of the office to a back location …. It was a discontinued model.

The Team’s Approach

’To fix the busted part, Chris was going to have to get creative given the age of the machine.

“We have an older machine that I knew was back in our Longview office that had been brought in after an upgrade, it was just sitting back there,” Chris said. “So I pulled the necessary parts and went out there to fix them up.”

He also reminded them of the dangers that come with a discontinued model – the next time around, the right parts MAY not be available. After all, it’s their best interest that he has on his mind.

“You just have to be honest, and tell them, hey, your machine is to the end of its life and Canon doesn’t support it,” Chris said. “It’s like you’re driving a car that’s very old, and you go to the car dealership. You expect them to be honest with you. We want to do a good job by our customers. That’s what they hired us , to make it as easy as possible for them and make sure they know everything that’s going on.

What Made Them a Raving Fan?

“Honestly, it’s up to me to treat them like they’re a part of our family, because they are a part of our family,” Chris said.

Honestly is certainly a part of that, and something the customer appreciated in their post-service survey:

“Chris is really great about keeping me advised about what is going on with service calls…. I give him a 10, because there is no 11!”