Sometimes the customer just says it best.

David Olliff was out servicing a machine at Sharon Shrine Temple in Tyler recently. He helped them with some copy quality issues, but then also showed his contact there a few tricks on fully cleaning the glass on the machine, and also about the Remote User Interface available to her at her computer. He brings this solution up often to customers because, well, it just makes their job a little easier.

In her customer survey response, the client said this.

“David is so amazing. He is knowledgeable and polite. I don’t know what we are going to do when he retires. He is always so knowledgeable, fixes things quickly and is super friendly to us. We will miss him for sure.”

After almost four decades in this industry, David is hanging up his technician hat. When he leaves the office for the last time on June 28, he’ll leave behind a legacy of dependability, camaraderie, positivity, trust, and a particular knack for customer relationships. As one service manager put it, he’s the King of Customer Surveys.

And while most would argue this sentiment, David claims he was never the best technical technician.

“But in one of my first classes a long time ago, the teacher said, ‘If you can fix the customer and get them on your side, they’ll stay with you,’” David said. “I thought to myself back then, ‘That’s my way into this thing.’”

David started working when he was 15.

It’ll be a little strange come next month, when he says he’ll be able to wake up and mow his lawn “before the heat of the day.” David’s first gig came as a teenager doing clean-up work at a refinery at St. Croix in the Caribbean. After several other jobs, in 1985 he got into the copier industry out of “desperation for a job.” David got married on a Friday, returned from his honeymoon on a Sunday, and went to work for Copy Products on Monday.

After a brief stint as a delivery driver, he found his niche out in the field as a technician. He came to then-East Texas Copy Systems (acquired by Datamax in 2018) in 2009.

His connection with clients is uncanny.

The post-service-call surveys really speak for themselves. Whether it’s his sense of urgency, his expertise, his empathy or even his jokes, his ability to swoop in and hook a connection with the clients he services isn’t something you can read out of a manual. It’s not a technical skill – it’s an art.

“I look for a picture, anything really, something I can connect with, and start building a little relationship from there,” David said. “I also just want to be honest with them, and treat them like they are boss. Because in a way, that’s exactly what they are.”

After 39 years in the field, 'it was just time.'

David’s got plenty to look forward to around the bend.

“It’s time for me to start a new chapter in my life,” David said. “We’re going to Kansas City next month. We’ll try out their barbecue and then tour Arrowhead Stadium. And then we’ll head to Las Vegas for another vacation.  I’ve been working since I was 15, so it’ll be different. But I’m excited.”

He says he’ll miss the camaraderie with the admin group, and the collaborative chats with fellow technicians or managers on copier issues. He reckons he’ll see customers at the grocery store or the theater, and that’ll be fantastic. But after many months of contemplation, “it’s just time.”

While colleagues who’ve worked with David for decades try to verbalize what this veteran technician has meant to this company for all these years, and the legacy he leaves behind, perhaps it’s best to admit that, in this case, the customer said it best.

“David is amazing. He is knowledgeable and polite. We will miss him for sure.”