The Employee: Lee Norris

Location: Texarkana

The Fans: Pewitt ISD

 

Veteran technician Lee Norris’ clients have been glad to see him back in the field. Lee was with then Firmin’s Office City from 2006 to 2011, only to return last August, now of course as a Datamax employee.

“When I went back to work, a lot of the customers remembered me. I think it’s the military in me (Lee served for 12 years in the Navy). They know that when I walk in the door, I’m not leaving until I get whatever issue it is resolved.”

Count among those happy clients Pewitt ISD.

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The Fan's Need

Lee has worked in a number of schools over the course of his career. They’re a unique animal. It can be challenging to track down the right contact person to properly diagnose the issue. Lee’s seen machines out in the hallways, falling victim to students walking by and hitting buttons at random, or tracking in dirt onto the equipment itself.

But servicing schools is a labor of love.

“I always say when I walk into a school, that the students hate me, and the teachers love me,” he says laughing. “They are about to get a lot of paper homework after I’m gone.”

Even with the nuances of servicing schools, like any other client, they want response and they want resolution to their needs.

Two machines in their main office had a peculiar issue recently, when they were repeatedly jamming. Two technicians were sent out, initially unable to figure out the issue. But never one to throw his hands up at a problem, Lee kept digging.

“One of them, after doing my research, I realized the part they were replacing was the wrong part number. We got the right part and the issue was resolved. The other, it happened to be the circuit board on the machine.”

The Team's Approach

For Lee, it’s all about developing repertoire.

“Just like I’ve got out at Pewitt. They need to understand you’re doing your best to keep them operational. If you’re walking in and saying ‘I give up,’ you break that repertoire and usually they’re not going to rebuy from you.”

That’s a message he passes on to younger technicians in Texarkana.

“When you walk in, you are the company. You need to represent yourself as such. If they’ve got a problem with Datamax, they’re looking at you.”

Clients in Texarkana have been pleasantly surprised with response times since Lee’s been back in the game.

“I’ve showed up within an hour two of receiving the call, and the response is ‘I wasn’t expecting you for a couple of days!’” Lee says. “It’s like I tell the guys, ‘when you get a call, there has to be an urgency to it.’ That way, when they do come around to renew the lease, they’ll look at us, because were there so quick every time there was an issue.”

What Made Them a Raving Fan?

Just as Lee says, it’s the military in him.

“95 percent of this job is customer service. My clients, including Pewitt ISD know that, I’m going to stay locked in until that issue is resolved.”