As Tony Ashcraft explains, we all know the feeling.
We’re working with a piece of equipment – one we utilize every day – and all the sudden it stops.
At Datamax, we don’t want customers to ever have that feeling. If they do, we want to be as minimal as possible. That’s what comes to his mind as he ponders the theme of “Value Up!”
Tony, who’s in charge of seven different departments at the Little Rock location, shares three ideas on how he feels his team – and others – can create optimal value for each other and for our customers.
Collaborate on a Regular Basis.
Tony holds an 8:05 meeting every day for his team. There, they go over upcoming tasks for the day, goals for the day, and break down which team members are on the delivery trucks and what customers they are going to make “Raving Fans” that day.
And they bounce ideas off each other. A lot.
“That allows our connect team to say, ‘hey, I’ve been at that location, don’t forget there’s stairs there,’” Tony says. “It’s really kind of a double-check so everybody can plan out and properly execute tasks for any given day.”
The team also goes over difficult calls that had happened the day before. That gives other team members the chance to chime in on similar situations they have run into.
“It’s about, let’s get together and let’s figure this out. If we haven’t seen it before, let’s put our heads together and work toward a solution,” Tony says.
Manage Costs Effectively.
From minimizing shipment errors to delivery guys deciding where they buy gas to covering all warranties, constantly seeking ways to manage costs is of extreme value to the organization.
“One thing we're looking at is reducing shipping costs. Every year costs are going up anywhere from 3.5 to 5.5 percent,” Tony says. Tony has spent considerable time evaluating overnight and next-day parts costs, and how many times those parts were used. One of the goals he has his team focusing in on is, at what point do we need to stock this on the shelf? After it's used twice? After just once?"
The goal, Tony contends, is that the team to find that happy medium of cost savings for the company and keeping the customer up and running with minimal delay.
Embrace the Gift of the Goose.
“I really feel like, we’ve gone from the Squirrel (Worthwhile Work) to the Beaver (In Control of Achieving the Goal) (as mentioned in the Little Blue Book),” Tony says. “And I feel like the warehouse team is moving from that Beaver Stage to the Goose (Cheering Each Other On). I want to make sure everyone continues to see the bigger picture. Once they understand that, they become excited about what we're doing. And that has to be communicated from the upper level down. It starts with me.”
Tony says he’s got a warehouse full of people who genuinely like to help other people. They’re excited about what they’re doing.
“My goal is to drive that train, and remind everyone that we’re delivering equipment and solutions that have real impact on the services our customers provide,” Tony says. “We’re doing a lot more than just pushing boxes.”
If it’s happened out in the field, chances are, Justin Harper has seen it.
Justin made the most of his 14 years as a field service technician, hustling around the roads of East Texas in his white Chevy S-10 to client after client after client. He took notes over the years, always looking for ways to make things better, create more value.
“When I was promoted to Service Manager, I took the things I wanted to be better, and I tried make it better for the guys today,” Justin said.
When approached with the 2020 theme of Value Up!, Justin breaks it down into two easily consumed nuggets: Customer satisfaction and Customer up-time. What are some ways service technicians can ensure both of these things?
Lessons from the Field: 4 Tips from Someone Who’s Been There Before:
Respond to the customer. Fast.
“When a service call comes in, I want my guys to call them within five or 10 minutes. Let them know we received your service call, we’re this far from getting to you, or you’re my next call. That’s so important,” Justin says. “It makes the customer feel valued. A lot of people (and companies) are moving away from that, but a more personal phone call helps ensure that customer feels like their issue is important.”
Make them duplicate the issue.
The service call could be a paper jam, but it could be the way they’re sending the file to the printer.
“Doing this helps us troubleshoot,” Justin said. “We should already be prepared ahead of time (with Canon SnapShot) and have a good idea of what’s going on, but I always tell my technicians to make the customer show them an example of what’s going on, or make them duplicate the issue.”
Don’t just fix the problem.
One of the biggest values we can add, Justin says, is being preventative.
You might be taking a call for a paper jam, but while you’re testing you notice a little line on the edge of the paper. Don’t ignore that. Check the consumable counts while you’re at the machine.
“If you’re looking at the count on the drum, and Canon says replace it at 100 percent, and we know that drum might run to 140 percent; but if you can go ahead and replace it, do it. You’re preventing potential downtime for that customer, which is critical.”
Also, completely “PM” every call.
Clean the laser. Clean the glass. Check the feed rollers. Check the drums. Check the fusers. Do that before you walk out of every customer’s office.
“Preventative maintenance is a huge in terms of the value we can provide customers,” Justin says/
Practice what we’re preaching.
“You know that new equipment that our sales team is telling customers, with all the added features that they need? We better know every tiny detail about that machine,” Justin says.
How does that happen? Ongoing education.
Canon ATSP and Konica Minolta Pro-Tech recognition doesn’t just matter in the trophy case. Spending time huddled in front of a computer, completing both online and in-person courses, and keeping up with the evolution of the devices we service is an unmistakable value-add for customers and their up-time.
