When you’ve spent more than 40 years in the office technology dealer business, you’re bound to have a memorable story or two. Bill Hancher is no exception.
The vice president of strategic solutions for Pennsylvania-based Doing Better Business, Hancher’s career traces back to a different time, when handshakes and verbal agreements were just as binding as notarized contracts. Maverick owners and free-thinking entrepreneurs were everywhere, or maybe it just seemed that way. These people were nothing if not memorable.
Just a few years into his career as owner of Pro Business Systems, Hancher advertised in a local newspaper that did a business profile on his company’s growth. A prospect called and asked him to stop off at his office. When Hancher arrived, the prospect mentioned a machine he wanted to buy and asked for a quote. Hancher obliged.
Prospect: That’s not going to work for me.
Hancher: ???
Prospect: How are you going to survive just charging me that much? You’ve got to be asking for more than that.
Hancher: Really?
Prospect: C’mon, how much?
Hancher quotes a price $500 higher.
Prospect: Now you’re talking! You’re going to be successful.
“I thought he was just crazy; he must’ve been a 90-year-old man,” said Hancher, a 2026 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “When I delivered the machine, he gave me a blank check and told me to fill it out, but I wouldn’t do it. He eventually did. I took it to the bank just to make sure the check was good. The teller said, ‘Oh, Mr. Smith’s money is very good.’ It was unbelievable, but a pretty funny experience.”
During his formative years, Hancher attended a vocational school for industrial electronics. It would come in handy tasked with a project that involved typewriters, and it called for a bit of MacGyver-level ingenuity. A society for the deaf needed to modify the typewriters they were using. Ordinarily, when a typist reached the right margin, a bell would go off to indicate it was time to pull the carriage return lever. Obviously, the society’s members required a visual indicator, so Hancher wired lights to the units to accomplish the same goal—his early foray into customized solutions for clients.
While software programs and true automation were still a few years away when Hancher broke into the business, it was nonetheless an exciting time for him. His resourcefulness led to the creation of homemade programs and solutions. Hancher even made an RS-232 cable and connected an Olympia typewriter to a computer, essentially turning the typewriter into a printer. He’d been a technician for a Konica dealer and teamed with a fellow tech to start their own business.
“The digital age was kind of on the cusp, hadn’t fully arrived, but you could see what was happening heading into the 1990s,” he said. “I was really into computers and set up our first network. We became a WordPerfect dealer; selling the software allowed us to get it for nothing. I created a database for service history using DataPerfect. We’d started out with $500 and a set of tools—that was it. I enjoyed the heck out of everything IT related.”
Hancher credits much of his work ethic to his high school industrial electronics teacher, the improbably named John Workman. He took Workman’s class his junior year, and the teacher’s relentless attitude rubbed off on the young Hancher.
“Mister Workman pushed us so hard; he did not babysit us like other teachers,” he said. “He was one of those teachers where they just flip a switch inside of you, and I wanted to work harder.”
One might think it would be a rough adjustment to go from being a business owner, which Hancher was for 22 years, to being part of another company’s team. But after selling Pro Business Systems to Doing Better Business, he found the employer to be the proverbial breath of fresh air. Hancher loves interacting with salespeople as well as technicians, and the family atmosphere that was cultivated has made him feel at home. He’s not alone; customers are clearly enamored with the Altoona dealer’s crew, and it makes for a rewarding experience.
Not surprisingly, much of Hancher’s goals are centered on solutions, from the expansion of the dealer’s VoIP platform to the introduction of bottle-less water coolers. “I’m really gung-ho about solutions that fill needs, like electronic workflows. You can’t survive solely on clicks.”
It’s also obvious that Hancher’s mind boggles at the possibilities offered by AI. “There are going to be a lot of changes in the next two years,” he said. “I’m sure there will be new offerings that we’re not aware of right now, something no one’s thought of—yet.”
Hancher and his wife, Debbie, were married in 2020 and have six children, Brady Bunch style, with three apiece from previous marriages. They’re enjoying being grandparents now; grandchild number seven was born in September. Hancher is an avid amusement park aficionado (“I love any ride that will flip or throw me”) and his dream adventure would be to ride in an F-14 or an F-16. Hiking is another pastime. He’s journeyed through national parks including Zion and Yosemite.
The high school version of me wanted to be an: Architect
Celebrities you have met: NFL star Larry Csonka (a customer), comedian Gallagher
Favorite book or movie: “Field of Dreams”
Favorite food: Chicken paprika
Dream vacation destination: Italy—Rome and the Vatican
Any special talents: Self-taught guitar, mandolin, ukulele, keyboards
Guilty pleasure: Candy
Most prized possession: 1972 Gibson Hummingbird guitar
