Not many dealer challenges end up as the top story on the evening news. Unfortunately for Advanced Business Equipment (ABE) in Asheville, North Carolina, that’s precisely what happened in September of 2024. A beautiful city nestled in the bucolic Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville grabbed national headlines when it bore the greatest brunt of Hurricane Helene’s five-state assault.
The storm resulted in no fewer than 250 casualties, and western North Carolina was the hardest hit. Asheville suffered catastrophic flooding from the French Broad River and its tributaries. Roads and bridges were destroyed, power losses were substantial and people were trapped inside their homes, unable to go anywhere. Common necessities were difficult to source.
ABE CEO Kevin Jackson and the dealer’s team members did its part to help in the recovery operation. We’ve documented this story previously (read here) but for our purposes in this article, we’ll share the dealership’s perspective and the steps it took to return its operations, and those of its customers, to as close to normal as possible. Even after the waters receded, the work had only just begun.
The company wrote: This required us to shift our focus from standard service operations to a comprehensive disaster recovery and support role for our clients. At ABE, we addressed this challenge through a multi-faceted approach focused on rapid customer recovery and operational continuity:
1. Rapid Infrastructure Restoration
Priority Response: We immediately mobilized our resources to prioritize customers who had suffered catastrophic IT and equipment loss. Our massive local inventory in our 20,000-square-foot warehouse and our large service team allowed us to deploy replacement copiers, multifunction printers, and network components far faster than competitors relying on delayed regional logistics.
2. Navigating Complex Insurance Claims
Claims Advocacy: We went beyond just repairing equipment. We actively assisted customers with the tedious and often complex process of processing insurance claims for damaged technology. Our team provided necessary documentation, detailed damage assessments and quotes, effectively acting as an informed technology liaison to streamline the often-frustrating recovery payments.
Budget Alignment: We worked closely with customers whose technology budgets were entirely wiped out by the storm, offering flexible terms and long-term rental options to ensure they could get the necessary equipment without being burdened by immediate, massive capital expenditures.
3. Helping the Customer Get Back to Work
Beyond IT: Our mission extended into general business continuity. By focusing on rapid restoration of printing, scanning and communication systems, we gave our customers the fundamental tools required to open their doors and get their workforce functioning again. This was a true test of our stability, which we passed by enabling our entire service area to quickly transition from crisis mode back to economic viability.
