{"id":11070,"date":"2015-01-28T13:35:59","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=11070"},"modified":"2015-04-03T13:15:05","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T17:15:05","slug":"automated-business-products-raises-the-bar-on-service-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/enx-features\/2015\/01\/automated-business-products-raises-the-bar-on-service-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Automated Business Products Raises the Bar on Service Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UPDATEDOffice Technology Service Excellence Diamond Award Winner<\/em><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take an advanced degree or knowledge of rocket science to figure out why some dealerships are more successful than others. Consider Automated Business Products, one of the leading office technology dealerships in Salt Lake City, UT. The current incarnation of the company began in 1999 after current president Lee Christensen and two other partners acquired a small 20-year old office technology dealership and changed its name to Automated Business Products. During the next 15 years the dealership grew from a $1.2-million dealership to a $16-million dealership. How\u2019d they do that? A large portion of Automated\u2019s success is the result of hiring the best people in the industry, while being a respected and valued business partner to its clients. Along with that is a commitment to delivering quality products and personal and caring service to customers. As Automated says on its Website, \u201cDoing what is right for the customer is the only way we know…it’s the only way you should accept.\u201d The key words there are \u201ccustomer\u201d and \u201cservice\u201d and when you put those together you have the foundation for ABP\u2019s success. Their customer service shines brightest in the technical service clients receive every single day.<\/p>\n

\"Right

Right to left: Lee Christensen, Todd Bennett, and Mike Archer CFO, one of the original partners.<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s not just a lot of talk either, because Automated is one of a select group of dealerships in the country to earn BEI Services and ENX<\/em> magazine\u2019s Office Technology Service Excellence Award. This new industry award recognizes service excellence among document imaging dealerships based on key performance metrics. \u201cWe\u2019re recognizing dealers and technicians whose service performance meets, or exceeds, specific and clear measurable goals for machine and technician performance,\u201d observes Wes McArtor, president of BEI Services. Some 250 companies submitted their data to BEI Services for analysis with only nine achieving the highest level of efficiency within their service departments. Truth be told, the bar was set high. A significant amount of time was spent qualifying these dealerships by evaluating the data and verifying the numbers were accurate to ensure their service departments were performing as well as the numbers indicated. For Christensen, this award reflects the great job done by Automated\u2019s Director of Service, Todd Bennett, and his team. With more than half their technicians winning individual awards, it\u2019s no wonder this dealership is one of the top in the nation. The relationship between Christensen and Bennett goes back to their days at IKON and Bennett was Christensen\u2019s first hire after acquiring Automated. \u201cWhen Todd and I first started working together we took a look at IKON\u2019s service model and evaluated it closely,\u201d recalls Christensen. \u201cBut IKON focused on measuring parts cost more closely than they did labor effectiveness. We looked at that ratio and determined the labor component of our cost structure was much larger than the parts component so we decided we weren\u2019t going to worry so much about parts usage. What we wanted to establish was a culture of call avoidance and a fix it right the first time approach in our<\/em> service model.\u201d As a result Automated focuses on total service calls, replacing parts before they fail versus waiting until something breaks. \u201cWe try to expand the volume of copies or prints between calls for any technology we service,\u201d says Christensen. That\u2019s what ultimately led ABP to adopt the BEI Services program. \u201cTheir tech compensation model was a nice fit for what we were already trying to do internally and was the answer to providing service excellence in our marketplace,\u201d notes Christensen. The ability to compile, standardize, and apply uniform error-correction has made a big difference at the dealership. ABP uses data exported directly from a large population of copier dealers\u2019 service computers to monitor average service costs and identify which machines in the field are exceeding the average cost. That information helps identify where improvements can be made and the projected savings generated by those improvements. He appreciates having data on all aspects of machine and technician performance, including model and segment performance, call-backs and hold-for-parts ratios, part-life, copy volume performance, and refurbished machine performance. In the last seven years, ABP\u2019s MIF, defined as \u201cMachines in Field\u201d, has increased by 42 percent. \u201cThe number is somewhat subjective,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt does include machines that are billed locally but are out of our service area. We also have a number of HP\u2019s under contract.\u201d He\u2019s found the best way to evaluate MIF is by volume. \u201cI track volume in a more localized way, or volume generated by techs touching machines,\u201d he explains. In October 2008, ABP\u2019s techs were responsible for 30 million black & white copies and 1.8 million color copies. As of November 2014, those numbers had grown to 35 million black & white and 7 million color.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The ABS management team.<\/p><\/div>\n

More importantly, ABP\u2019s service department has been the foundation of the company and they\u2019ve got the numbers to back that up. For example, in key service categories\u2019 call back percentages, ABP has experienced a 46 percent improvement as of November 2014. First call efficiency has been increased 35 percent while ABP\u2019s average hold for parts rate is 9 percent. Meanwhile, the average copies between calls are 31,092 on MFPs and 32,708 on HP products. \u201cThat is subjective and depends on segment mixes in the field,\u201d acknowledges Bennett. Going by the numbers and BEI Services\u2019 grading criteria, the dealership\u2019s service techs score a solid A-, placing them among the top of their class. Bennett and Christensen are well aware that the dealership\u2019s service department is of excellent quality. \u201cReceiving a prestigious award unsolicited really solidifies that we truly are doing a great job in service,\u201d states Christensen. \u201cThe biggest improvement is our overall customer satisfaction,\u201d beams Bennett. \u201cMost of our techs are very experienced; they understand the program, the benefits to them, the customer and the company. They know that high productivity, quality calls, and smart parts usage equates to improved copies between calls. As a result techs are receiving good bonuses, customers are receiving great service, and company profits have improved.\u201d That said, Bennett realizes there will always be new technicians to train. \u201cNew techs are helped to assimilate into our culture and understand the BEI system that we manage.\u201d It comes with the territory. \u201cThis is where we put a lot of our effort for improvement,\u201d states Bennett. \u201cWe strive to improve the numbers when we identify an issue.\u201d Implementing this program has been helpful, and from a service perspective it is in sync with what ABP strives to achieve. \u201cMy customers like my techs even though they don\u2019t see them a lot, which is my goal,\u201d says Bennett. Automated has and continues to work hard to ensure the service it provides to customers on a daily basis is second to none. That\u2019s why a commitment to containing costs and labor expenses by properly training techs and stocking them with the correct parts is top of mind within the dealership. Bennett\u2019s ability to see what his costs are on specific models and understand what his costs are based on allows him to make informed decisions, which ultimately lead to greater customer satisfaction. Although some dealers have been able to reduce the number of techs in the field as a result of having all this data at their fingertips, his existing technician team has been able to handle additional workloads with the utmost efficiency even as ABP\u2019s customer base grew. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to hire additional staff for a long time,\u201d states Bennett, who just added an additional tech on January 1 to keep pace with the dealership\u2019s growth in color output volume. Bennett reports that ABP\u2019s techs are compensated for how well they perform their jobs, and as a result are as satisfied as their customers. \u201cThis model has changed the way we manage our people,\u201d says Bennett. \u201cSince we changed to this type of program, it\u2019s more advantageous to them to have more clicks in that territory since it\u2019s based on the volume of each machine.\u201d Plus Automated has become adept at identifying problem machines sooner rather than later. \u201cWhenever problems come up, sales reps and techs are getting in front of customers a lot faster than ever before,\u201d states Bennett. It\u2019s all about being proactive, which leads to greater customer satisfaction, even though the data allowing for the improvements are transparent to the customer. \u201cThe most noticeable thing for our customers is they\u2019re not seeing us as often,\u201d states Bennett. \u201cService response is the first thing many potential customers ask about. How fast are you going to be here? Since having access to this data I can\u2019t remember the last time a customer asked about our response time.\u201d Still, it\u2019s one thing to have all this information; it\u2019s another to act on it. \u201cThis information helps us understand what \u2018good\u2019 looks like,\u201d adds Christensen. \u201cWe can tell what good looks like on a specific machine model because we\u2019re going by information from a database that is tracking similar machines from all over the country. The data lets us know what to expect from them as far as copies between calls. In addition it allows us to understand what \u2018good\u2019 looks like from the standpoint of technician performance. Now instead of looking at technician performance from a call completed standpoint, we can analyze their performance from a qualitative standpoint, which is in my opinion much more accurate.\u201d Both Christensen and Bennett are excited about being recognized as a Diamond Office Technology Service Excellence Dealer. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be exciting to tell my techs,\u201d says Bennett. \u201cBeing recognized with this award really confirms how good our people are. I have an excellent staff.\u201d This recognition is also something that Christensen and Bennett, as well as ABP\u2019s sales organization, plan on sharing with customers along with how this access to service-related data enables the dealership to offer the highest levels of service. Indeed, Automated\u2019s sales group and Bennett consistently talk about how ABP\u2019s service department leverages data to improve its service levels. \u201cThis is a big deal,\u201d states Bennett. \u201cOnce we start talking about copies between calls and how we do it, I get their attention.\u201d Christensen concludes, \u201cWhen it comes to differentiating ourselves in the marketplace, this is the way to do it.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong> Automated Business Products<\/strong> Salt Lake City, UT <\/strong> www.abpweb.com<\/strong><\/a> President: <\/strong>Lee Christensen Director of Service: <\/strong>Todd Bennett Brands Serviced: <\/strong>Ricoh, HP, Kyocera, Canon, Fujitsu Territory Covered: <\/strong>Northern Utah Approximate Yearly Revenues for Dealership: <\/strong>$15-$20 million Approximate # of Customers Serviced: <\/strong>4,000 ABP\u2019s Key areas of service excellence: <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A 46% improvement in call back percentages<\/li>\n
  2. A 35% increase in first call efficiency<\/li>\n
  3. Average copies between calls is 31,092 on MFPs and 32,708 on HP products<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Office Technology Service Excellence Diamond Award Winner It doesn\u2019t take an advanced degree or knowledge of rocket science to figure out why some dealerships are more successful than others. Consider Automated Business Products, one of the leading office technology dealerships in Salt Lake City, UT. The current incarnation of the company began in 1999 after current president Lee Christensen and two other partners acquired a small 20-year old office technology dealership and changed its name to Automated Business Products. During the next 15 years the dealership grew from a $1.2-million dealership to a $16-million dealership. How\u2019d they do that? A large portion of Automated\u2019s success is the result of hiring the best people in the industry, while being a respected and valued business partner to its clients. Along with that is a commitment to delivering quality products and personal and caring service to customers. As Automated says on its Website, \u201cDoing what is right for the customer is the only way we know…it’s the only way you should accept.\u201d The key words there are \u201ccustomer\u201d and \u201cservice\u201d and when you put those together you have the foundation for ABP\u2019s success. Their customer service shines brightest in the technical service clients receive every single day. That\u2019s not just a lot of talk either, because Automated is one of a select group of dealerships in the country to earn BEI Services and ENX magazine\u2019s Office Technology Service Excellence Award. This new industry award recognizes service excellence among document imaging dealerships based on key performance metrics. \u201cWe\u2019re recognizing dealers and technicians whose service performance meets, or exceeds, specific and clear measurable goals for machine and technician performance,\u201d observes Wes McArtor, president of BEI Services. Some 250 companies submitted their data to BEI Services for analysis with only nine achieving the highest level of efficiency within their service departments. Truth be told, the bar was set high. A significant amount of time was spent qualifying these dealerships by evaluating the data and verifying the numbers were accurate to ensure their service departments were performing as well as the numbers indicated. For Christensen, this award reflects the great job done by Automated\u2019s Director of Service, Todd Bennett, and his team. With more than half their technicians winning individual awards, it\u2019s no wonder this dealership is one of the top in the nation. The relationship between Christensen and Bennett goes back to their days at IKON and Bennett was Christensen\u2019s first hire after acquiring Automated. \u201cWhen Todd and I first started working together we took a look at IKON\u2019s service model and evaluated it closely,\u201d recalls Christensen. \u201cBut IKON focused on measuring parts cost more closely than they did labor effectiveness. We looked at that ratio and determined the labor component of our cost structure was much larger than the parts component so we decided we weren\u2019t going to worry so much about parts usage. What we wanted to establish was a culture of call avoidance and a fix it right the first time approach in our service model.\u201d As a result Automated focuses on total service calls, replacing parts before they fail versus waiting until something breaks. \u201cWe try to expand the volume of copies or prints between calls for any technology we service,\u201d says Christensen. That\u2019s what ultimately led ABP to adopt the BEI Services program. \u201cTheir tech compensation model was a nice fit for what we were already trying to do internally and was the answer to providing service excellence in our marketplace,\u201d notes Christensen. The ability to compile, standardize, and apply uniform error-correction has made a big difference at the dealership. ABP uses data exported directly from a large population of copier dealers\u2019 service computers to monitor average service costs and identify which machines in the field are exceeding the average cost. That information helps identify where improvements can be made and the projected savings generated by those improvements. He appreciates having data on all aspects of machine and technician performance, including model and segment performance, call-backs and hold-for-parts ratios, part-life, copy volume performance, and refurbished machine performance. In the last seven years, ABP\u2019s MIF, defined as \u201cMachines in Field\u201d, has increased by 42 percent. \u201cThe number is somewhat subjective,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt does include machines that are billed locally but are out of our service area. We also have a number of HP\u2019s under contract.\u201d He\u2019s found the best way to evaluate MIF is by volume. \u201cI track volume in a more localized way, or volume generated by techs touching machines,\u201d he explains. In October 2008, ABP\u2019s techs were responsible for 30 million black & white copies and 1.8 million color copies. As of November 2014, those numbers had grown to 35 million black & white and 7 million color. More importantly, ABP\u2019s service department has been the foundation of the company and they\u2019ve got the numbers to back that up. For example, in key service categories\u2019 call back percentages, ABP has experienced a 46 percent improvement as of November 2014. First call efficiency has been increased 35 percent while ABP\u2019s average hold for parts rate is 9 percent. Meanwhile, the average copies between calls are 31,092 on MFPs and 32,708 on HP products. \u201cThat is subjective and depends on segment mixes in the field,\u201d acknowledges Bennett. Going by the numbers and BEI Services\u2019 grading criteria, the dealership\u2019s service techs score a solid A-, placing them among the top of their class. Bennett and Christensen are well aware that the dealership\u2019s service department is of excellent quality. \u201cReceiving a prestigious award unsolicited really solidifies that we truly are doing a great job in service,\u201d states Christensen. \u201cThe biggest improvement is our overall customer satisfaction,\u201d beams Bennett. \u201cMost of our techs are very experienced; they understand the program, the benefits to them, the customer and the company. They know that high productivity, quality calls, and smart parts usage equates to improved copies between calls. As a result techs are receiving good bonuses, customers are receiving great service, and company profits have improved.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1649],"tags":[2061,2065,2062,2063,2064],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11070"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11888,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11070\/revisions\/11888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}