{"id":11429,"date":"2015-02-24T13:50:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T18:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=11429"},"modified":"2015-04-03T13:11:29","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T17:11:29","slug":"innovative-document-solutions-a-dealership-with-a-foundation-based-on-super-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/enx-features\/2015\/02\/innovative-document-solutions-a-dealership-with-a-foundation-based-on-super-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovative Document Solutions: A Dealership with a Foundation Based on Super Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Kevin Heitritter, President of Innovative Document Solutions in Murrieta, CA, knows great service. He ought to. He began his career as a service tech in the mid 1980\u2019s before starting his own office technology dealership in 1989.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a career path most dealer principals take and Heitritter knows it. \u201cI am cut from a different grain, I carried a tool bag before I carried a briefcase,\u201d he concedes.<\/p>\n

Considering Heitritter\u2019s and his service manager, Frank Birtcher\u2019s backgrounds, along with the dealership\u2019s 26-year emphasis on service, it\u2019s not much of a surprise that Innovative Document Solutions is a BEI Services and ENX Magazine Office Technology Service Excellence Diamond Award winner. It\u2019s not surprising either that their scores are among the highest of any dealership tracked. Equally impressive is that Innovative is a small dealership serving a niche market. An authorized Canon dealer, Innovative focuses on the Inland Empire aka Southwest Riverside County. Besides its Murrieta headquarters, there\u2019s a branch office in Palm Desert, CA.<\/p>\n

Approximately 75 percent of Innovative\u2019s customers are small to medium size businesses while the rest fall into the enterprise segment. Customers tend to choose Innovative because they appreciate their proactive approach to service.<\/p>\n

Innovative\u2019s biggest competitors are Canon and Konica Minolta branches. Xerox has a strong presence too. \u201cI probably have five Canon Solutions America offices within a 70-mile geography around me,\u201d reports Heitritter. \u201cThey\u2019re everywhere!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(left

(left to right) Kevin Heitritter, President, and Frank Birtcher, Service Manager, Innovative Document Solutions<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s okay, Innovative can deal with it, and has historically held its own against larger, better funded competitors. \u201cBeing a local around-the-corner dealer helps,\u201d states Heitritter. \u201cCustomers appreciate our ability to act quickly and take care of their needs. If they go to a branch or a larger dealer, they\u2019re just an ID number. Here, they\u2019re more than an ID number and we get to know them intimately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heitritter has understood from the beginning that his background in service is a huge differentiator. \u201cI\u2019m more of an operational guy and technical guy,\u201d observes Heitritter, who does his share of selling like any other owner.<\/p>\n

The difference between him and his peers who started in sales\u2014and Heitritter\u2019s been a member of SDG for more than 10 years and a past president\u2014is that it\u2019s a different conversation when he\u2019s<\/em> in front of a customer. \u201cIt gives me a competitive edge,\u201d he says. \u201cI spend more time on metrics, looking at profitability and parts usage and stats in our service department than sales GP or sales goals. That\u2019s our mantra and we realize if we give good service the renewal process for our sales reps is easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

If renewals are easy, then why would a dealership with a well-documented history of providing great service need a program from BEI Services?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started working with Innovative, their numbers from the get-go looked better than the average dealer starting out with BEI,\u201d acknowledges Steve Sharkey of BEI Services. \u201cThat simply speaks to Kevin and Frank\u2019s backgrounds in service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t a complete train wreck and didn\u2019t need to reinvent the wheel,\u201d explains Heitritter. \u201cWe were providing great service. BEI helps us validate and build off of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, Innovative now has a snapshot of what they look like compared to everybody else from a service and parts perspective.<\/p>\n

The technician compensation piece of the program was another reason. \u201cWe wanted to pay our guys to do a good job,\u201d states Heitritter. \u201cIf it\u2019s green in their jean the tech\u2019s going to march to that. On the 15th<\/sup> when we pay sales commissions, we pay our BEI commissions and it\u2019s a good feeling to see our techs receive an added bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovative also uses the program to data mine. \u201cA lot of times we\u2019re comparing ourselves to other dealers and what parts are being used with different models, especially a new release model that we may not be selling a lot of yet,\u201d notes Heitritter. \u201cWe can see ahead of time what parts are being used. We thought we\u2019d always done a decent job, but it\u2019s also helping Frank write his employee reviews every month. It\u2019s just a great tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as Innovative\u2019s scores, Heitritter is quick to identify who is responsible for the dealership\u2019s performance. \u201cFrank is the biggest reason,\u201d he says. \u201cI can only lead so much, but it takes someone to take the reins and run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides his unparalleled technical expertise, Birtcher is adept at resolving issues over the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur phone fix rate is extremely high,\u201d emphasizes Heitritter. \u201cFrank is like having another tech and a half to two techs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reviewing Innovative\u2019s scorecard, their hold for parts rate was 9 percent. \u201cWhich means their numbers are well within the threshold we\u2019re looking for from a benchmark standpoint,\u201d says Sharkey.<\/p>\n

Copies per tech is 80 percent, a reflection of the niche market they serve. \u201cThey don\u2019t sell to production environments like other dealerships in bigger markets do,\u201d adds Sharkey.<\/p>\n

Over the past six months Innovative\u2019s first call fix rate was 66 percent while call backs were running at 25 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat puts them in the upper echelon of each of those categories,\u201d reports Sharkey. \u201cThose are the three big metrics that look at how good these guys are at fixing the equipment the first time. That speaks to the department and company profitability, and speaks largely to their customer\u2019s experience. Their customers have to feel confident the vast majority of the time when their techs come through the door they\u2019re going to have the skills, the parts, and the wherewithal to get that problem fixed on that first trip and that\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovative benchmarks itself against the Johnson model and Heitritter says they exceed that profitability benchmark when everything is mixed into the stirring bowl. He\u2019s now looking to take things to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge now is supplies gate-keeping on managed print as well as supplies gate-keeping for color devices. That\u2019s a big hidden loss center if you\u2019re not measuring it properly. Our CPC prices have dropped and you don\u2019t want to send more toner than you need. We\u2019re also rolling our contract profitability on a lot of major accounts and gate-keeping the supplies piece of the business. The functionality break-fix, we have that strong and do a good job, now it\u2019s how to mature the profitability of a whole contract whether it\u2019s MPS or MFP and to get a better handle on that in 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heitritter hopes this acknowledgement creates more opportunities for Innovative.\u00a0 \u201cWe support populations of 100+ [devices], but we want to get into more major accounts,\u201d he says. \u201cEven though we\u2019re a small dealer this makes us look like a larger dealer. \u00a0It\u2019s just going to help us grow the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he has any advice for other dealers looking to enhance their service operations, Heitritter replies, \u201cAny dealer principal not involved in their service department and relies on someone to run reports and doesn\u2019t look at it on a monthly or daily basis, ought to invest money in software [that does that for you]. That\u2019s where the money is made, on the service side of the house, and every dealer principal across the country should know that. Partnering with a software solutions provider, you owe it to your customers, you owe it to your employees, and you owe it to yourself as an owner. This is what renews leases, this is what makes customers come back, and this is what customers rave about to other potential customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Innovative Document Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murrieta, CA <\/strong><\/p>\n

www.idsprintwise.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

President: <\/strong>Kevin Heitritter<\/p>\n

Service Manager: <\/strong>Frank Birtcher<\/p>\n

Brands Serviced: <\/strong>Canon, HP, Samsung<\/p>\n

Territory Covered: <\/strong>Southwest Riverside County, CA<\/p>\n

Why They Stand Out:<\/strong><\/p>\n