![\"Teri](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Teri-Brymer-with-IT-tech-Dave-Clayton-with-friend-Darth-Vader-at-Tulare-Count-2016-Annual-Tech-Fair.jpg\")
Teri Brymer with IT tech Dave Clayton with friend Darth Vader at Tulare County’s 2016 Annual Tech Fair<\/p><\/div>\n
CBM currently has 22 employees, including six service techs plus an IT tech. A customer support person does training, supports an MPS program, and manages the FMAudit tracking. Those six service techs service 35 percent more machines than the average tech. How it achieved that efficiency has earned CBM the BEI\/ENX Platinum Office Technology Service Excellence Award.<\/p>\n
To get to the level of service excellence that CBM has today, the company began a big cultural change four years ago. At that time, Brymer had taken over management of the company from her mother. \u201cMy parents started California Business Machines back in 1953, so we will be 63 years old this December,\u201d said Teri Brymer, CBM president. \u201cOur main mission of providing office technology, services and support to our customers has stayed consistent over the years. We\u2019re a mid\u2011sized dealer. I think not too small, not too big.\u201d CBM started out selling and servicing manual typewriters and adding machines, and started selling Mita copiers in the 1970\u2019s through the transition to Kyocera and still today. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great partnership. We do right by them, and they do right by us,\u201d said Brymer.<\/p>\n
What drove the cultural change was employees\u2019 perceived priority on profit. Brymer wanted a customer-centric attitude. For example, service techs should be making decisions based on what\u2019s right for the customer, not necessarily what\u2019s most profitable for CBM.<\/p>\n
Most of the companies that CBM serves are family and locally owned small- to mid-sized businesses, much like CBM. \u201cWe also do a lot with local government, a lot of county, cities, churches, schools, and we have local large companies that we deal with as well,\u201d said Brymer. \u201cThey really feel like a part of the California Business Machines family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Business is good for CBM, with double-digit growth. \u201cWith Kyocera alone we did 20 percent over the prior year, so that\u2019s good. [Growth is] tied in with service excellence,\u201d said Dick Elixman, owner of Business Systems Consulting. \u201cThe better we take care of our customers, the easier it is to get both the growth and sales volume. [Prospects] call our customers and find out that we have a good reputation for service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equipment sales are growing a little faster than service sales, due in part to a marketing focus on new accounts. About 45 percent of CBM\u2019s equipment sales come from new opportunities, either businesses that have not been customers or customers returning after leaving CBM for at least 12 months. 60 percent of CBM\u2019s revenue growth comes from equipment sales and 40 percent from services and supplies.<\/p>\n
![\"CBM](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/showroom1212.jpg\")
CBM Showroom<\/p><\/div>\n
Brymer is confident that the improvement in its service delivery is helping build customer loyalty. It\u2019s also having an indirect positive effect on new sales, including a big government account in the Superior Court of Fresno County. \u201cThey weren\u2019t happy with their current situation, and they were very focused on getting the right product and mostly getting the right service and response time,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can imagine that the Court needs everything up and running all the time, so they need us to respond quickly when it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
After CBM put in a bid, the Superior Court started calling into its account base, including its two largest customers \u2013 Fresno and Tulare Counties. \u201cThey got excellent testimonials about us and they felt very good about going with us,\u201d said Brymer. \u201cWe\u2019ve had them now since last spring, so not quite a year. We meet with them quarterly, and they love us, so we\u2019ve done everything right. I think it\u2019s apparent that our support at every level has been good before, but improved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeping the Momentum Going<\/strong><\/p>\n To maintain growth and adapt as the marketplace changes, CBM needs good data on how its service department is performing. Access to data not only helps identify problems, but also helps to develop and coach service techs once they are hired.<\/p>\n \u201cBEI is the tool that allows us to have a base of information that hits all the key spots that we want service technicians to perform,\u201d said Elixman. He said it\u2019s not necessarily about overall performance, but knowing on which areas to focus a tech\u2019s coaching\u2014for example, noting that one tech has a high recall rate. \u201cBy using a coaching approach, we get one to improve then move ahead. Every day, every month, we\u2019re looking for an individual we want to become better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n To encourage buy-in and create incentive, CBM uses a metric-based pay system. \u201cWe don\u2019t employ a merit\u2011based type of pay solution where we pay them for staying,\u201d said Elixman. \u201cA metric-based pay system defines what they\u2019ll be paid in six months in their semiannual review for performing and getting better at what they do. They have to not only do their base job, but they have to meet three objectives. One is a workgroup objective, one is a personal development objective, and another that is specific in their job that they need to change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBEI is the basis for everything we move forward with in the next five years to attain certain metrics or certain outcomes,\u201d said Elixman. One of those outcomes is first\u2011call efficiency. \u201cWhat is that percentage of calls that they actually fixed on the first call?\u201d BEI can identify the drivers of first call efficiency, such as whether the tech had the right parts or did not troubleshoot correctly.<\/p>\n The cultural change and access to service data through BEI has changed the way CBM manages its service department. \u201cWe coach instead of dictate,\u201d said Elixman. One of Elixman\u2019s responsibilities at CBM is to coach the service manager to properly operate a service department.<\/p>\n CBM\u2019s service manager, Bill Cooper, had been a field manager, not a service manager. \u201cHis skill set is absolutely second to none in working with the people, but you see in terms of really managing a service department, that was not first nature to him,\u201d said Elixman. Using the data from BEI, Elixman has shown Cooper to tie it together with productivity goals, so he in turn can coach the service techs. \u201cHe\u2019s learning how to move the numbers that are in a trend line\u2014keep that trend line so that first-call efficiency number keeps improving every month or every quarter,\u201d said Elixman.<\/p>\n Another key to maintaining growth is creating career paths and hiring younger people into the industry. \u201cWe employ what we call a customer service representative who touches base with the customers, helps them solve problems, and makes sure that everybody gets everything that they need,\u201d said Elixman. This is an entry-level position, but very important. Elixman said that because this person wants to build a career, he responds well to being challenged to constantly do better.<\/p>\n Overcoming Resistance<\/strong><\/p>\n When CBM first rolled out the BEI program, the service techs were skeptical about the information. \u201cIf I\u2019m a service tech, I prefer not to have anyone talking to me about my activity,\u201d said Elixman. \u201cWe\u2019re getting into a very personal neighborhood when you start showing someone their report card. As a matter of fact, before we have all this dialed in, I never show the report cards to the technician because it would be too startling to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUntil we reach a buy in of 80 percent and preferably 90 percent of the technicians, you cannot move on to coaching with this,\u201d said Elixman. \u201cIf they disregard the information, then why would that help us, why would they believe it?\u201d<\/p>\n CBM has shown that a family focus and customer-centric culture make for engaged employees and loyal customers. An environment like that makes tools like BEI that much more effective.<\/p>\n About the Dealership:<\/strong> Information provided by BEI<\/strong> OTSEA Platinum award winners rank in the top 25 of all dealers evaluated. \u00a0The evaluations are based on Call Back percentage, Hold for Parts percentage, MCBV (Mean Copies Between Visits) and Technician Grading. \u00a0Tech Grading encompasses Time Accountability and Time Management along with individual HP, CB and MCBV rates as well as parts expense as it relates to parts CPC compared to world stats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As any seasoned manager will tell you, getting staff buy-in on a new idea or way of doing work\u00a0is tough. Sometimes to get your people to change, you as a manager have to change. That\u2019s the challenge that California Business Machines (CBM) in Fresno, California, faced four years ago when it decided that its service department needed to change the way it worked. \u201cThat goes back to family and taking care of the customer and also being local, because no company is perfect, and you make mistakes, whatever those mistakes may be or are perceived by the customer,\u201d said company president Teri Brymer. When a customer calls with a problem now, the response is, \u201cHow do we make this right?\u201d CBM currently has 22 employees, including six service techs plus an IT tech. A customer support person does training, supports an MPS program, and manages the FMAudit tracking. Those six service techs service 35 percent more machines than the average tech. How it achieved that efficiency has earned CBM the BEI\/ENX Platinum Office Technology Service Excellence Award. To get to the level of service excellence that CBM has today, the company began a big cultural change four years ago. At that time, Brymer had taken over management of the company from her mother. \u201cMy parents started California Business Machines back in 1953, so we will be 63 years old this December,\u201d said Teri Brymer, CBM president. \u201cOur main mission of providing office technology, services and support to our customers has stayed consistent over the years. We\u2019re a mid\u2011sized dealer. I think not too small, not too big.\u201d CBM started out selling and servicing manual typewriters and adding machines, and started selling Mita copiers in the 1970\u2019s through the transition to Kyocera and still today. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great partnership. We do right by them, and they do right by us,\u201d said Brymer. What drove the cultural change was employees\u2019 perceived priority on profit. Brymer wanted a customer-centric attitude. For example, service techs should be making decisions based on what\u2019s right for the customer, not necessarily what\u2019s most profitable for CBM. Most of the companies that CBM serves are family and locally owned small- to mid-sized businesses, much like CBM. \u201cWe also do a lot with local government, a lot of county, cities, churches, schools, and we have local large companies that we deal with as well,\u201d said Brymer. \u201cThey really feel like a part of the California Business Machines family.\u201d Business is good for CBM, with double-digit growth. \u201cWith Kyocera alone we did 20 percent over the prior year, so that\u2019s good. [Growth is] tied in with service excellence,\u201d said Dick Elixman, owner of Business Systems Consulting. \u201cThe better we take care of our customers, the easier it is to get both the growth and sales volume. [Prospects] call our customers and find out that we have a good reputation for service.\u201d Equipment sales are growing a little faster than service sales, due in part to a marketing focus on new accounts. About 45 percent of CBM\u2019s equipment sales come from new opportunities, either businesses that have not been customers or customers returning after leaving CBM for at least 12 months. 60 percent of CBM\u2019s revenue growth comes from equipment sales and 40 percent from services and supplies. Brymer is confident that the improvement in its service delivery is helping build customer loyalty. It\u2019s also having an indirect positive effect on new sales, including a big government account in the Superior Court of Fresno County. \u201cThey weren\u2019t happy with their current situation, and they were very focused on getting the right product and mostly getting the right service and response time,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can imagine that the Court needs everything up and running all the time, so they need us to respond quickly when it isn\u2019t.\u201d After CBM put in a bid, the Superior Court started calling into its account base, including its two largest customers \u2013 Fresno and Tulare Counties. \u201cThey got excellent testimonials about us and they felt very good about going with us,\u201d said Brymer. \u201cWe\u2019ve had them now since last spring, so not quite a year. We meet with them quarterly, and they love us, so we\u2019ve done everything right. I think it\u2019s apparent that our support at every level has been good before, but improved.\u201d Keeping the Momentum Going To maintain growth and adapt as the marketplace changes, CBM needs good data on how its service department is performing. Access to data not only helps identify problems, but also helps to develop and coach service techs once they are hired. \u201cBEI is the tool that allows us to have a base of information that hits all the key spots that we want service technicians to perform,\u201d said Elixman. He said it\u2019s not necessarily about overall performance, but knowing on which areas to focus a tech\u2019s coaching\u2014for example, noting that one tech has a high recall rate. \u201cBy using a coaching approach, we get one to improve then move ahead. Every day, every month, we\u2019re looking for an individual we want to become better,\u201d he said. To encourage buy-in and create incentive, CBM uses a metric-based pay system. \u201cWe don\u2019t employ a merit\u2011based type of pay solution where we pay them for staying,\u201d said Elixman. \u201cA metric-based pay system defines what they\u2019ll be paid in six months in their semiannual review for performing and getting better at what they do. They have to not only do their base job, but they have to meet three objectives. One is a workgroup objective, one is a personal development objective, and another that is specific in their job that they need to change.\u201d \u201cBEI is the basis for everything we move forward with in the next five years to attain certain metrics or certain outcomes,\u201d said Elixman. One of those outcomes is first\u2011call efficiency. \u201cWhat is that percentage of calls that they actually fixed on the first call?\u201d BEI can identify the drivers of first call efficiency, such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2195],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20897"}],"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\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20897"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20918,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20897\/revisions\/20918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"img_0135\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_0135.jpg\")
CBM started with \u201clittle bits and basics\u201d such as first-call efficiency. A tech might think he has 70 percent efficiency, but the data says 26 percent. That provides the opportunity to show how BEI arrived at that percentage. \u201cBEI does a great job of presenting it in a simple enough manner that with three or four sessions you can do that, but it\u2019s always about that data,\u201d said Elixman.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CBM-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n
\n1. Owner\/President: Teri Brymer
\n2. Service Manager: Bill Cooper
\n3. Number of Techs: 7 including an IT tech
\n4. Number of Devices Serviced: 6795<\/p>\n
\n1. First-Call Effectiveness: 56-59%
\n2. Hold for Parts Rate: 9-15%
\n3. Ranking: 16th overall of the 170 dealers<\/p>\n
\n