Posts Tagged ‘business’

Point to where it hurts.

We’ve been working at hiring a few good techs.  Technicians of the dreamy variety.  Technicians that arrive when they should to a customer’s site, are dressed nice, speak kindly, are able to diagnose and repair a printer and can do it all quickly.  We have had a hard time fulfilling these positions.  Some of the technicians we have tried have even come from competitors.  Maybe our standards are too high.  Or maybe most possible job applicant’s past employers standards are too low.

It seems we live in a world of almost unending unemployment payouts.  Many candidates simply told us the pay does not justify them actually getting a job.  Who knew it was more fulfilling to sit on the couch and watch cartoons all day?  Many applicants were under the impression that they could fix anything if given the chance.  Broken stereo, no problem.  Cracked concrete, no sweat.  Noisy air conditioner, give me 10 minutes.  All was fine right up until we offered up a printer with a jam.  All of a sudden these mechanical gods are brought down to a repair person looking like a tyrannosaurus rex.  You know the kind, a lot of whining and arm flailing with no real repair being done.

After countless interviews we have come to a few distinct conclusions:

1)      Mechanical aptitude is something you are born with.  Many people can fake it for a while, but eventually they’ll get stuck with no mind for how stuff works.

2)      Customer service is something that many people claim they know about.  Still more claim they have high abilities in this regard.  Few actually do.  If you don’t seem nice on the phone, over email or in person, your customer service skills are suspect.

3)      Cleanliness is next to godliness.  As in, if you and your space around you are clean, you are a pretty swell person.  If you are a mess, people don’t trust you and they feel you are better suited somewhere else.  Having your shirt tucked in and hair combed for an interview speaks volumes about how you’ll look at a customer’s site.

4)      Combining all of these rare attributes into one person and have that person looking to you for employment is like finding the perfect specimen.  The only problem beyond this seems to be convincing some individuals that although they think they fit these criteria, their past performance proves they do not.

So we are looking for some advice.  We need to find some individuals to fill service positions that meet our high standards.  If you or someone you know fits that bill, please let us know.  Many office printers in the world need them.

Isn’t it amazing how marketing trends come and go? Consumers are seemingly running around wildly gobbling up products that are presented to them in a manner that fits the latest marketing fads. A lot of companies are continuing to latch onto the “green movement” by touting products that are eco-friendly or some such claim. Some products and services actually are, while some consumers may just need to fill their conscience with the claims.

Let me tell you a little story about how marketing green is possibly doing more harm than good. We see a lot of offices, and we see a lot of waste. One of the things that blows our minds is the fact that many companies that may tout themselves as green utilize terrible practices in their businesses, some of which could be called more black or red than green.

For example, say you have a company that offers commercial construction, new buildings, remodels, and the like. The customer may prefer to lean towards the green movement at this stage to save money over time. In this case it would be with energy efficient lighting, high R-value insulation and other inexpensive cost-saving measures. When the space is finally complete, the building will be filled with Styrofoam cups, take-out wrappers, wasteful printers and a parking lot full of the easy to hate gas-guzzlers.

Well since our focus is printers, we’ll leave the rest for other bloggers to write about. This fancy building has been built with smooth company workflow in mind, with a touch of greenness to save cash and to get yourself a pat on the back. What happens if the wasteful printer you added to this grand buildup breaks? You likely throw it away and buy a new one. Maybe you even drive to the local we-have-it-all store and purchase the deal of the week. Tell me exactly where this “away” is that you are throwing your broken printer? Stop looking at the floor, you know what you’ve done.

Let’s continue to ridicule the pseudo-green purchaser and toss in the whole ink needed for wasteful printers. They’re destroying the planet one expensive ink cartridge after another, so some harsh ridicule by the rest of the world seems marginally harmless. When you throw away that old ink cartridge you are adding to the waste that we need to deal with. You have your ink refilled? When does that patent protected cartridge wear out to the point of not being able to be refilled, and where does it then end up? You recycle your ink cartridges? That sounds fantastic, and do you expect these “recycled” cartridges are collected and turned into park benches somewhere? I’ll save the details of that illusion for another post, just suffice it to say no dolphins will be in line to hug you.

So what can you do? Simple, all you need to do is either accept the fact that you as an individual or company are really not that green and you are a member of the burden that rests on the world’s shoulders, or you can change your hypocritical ways and find a better option. What do you suppose an option would be to fill the void left by a throwaway printer? If you said a non-throwaway printer, you are correct. Your genius shines when challenged. How would you describe a non-throwaway printer? Big, expensive and complicated? Or would you describe it as efficient, fast and frugal? We would suggest a change in perspective to allow you and your company to see that professional companies have professional printers. If your office equipment is disposable, what does that say about your office?

If you work for or own a small business, you may be overwhelmed with the tasks thrown upon you. You alone may be taking care of hiring & firing, accounting, purchasing, leading, selling, managing, cleaning, advertising and networking. Then you may actually throw in the job that you actually need to do to make money. When all of these tasks are put on you, many details may fall through the cracks. These details may include office equipment purchases. Maybe you’ll fall into the trap of buying something cheap and hoping it is good enough. Maybe you already have.

Rest assured, we understand your position and we can help. One of the best things about small businesses is the ability to adapt and outsource. Say you need some ad work done, you hire a graphic designer. If you don’t like the work or how it is being handled, you could get a different graphic designer. Outsourcing your tasks can save a ton of time and will lead you to do your job better.

Would you trust a mechanic to help you find a car, if they offered that service? Would also likely trust an appliance repair professional to offer suggestions on what home appliances can stand the test of time and the abuse you may give it? If so, than would it make sense to speak with a printer service technician in regards to what office machines you should consider purchasing?

It would be a simple meeting or even a simple phone call or email conversation. You outline what you are looking for, and the service technician does a little homework to find exactly what you need. Often we at Doc Jams are able to find such dramatic savings that the office machines are able to essentially pay for themselves in cost savings. Can you imagine that? Basically a free high quality professional office machine, all because you had the stunning intellect to ask a professional printer service technician.

Business success is just a great printer technician away!

We live in a world where most people enjoy color printing at home though they may not have that luxury at work.  Isn’t it odd that a place of business is not utilizing color to make their brand stand out?

Printing a color logo on every piece of correspondence is a great way to create unity and brand identity.  Ask any graphic designer and we are certain they will agree, color says it better.

Be careful what machine you use for color, though.  Check out our other blogs for advice on professional color printers.