When you’re looking for a copier service provider (or whatever kind of service provider) to help you run your business, you need a partner – not just someone who’s only interested in selling you something.
Reliable copier service providers and a solid relationship go together like peanut butter and chocolate. You're willing to consume the calories, but you want it to be worth it. Like a peanut butter cup. When it comes to a service provider and a relationship there's not much differenceI – if you’re going to find one, you want it to be the right one.
Don't suffer through poisonous relationships (or a high calorie, unsatisfying treat), life's too short – either in your personal or professional life. When I typed “relationship” into Google search, this quote was the first result:
A good relationship is more than something we want—it’s something we need to be our happiest, healthiest, most productive selves. But at home or work, supportive, fulfilling relationships don’t come automatically. They take an investment in time and energy as well as social skills that can be learned.
The definition touches on two elements that are important in a professional service relationship:
- A good relationship makes us more productive
- Good relationships take work
When you’re looking for a copier service provider (or whatever kind of service provider) to help you run your business, you need a partner – not just someone who’s only interested in selling you something. Without a solid relationship, you can’t have a partner – not a true partner anyway.
Many factors contribute to successful relationships, but there are two that are common to any successful relationship that I’d like to bring attention to: trust and consistency.
Though trust and consistency are intertwined, I’ll tackle them separately below. Keep in mind that inconsistency undermines trust (unless you enjoy relationships in which you can “trust” that you never know whether or not your partner is going to do what they say they’re going to do).
But, This Is Business
We may be talking about business, but relationships are equally as important to our business lives as they are to our personal. All business is personal, and we too often forget that. A company logo doesn’t buy from another company's logo. A person from a company purchases a service from a person at another company.
On the other hand, let's be blunt here, we all work to make money. And, in order to make money we have to work to keep the companies’ we work for doors’ open. However, just because that’s true doesn’t mean a professional relationship based on trust that is mutually rewarding is impossible. It just means that it takes effort and – as with any relationship – the right partner.
Trust
Companies don’t trust other companies. The people in those companies develop relationships and trust each other. When creating trust I would suggest keeping that thought in mind - and stepping outside of your "business persona" and be a little bit more yourself.
Our approach to developing trust starts with understanding what your business needs are. We are able to offer a range of services and products, from copier sales and repair to copier and printer management to managed IT services, so we won't ever fit a customer's business needs into a cookie cutter approach. We don't sell what's best, easiest, or quickest for us - we work with you to establish what you need.
Consistency
There’s no chance for a successful partnership with your copier service and needs unless consistent actions to support the relationship happen. We focus on consistently meeting the most important needs of our customers by focusing on fast service and first call resolution.
Why Does Any Of This Matter?
We succeed when you succeed. We believe, and our philosophy at Datamax encourages, the development of real partnerships with our customers. We don’t just pay lip service to this either – we spend the time, money, and effort to measure how well we consistently deliver excellent service by contracting with a company that researches and determines our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is a customer loyalty metric.
We are extremely proud to say, through effort and dedication to service, we have NPS of 90.8 from the last six months (for context, 30 is considered good, 50 great, and over 70 is considered world-class). We may be local, but we're world-class.
If you’re ready for a real partner to meet your copier service provider needs, we’re ready to help. I’m sure we could throw in a satisfying peanut butter treat too.
Quotation taken from: http://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/relationships.htm