Core Values, Superior Tech Service Fuels Zeno Office Solutions’ Dominance of Oil and Gas Markets

The name Zeno, derived from the Greek and taken from the name Zenon, is commonly connected to a pair of well-known philosophers—Zeno of Elea and Zeno of Citium, the latter being the founder of the Stoic school in Athens. It’s also derived from the theonym Zeus.

Dale Fowler, Founder/CEO

Thousands of miles (and years) away in the West Texas town of Midland, Zeno Office Solutions’ philosophy is to align itself with individuals who share their same core values: faith-based, customer satisfaction, integrity, excellence, teamwork, pride, personal growth and family atmosphere. All of which make this $5 million (and growing) provider of Kyocera copiers and printers, managed print services, document management services and technical support—predominantly for the booming oil and gas sectors in Midland and Odessa—a customer favorite.

It also doesn’t hurt when your average service response time is less than an hour.

“We have a very good company culture that is centered around our core values,” explained Brantly Fowler, Midland sales manager for Zeno and the son of its co-founder, Dale Fowler. “Any time we have a prospective company where our sales rep is going to make a proposal, the reps actually go over our core values first and ask them if they align with their own values. If not, we’re probably not going to be a good fit.

“Those values are what we stand for and believe. We want our customers to share that with us, because they’re part of the family here at Zeno.”

Swift and Effective

Core values may help companies align with those who share their philosophy. However, it is Zeno’s ability to augment those synergistic relationships with a technical service component that is not only swift—which is no small deal in a remote region where competitive response times can take as long as a week—but efficient and effective as well that earned them the distinction of being this month’s BEI/ENX Office Technology Service Excellence Platinum Award winner.

Brantly Fowler & Dale Fowler

Dale Fowler and Larry Bond founded Zeno in 1999 after having worked at Danka for a number of years. The company started out as a Minolta dealership, then switched over to Kyocera nine years ago. Bond died of cancer in 2011, and Dale Fowler acquired his stake in the company (Brantley Fowler is a partner now).

In addition to Kyocera, Zeno also carries MBM products, such as paper shredders, and Square 9 software for document management. While Zeno lists IT services on its website, Fowler said the company only handles it on a per-call basis. “There’s probably a way to make money in it, but we haven’t found the right solution to do so,” he added.

The company’s primary sales and service domain is located within the Texas twin cities of Midland and Odessa, which are roughly 15 miles apart and boast a population of about 130,000 each. A commanding share of Zeno’s business (90 percent, in fact) is concentrated in the oil and gas industries, with companies involved in drilling, fracking, exploration, and service. Rounding out the vertical spaces are banking, legal, health care, and education.

Thriving at the whim of the cyclical energy domain can be tricky. Oil as a commodity has yo-yoed in recent years, dropping to $26 a barrel in 2016 (West Texas Intermediate crude sat at $44.20 in mid-June). Three years earlier, the price had climbed above $100 a barrel, inviting an influx of companies looking to cash in on the boom.

“When oil hit $26 a barrel, a lot of companies went out of business and we lost a lot of clicks,” Fowler noted. “My dad had always told me, when the oil industry tanks like that, the [customer] volumes shift around from oil and gas to banks and attorneys, because people need loans or they’re getting sued.”

While Zeno is not impervious to the fallout from energy performance, it still manages to attain double-digit growth each year. When Brantley Fowler joined the firm after his Coast Guard hitch ended in 2013, sales stood at $3 million; four years later, sales have climbed 60 percent. Zeno has around 1,100 clients, with 2,100 machines in field. While hardware growth has played a large role in its success, the service component has flourished as well.

Zeno building

“When we can deliver that kind of response time, it really does set us apart from everyone else,” Fowler said. “It’s not just the response time…being there under an hour is great, but the fact that the technicians are so highly trained and qualified makes a huge difference. All the devices can put ink on paper, but what happens when they break? You’ve got to have quality service and our customers are spoiled rotten. That’s how we’ve continued to grow, because we’re able to get referrals from customers, both written and through word of mouth.”

Measure of Greatness

Zeno embarked on the BEI program two years ago to garner a better understanding of “what does good, great, and excellent really look like in our service department, and where we do fall in line in that regard?” Fowler said. The company incorporates the BEI findings into its weekly manager meetings, and they are analyzed to measure performance and to determine where improvements are needed as well as ascertaining strengths.

“The service manager brings up our numbers for that week and we really dig into them as a management group so that the other managers understand what they are and what we’re trying to achieve—where do we stand and how are the techs performing numbers-wise during that week. Are we going in a good direction or are we going the wrong way? It’s really helped us with our response time, improving callback percentage and overall service performance.”

One area where Zeno has bolstered its tech efficiency is via increased service volume. Early results indicated techs were starting at 9 a.m. and finishing around 3 p.m. The first service visit of the day is now shortly after 8 AM, with the final call ending after 4:30 p.m.

“For us, that’s been a huge improvement,” Fowler said. “Now we’re probably getting in one or two extra calls a day. And the customers are very pleased with the level of service they get. It helps, too, to give them that white glove service they expect from us. It really centers on that.”

Zeno is not the lowest-cost provider in its market when it comes to service. It has lost customers who have found more economical solutions over the years, but Fowler pointed out that the cost savings result in a sharp downturn in response time. After two or three years of one-week response lags, he said, many customers return, deciding that Zeno’s overall value proposition is preferable.

“It’s the whole experience that they get, not just the service department but the admin, too,” he said. “They get their toner brought out to them without having to call. Other dealers say they do it but don’t have the manpower. We take pride in that, and if we’re going to promise them that service, we’ll deliver it.”

One of the greatest challenges Zeno faces is in finding technicians who fit in with the company’s core values and want to live in West Texas. Outside of Midland and Odessa, employees may find the area somewhat desolate, as it’s a five-hour drive to cities such as Dallas, Austin, or El Paso. But Fowler noted that once employees experience life in a town like Midland, it quickly grows on them.

A point of attraction for Zeno is its large, double-sided LED billboard. The dealer uses the billboard to post information regarding its offerings and capabilities, along with inspirational Biblical verses that emphasize positivity. Fowler said that many people have applied to work there simply because they like what the company stands for, as it aligns with their own values.

Moving forward, Fowler would like to see improvement in the dealership’s first-call efficiency, which would serve to complement its superior response time. From a big picture perspective, double-digit growth is a priority as Zeno competes for clicks against the likes of retailers including Staples and Office Depot. The game plan is to convert those businesses to Zeno, implement MPS and foster service engagement, which is where the company truly shines.

“Our techs are really engaged with the customer,” he said. “They don’t just show up, turn a screw and leave. The engagement is on a level equal to that of sales reps. Our customers love that; they know the techs by name and know a lot about them. Our techs are highly attuned to their accounts. The relationship really matters.”