MCSI, formerly Minnesota Copy Systems Inc., began life as a Mita dealer in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1974. In the mid eighties the company changed to being a Toshiba dealer and in 2002 they added Samsung and HP.
Today the company covers a territory that spans two hours anywhere from the main office and services about 3,000 machines, mostly in small businesses.
Competing against some big players, MCSI has long had to rely on great service as a differentiating value. Therefore, after years of success, it should be no surprise that MCSI is the recipient of BEI Services/ENX Magazine Office Technology Service Excellence Award in the Platinum category for 2016.
Mike Houghton, President, started working for Minnesota Computer in 1997, soon after graduating from college. He says that it was around the time that machines were going digital and they were starting to connect copiers with computers. He chuckles, but at that time, he says, the owners were concerned about Y2K.
“I had a lot of IT knowledge,” he recounts. “They hired me to do IT, copier installs and sales.”
(from left) Dan Fink of BEI and Mike Houghton of MCSI
When Houghton joined in 1997, MCSI had 10 employees. Today they have 28, including nine field technicians, one service manager and three support team members.
Toshiba, Samsung and HP are their primary vendors, but they are also Brother, Dell and Lexmark authorized service providers. They have a growing IT department too.
“We’re growing at a nice steady pace with an increase in growth the last few years due to the addition of offering IT services,” he says. “It’s kind of the growth we like to see.”
MCSI Begins Using BEI Services
Houghton says that although MCSI has always had a reputation for outstanding service, BEI Services has helped his technicians increase their focus and see the bigger picture.
He cites the change in their approach, and how they share the goal of servicing the most machines; the most clicks between calls and doing it as efficiently as possible.
“It helps them do that because of the compensation they receive,” he says.
Houghton admits that they had looked at BEI Services in the past, but being a small business, they didn’t think they could afford it. Everything came together when one of their vendors agreed to cover part of the cost.
“That made it more feasible for us,” he says. “It’s a great program. We wanted to see all the information it gives us.”
Noting one particular improvement, Houghton says that before BEI, a technician having an issue with a machine might replace a part, but if that replacement part didn’t solve the issue, he might leave it in there. Now, he says, they’ll pull it out and fix the problem.
He also explains how they can also use the data to help plan preventative maintenance cycles and extend the life of some high-cost parts.
“For example, we all noticed that a [certain] new developer kit can go 20 percent longer than what they’re stated,” says Houghton.
Another improvement was that technicians stopped returning to the shop to do busy work after their territories were clear, and started calling other techs to clear more calls.
“It went from a couple guys who would take maybe 40 calls a month now in the range of 70 calls a month” he says. “They’re not just taking their time. They’re actually trying to make that extra money. I think that’s the biggest thing – taking more calls.
Evolving Expectations, Improved Service
Houghton says that although MCSI always provided excellent service, they hadn’t conducted any surveys or run any reports. He suggests that it was difficult to measure because he believes the expectations of the customers have increased considerably.
He notes that back when he started in the late nineties, a customer’s copier could be down for a day or maybe two. Now, he says, you can’t leave anybody down for more than a few hours.
“I think that for our customers, the MFP in their office is a tool,” he says. “They use it as a tool that has become more necessary than ever, but at the same time it’s just a machine in the corner and it’s always supposed to work.”
Houghton says that when the machine starts causing problems and interrupting business, customers just want it fixed.
“They don’t want us coming back in two weeks with a part or trying to troubleshoot a problem over many service calls,” he says.
When Houghton initially reviewed reports covering a 2-year span beginning from the time they started using BEI, he was pleased to see that the first call efficiency had increased, the number of calls they were taking was going up and the return of parts was going down.
“All of the things we wanted to see were happening,” he says. “It was doing what they claimed it would do.”
Houghton says that some of BEI processes can also be achieved by their current ERP, but it’s more difficult to retrieve the data and it doesn’t provide the comparative matrix with other dealers and within particular machine types.
One of the things that impressed Houghton the most occurred when BEI came out last year to present them the award. BEI showed them that although they were in the top 20 percent of dealers in the nation, with a couple techs in the top 10 percent, there were still some improvements to be made. They narrowed the issues down to specific machines and suggested ways of fixing the problem.
“They do come out to talk to you about those things,” he says.
Houghton laughs when remembering when he first got the call from BEI about the 2015 award.
“Actually, when they first called us and said we were in the top 20 percent of all dealers in the country, my service manager and I were like, ‘Really?’” he recounts.
Unexpected Benefits
Houghton says that with all the comparative data and metrics that BEI Services can provide, the most valuable thing it offers is a new perspective.
“It’s great that it promotes a mindset from the service department to look for ways to save money and provide better service,” he says.
With that new focus and attitude combined with a long tradition of outstanding customer service, you can see how MCSI will be swimming with the big fish for a long time to come.
Minnesota Computer
St. Cloud, Minn
Owner: Mike Houghton
Service Manager: Ken Mickelson
Number of service techs: 9
Number of machines serviced: 3,000
Why they’re a Platinum Award Winner
• First Call Effectiveness: in the low 60%
• Hold for Part Rate: around 10%
• Ranks 13th overall out of the 179 dealers in the OTSEA program
