Could it be mere coincidence that Discovery Office Systems was voted Best Office Technology Supplier just one year after Dave McReynolds joined the company as its new general manager? One can only speculate, but McReynolds humbly diverts attention away from himself, instead giving accolades to Discovery’s customer service team and technicians. “I’m very proud of my staff,” answers McReynolds when asked about the award.
“In the eight years I’ve been doing this, Discovery has the most professional staff I’ve seen in the industry,” he continues. “They’re committed to the customer; they’re committed to the company; they’re committed to doing things right and to making things right when there are issues.”
Discovery Office Systems provides sales, service and support for Kyocera Mita digital copiers and multifunctional printers (MFPs), and offers full systems integration support for offices with networked technologies, print fleet management and electronic document management. It has more than 10,000 customers in 11 Northern California counties, five showrooms in Northern California, more than 40 factory-certified technicians and a large Santa Rosa warehouse that’s well-stocked with parts and supplies. Now a subsidiary of Kyocera Mita America (headquartered in New Jersey), Discovery Office Systems has been in business in the North Bay for 50 years.
Accepting a GM post at a local company that’s been around so long can be challenging, but McReynolds says he’s experienced relatively smooth sailing, thanks to the work ethic of the staff. In an industry that deals with complex technology systems, challenges are bound to arise, and McReynolds praises the Discovery team members for their efforts to excel when it matters most.
“They follow problems through until they’re resolved,” says McReynolds of his staff. “I’ve always had the philosophy that, ‘if you know about the problem, you own it.’ This team already had that philosophy when I came on board, so it was a pretty easy transition.”
Discovery’s goal is to form partnerships with customers, act as office system consultants and provide complete solutions for the customers’ needs. For instance, explains McReynolds, a total solution package can include network support, line engineering and maintenance. When customers use Discovery Office Systems as a total solution, “they don’t have to order supplies from 10 different people; they can just make one phone call for all their printer needs—and multifunctional office systems as well. “We basically know everything that’s going on, so when there’s a change, we can react before it exceeds the customer’s ability to be productive.”
Dan DuCharme, assistant general manger, who’s been with the company since 25 years ago, has a first-hand perspective into the industry’s evolution. When he began in 1983, copiers did just two things—make copies, of course, “and break,” he jokes. Now we’re in the midst of a “digital revolution,” which, DuCharme says, “has turned dealers into technology centers” that must be knowledgeable about all aspects of document management, right down to the software required to integrate systems. Understanding the way clients move information within their business is key to developing a smart solution that increases efficiency, he says.
One such smart solution is Discovery’s automated inventory management system, what McReynolds calls “proactive—rather than reactive—customer service.” Using a computer program called PageLogic, Discovery can track customer needs in real time. If a machine breaks or if toner is low, for example, an email is sent to the service department. With this system, the Discovery staff is often aware of a problem (or low supplies) before the customer is; they can then act quickly to keep their clients’ offices running smoothly.
