Company: PFU America, Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Nomination Submitted by: ZM Communications
Company Description: PFU America, Inc. is the U.S.-based subsidiary of PFU Limited and the leader in document scanning solutions. Since its founding in 1960, PFU Limited has been headquartered in Ishikawa, Japan, and expanding its business globally. In 2022, PFU joined the Ricoh Group. Based on the technologies cultivated through computer development, the Company provides a total range of IT-related products and servi
Nomination Category: Customer Service Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Hardware
 Nomination Title: Ricoh Scanner Service
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2022 of the nominated department, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 245 words used.
Ricoh Scanner Service has received many positive customer testimonials and customers appreciated Ricoh Scanner Services' knowledgeable, efficient, experienced and US-based customer service professionals. Excerpts from attached document that outlines customer testimonials:
“It has been a pleasure to deal with your support staff for years now and even though I don't usually have to call because everything works well, I appreciate the expertise of your ordinary and upper-level help. Ricoh has the best tech support of any computer company I have ever dealt with.” – Howard [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION], Florida
“Your customer support is EXCELLENT. Like, shockingly excellent. The representative was helpful, kind, patient, knowledgeable, and efficient. He followed up with two emails and made sure the problem was solved.” – CPA firm
A lot of time you’ll purchase a piece of hardware and then won’t get the kind of support you need when needed but that is not my experience with Ricoh. I highly recommend their equipment as it’s high-quality with great service.” – Bill [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION], Florida
“Always great customer service. Appreciate the quick answer and always a US customer service technical service agent. That's why I continue to recommend these scanners to my clients.” – [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]
There are two videos from Don Caruso, head of Sales at PFU America, Inc. He outlines the benefits of Ricoh Scanner Service and explains why he and the service team are so passionate about supporting their customers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j81ToQdBbLc&
https://youtu.be/mbr9Kpkn61E
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below.
- Outline the department's achievements since July 1 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 209 words used.
Over the last two years, the Ricoh Scanner Service department focused on ensuring positive outcomes for customers, partners, and resellers to drive brand loyalty, uphold product reliability, and support the introduction of new product offerings. The team’s other key goal was the timely execution of Service Delivery to mitigate downtime for customers. They also strived to address any shortcomings or missed expectations with a swift and expedient resolution, while concurrently striving for continuous improvement in processes. Internally, the Ricoh’s customer service team focused on cultivating a positive and productive work culture to ensure high engagement of responsibilities, meeting or exceeding the needs of our customers, and sustaining employee retention.
The Ricoh Scanner program achieved its goals and made significant improvements as demonstrated by its year-over-year service metrics:
- Service Operations Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased to 90 in FY 2023 from 89 in FY 2022.
- Resolution without service escalation rate increased to 81% in FY 2023 from 71% in FY 2022.
- First visit fix rate increased to 86% in FY 2023 from 84% in FY 2022
- Maintained customer satisfaction rate of 98%
- Customer support was 100% based in the U.S. for both FY 2023 and FY 2022, ensuring faster response and knowledgeable technicians. No international outsourcing for customer support.
- Briefly describe the nominated department: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 197 words used.
The Ricoh Scanner Service department provides the industry’s best service to customers through tailored service plans for different budget needs, prompt response times, and a commitment to resolve and fix issues with Ricoh’s document scanners quickly and efficiently. The program focuses on protecting customers’ mission-critical workflows by reducing downtimes, lowering ownership costs, and eliminating internal approval delays. Additionally, Ricoh’s service team will partner with their customers to provide added knowledge, best practices, and insight to help them stay ahead of their competition.
The Ricoh Scanner Service features industry and subject matter leaders who add instant expertise to support, guide, and even become part of their customers’ day-to-day operations, which will free customers to focus on strategic activities.
The Ricoh Scanner Service program features:
- Access to expert scanner technicians across the U.S. in all 50 states.
- Team members at the Technical Assistance Center average 10+ years of job experience.
- Priority phone support with U.S.-based call center, and toll-free support from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday. 24/7 phone support by contract.
- Multiple preventative maintenance visits on production scanners.
- Maintenance training for new employees.
- Service support for remote workforce.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the department's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
The Ricoh Scanner Service department is unique in the way it partners with their customers to supply added knowledge, best practices, and insight to help them stay ahead of their competition. The Scanner Service department provides industry and subject matter leaders who add instant expertise to support, guide, and even become part of their customers’ day-to-day operations.
To further improve its customer service and add more customer value, the Ricoh Scanner Service department implemented an internal program over the last two years to cultivate a positive and productive work culture to ensure high engagement of responsibilities from employees, meeting or exceeding the needs of customers, and sustaining employee retention. An employee empowerment program was implemented that included continuous coaching for employees and recognition campaign for employees. This resulted in a significant improvement in employee satisfaction and engagement, as well as increased productivity. The internal programs resulted in improved service metrics, such as improving the resolution without service escalation rate to 81% in FY 2023 from 71% in FY 2022. In addition, first visit fix rate increased to 86% in FY 2023 from 84% in FY 2022.
Customer testimonials:
"Ricoh has the best tech support of any computer company I have ever dealt with.” – Howard [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION], Florida
"A lot of time you’ll purchase a piece of hardware and then won’t get the kind of support you need when needed but that is not my experience with Ricoh." Bill [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION], Florida
| Attachments/Videos/Links: |
|---|
|
