1) Why was it important for Lanier to develop specific programs, such as customer vision and performance promise to facilitate its dual emphasis on quality products and quality services?

2) What steps has Lanier taken to reinforce the importance of quality services to its employees?

3) Do you believe that Lanier continued to be successful? Why or Why not?

Case 10-2 Lanier: Achieving Maximum Performance by Supporting Quality Products with Quality Services Lanier: www.lanier.com Lanier, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harris Cor- Throughout most of its corporate history, Lanier poration, is the largest independent distributor of office has been a sales-driven organization. The company was equipment in the world. The company, which is head- founded in 1934 by Tommy Lanier and his two broth- quartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has more than 1,600 sales ers as the distributors of Ediphone dictation ma- and services centers in more than 100 countries world- chines in the southeastern portion of the United States. wide. Lanier's product mix includes copy machines, fax In 1955, Lanier entered the copier business as an in- machines, voicemail, dictation/transcription systems, dependent distributor of 3M Thermofax" dry process presentation systems, and other related office products copiers. Through the years, the company's product line and services. has broadened, and Lanier has experienced consistent Chapter 10 The Tools of Quality 277 growth and profitability. It has also earned an excellent reputation in the office products industry. Rather than manufacturing its own products, Lanier's business strategy has been to partner with com- panies such as 3M, Toshiba, and Canon to develop a cohesive line of high-quality office equipment. The big- gest challenge for Lanier has been to differentiate itself from its competitors. Although the company sells high- quality products, its products are similar to the products sold by other office equipment vendors. To find a point of differentiation from its competitors, Lanier decided to shift from a sales-driven company to a company fo- cused on customer satisfaction. The company realized that to make this shift successfully, it had to build a cor- porate culture that supported its products with quality customer service. Lanier worked hard to develop quality services to complement its products. To accomplish this, the company developed several specific quality-related pro- grams. These programs included the following: Customer Vision Performance Promise 100 Percent Sold Lanier Team Management Process The premise behind the Customer Vision program was to encourage each employee to see the company's business through the customers' eyes and respond ap- propriately. The Performance Promise program was de- signed to offer the industry's best performance pledge by guaranteeing total product satisfaction (or replace- ment at no charge); and by providing a 24-hour, toll-free helpline; free loaners when repairs are necessary; and a 10-year guarantee on the availability of service, parts, and supplies for all Lanier products. The 100 Percent Sold program challenged the company's employees with the goal of having every Lanier customer buy all his or her office products from Lanier. Finally, the Lanier Team Management Process was a quality pro- gram that stressed a never-ending process of continuous improvement in quality, reliability, and performance in all things Lanier did at all levels within the company. In addition to specific programs to support ser- vice and product quality, the company also started to see itself as a consulting organization rather than a sales organization. By giving potential customers good ad- vice before the sale, the company found that it could create a seamless stream of Lanier involvement in sat- isfying a customer's office product nee The stream includes presale advice, the actual sale, and after-sale service. Lanier also has coupled its new initiatives with extensive training for its employees and incentive pro- grams tied to the company's quality-related goals. Lanier has been successful in complementing its quality products with quality customer service. As evidence of this, the company received several presti- gious awards from its customers, including DuPont's "Partners in Excellence Award, Pacific Bell's "Quality Partner Award," and Chevron's "Alliance Supplier Award." Discussion Questions 1. Why was it important for Lanier to develop spe- cific programs, such as Customer Vision and Performance Promise, to facilitate its dual em- phasis on quality products and quality services? 2. What steps has Lanier taken to reinforce the im- portance of quality services to its employees? 3. Do you believe that Lanier continued to be suc- cessful? Why or why not