Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock
Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock

Schrock Innovations’ new Papillion, NE Service Center is coming along, so I thought I would post a construction update.

Things have been busy lately, so these pictures are about a week old. Since they were taken electrical and data wiring is in place, the bathroom is complete (very important!) and Carberry Construction is starting on the floors.

The front desk is in place. Carberry fabricated the desk and topped it with black granite. We implemented a new feature in the front desk of the Papillion Service Center. Notice the lowered section of the front desk. We need the front counter to be tall enough for check writing and service, but sometimes it is tough for our customers to lift their computers up there.

The new lowered section is an experiment to see if we can get the best of both worlds.

The walls have been painted and the hanging electrical drops are in place.

We are just waiting on the floors to begin bench installation, inventory shelf delivery, and utility hook up.

Then the real fun begins!

If everything goes well, we are planning the grand opening for the weekend of October 8th.

Each year Three Eagles Communications in Lincoln asks listeners of their 6 Lincoln, Nebraska radio stations to vote for who they consider the best local business in a number of categories.

Schrock Innovations is proud to announce that for the 9th consecutive year we have been voted the #1 independent computer repair company in Lincoln.

At Schrock we are always working to make sure each of our customers leaves our Service Center satisfied with the work we provided and happy to refer their friends and family to us in the future.

Knowing that so many listeners across many demographics, age groups, and stations all voted for our company is extremely humbling.

Awards are a great indicator of past performance, and we all know that we are only as good as our last customer’s service experience.

We promise to continue working hard to communicate better, develop cutting-edge products and solutions, and always keep sight of the fact that each customer who asks us to work on their computer is trusting us with a small piece of their lives.

Yesterday I attended the Nebraska Retail Federation’s annual awards banquet and accepted the 2009 Customer Service Business of the Year on behalf of Schrock Innovations.

I am no stranger to political and business gatherings, but those in attendance at the NRF ceremony were not from the circle I normally meet up with at events.

At our table we were joined by several higher-ups from JC Penny. Other sponsors of the event included Pamida, Walgreens, Target, and a few other big-name retailers.

We were among 30+ nominees for the award and some had traveled in from as far away as Kearney.

As each of the nominees was introduced we were asked to briefly talk about our company to the audience.

Its All About the Service

When it was my turn on the stage I asked the audience to raise their hand if they had ever had a computer problem. Everyone raised a hand. Then I asked people who had someone to help them with their computer problems to put their hands down. About 40% did, leaving a majority of people in the room with nowhere to turn for PC help.

I explained the Schrock Innovations was founded 10 years ago o help people with their computer problems – even if we were not being paid to help. I explained that the Schrock approach was about building trust and relationships.

Schrockies in the House?

At the end of my presentation I asked if there were anyt Schrock customers in the audience. 6 people raised their hands (not bad considering there was no one from Omaha and 1/2 of the crowd was out of our Lincoln service area).

I asked them in front of the crowd if they fel;t special after they worked with Schrock Innovations. They said that they did.

Thank You NRF

This award means a lot to Schrock Innovations and its employees. On the eve of launching the biggest sales event of the year, our Holiday Sale, this award reminds everyone of the reason we are in business. It’s not to sell hardware or software – we are in business to provide service. Everything else will take care of its self if we take care of our customers.

I can’t believe a company like Apple or even AT&T can treat their customers this way and expect to keep them loyal. Here is what I just sent to Apple’s feedback email address (like anyone will ever read it):

I don’t even know where to begin. My business iPhone just died in the middle of a text message today. It will not turn on again at all. It was purchased October 11, 2008 (less than a year old) at the AT&T store in Lincoln, NE (68516).

I live in Omaha, NE (68108) and there is an Apple store here. I called 611 from my iPhone to find out what we need to do to get her phone replaced. After 5 dropped calls, and a total of more than 20 minutes on hold, I finally got through to an Apple support representative (who was really an AT&T support representative).

He informed me that AT&T does not have any stores in Omaha. (Here’s a link to the half-dozen AT&T stores in Omaha )

I read him the numbers for the first three, and he tried to call and was unable to get through to a representative (in one case the number was disconnected!)

I gave up on him and called the AT&T store where I bought the phone in Lincoln and spoke to the manager. He informed me that the AT&T store where we bought the iPhone can’t replace it at all. Even though my phone is less than a year old, it has to be done at an Apple store. No exceptions.

So I called the Apple store. The representative there told me that he couldn’t set up an appointment at the Genius Bar, so I would have to go online and do it.

FRUSTRATING. SO now an hour after I started, I go online only to find that I have to wait 2 DAYS for an appointment.

Needless to say at this moment I am seriously missing my HTC touch from Sprint. I doubt anyone will actually read this, and if anyone does they won’t be empowered to do anything about it in my case or as part of an aggregated policy, but it makes me feel better to send it.

I love my iPhone, but this is not the Apple service that has differentiated your company in the past, and I can honestly say I will be looking at other options in the future for my business telephone needs.

If you have purchased a Dell notebook or desktop between April 1, 2005 January 19, 2008 Dell might owe you some money and you need to claim it before April 13.

The State Attorneys General form 34 states (including Nebraska) all settled with Dell this week over claims about misleading financing terms, lack of promised warranty service, and other violations of its customer service agreements. Dell is creating a $1.5 million fund to pay back its customers for the failings.