Konica Minolta wins the BLI PaceSetter Award for Serviceability and Support 2020-2021 in Western Europe awarded by Keypoint Intelligence for the second time. The recognition honours the OEM that offers the best-designed tools, programs and trainings to enhance the serviceability of its products and services. With its “shift left” approach, Konica Minolta provides systems to empower its clients to help themselves, such as using online trainings or providing support through remote tools. This year’s award also reflects these company solutions that support safer office environments through remote services, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pursuing a customer-centric approach, Konica Minolta always focuses on the needs of its users for its products and services. This also goes for solving issues and providing support. The IT specialist empowers its customers to help them solve problems quicker and more efficiently by using innovative tools, training methods and remote support. With this “shift left” approach, the issues are solved closer to their origin and field presence of service experts can be reduced significantly. This helps to limit physical contact points which increases safety for customers and technicians, as travel from client to client can be minimised in the time of Covid-19. Several tools support the self-service of Konica Minolta’s customers: with “iTraining”, a variety of online videos provide explanation and guidance, as does the portal “eCommerce”. When remote support is needed, the AIRe Link – at the moment in beta test-phase – brings an innovative way of consulting and training employees, using audio and video connection. “Chatrine” is a chatbot that learns on its own and supports customers with their enquiries. With its Cognito iQ-developed platform, Konica Minolta is able to analyse operational performance of its field service in real time.

Leading in serviceability and service with innovative solutions

With the award, Konica Minolta is honoured for its tools and offerings that improve serviceability and support for their customers. Keypoint Intelligence conducted an in-depth study to decide on this year’s champion. Putting focus on various disciplines in this field, the evaluation included: company vision, in-field support, environment, tools and trainings provided to service technicians across direct and indirect channels. This year’s award also comprised the changing working environment due to the pandemic. Konica Minolta has received an honourable mention for adapting to the current situation: being able to support customers remotely and via online trainings while maintaining highest standards of quality differentiated the IT specialist from the competition.

Being recognised repeatedly in this way shows us that we are pursuing the right approach: empowering our customers for self-help while maintaining our customer focus with remote counselling and online trainings – this has proven to be the right approach, especially in the challenging times during the Covid-19 pandemic.” In today’s fast-evolving office environments, where working conditions can change quickly, IT complexity is also increasing. Providing the right service and support is therefore absolutely key for devices and solutions – and to foster customer relations. “Service and support provide the backbone of satisfied customers”, said Deborah Hawkins, Director of Keypoint Intelligence’s Office Group. “Organisations understand how critical the MFP is to business processes, and they cannot risk downtime caused by poor support (…)”.

About Keypoint Intelligence

Keypoint Intelligence is a one-stop shop for the digital imaging industry. With our unparalleled tools and unmatched depth of knowledge, we cut through the noise of data to offer clients the unbiased insights and responsive tools they need in those mission-critical moments that define their products and empower their sales. For over 50 years, Buyers Lab has been the global document imaging industry’s resource for unbiased and reliable information, test data, and competitive selling tools. What started out as a consumer-based publication about office equipment has become an all-encompassing industry resource. In a landscape that’s ever evolving, we change with it.

About Buyers Lab PaceSetter Awards

Based on exhaustive questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and a proprietary rating scale, Buyers Lab PaceSetter awards recognise document imaging OEMs that have shown market leadership in a variety of categories, including with technologies, services, and key vertical markets.

About Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, based in Langenhagen, Germany, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Inc., Tokyo, Japan. Konica Minolta enables its clients to champion the digital era: with its unique imaging expertise and data processing capabilities, Konica Minolta creates relevant solutions for its customers and solves issues faced by society. As a provider of comprehensive IT services, Konica Minolta delivers consultancy and services to optimise business processes with workflow automation. The company further offers its customers solutions and managed services in the field of IT infrastructure and IT security as well as cloud environments. With regard to its office printing solutions, ‘IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Print Transformation 2020 Vendor Assessment’ stated that Konica Minolta is ‘recognised globally as a leader in print transformation’. As a strong partner for the professional printing market, Konica Minolta offers business consulting, state-of-the-art technology and software and has established itself as the production printing market leader for more than a decade in Europe (InfoSource). In the healthcare sector, Konica Minolta drives digitalisation of clinical workflows and offers a broad range of next-level diagnostic solutions. Its Business Innovation Centre in London and four R & D laboratories in Europe enable Konica Minolta to bring innovation forward by collaborating with its customers as well as academic, industrial and entrepreneurial partners. For its innovative service approach that complements their devices perfectly, Konica Minolta was awarded the prestigious ‘Buyers Lab PaceSetter Award for Serviceability and Support 2020/2021’ from Keypoint Intelligence. Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is represented by subsidiaries and distributors in more than 80 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. With approximately 10,000 employees (as of April 2020), Konica Minolta Europe earned net sales of over 2.34 billion in financial year 2019/2020.

For more information, please visit http://newsroom.konicaminolta.eu/ and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter @KonicaMinoltaEU.

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