"We are an Authorized Dealer"
Steve Valenta Interview
Steven Valenta is a man who totally commits to what he does and one who really cares about his clients and employees. “As the owner of Offix, my role is to find and retain happy and smart people to help me grow the company. Right now I’m doing that for our new office in Richmond,” he said.
Although growing the business is important, providing the best possible customer service to clients is foremost on his list. Steve shows his strengths and leaderships skills by the way he and his team continually provide clients with excellence in customer service. A major factor in making this happen is that he fosters a work environment in which his employees thrive, both professionally and personally, and one in which they thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Steve comments, “When I am with the customers, I can watch, learn, and grow. I have fun at work and enjoy what I am doing. It is a great place to work and it has a good atmosphere! I like to take care of my employees and business and watch them grow.” He added, “People like to work at Offix because it is family-oriented; it’s not like a corporation. My wife and sister work here, and also there are three husband-wife teams. We provide great benefits, and staff members move up as we grow the company. Working at Offix is a “great learning experience.”
In 1987, after working for several companies, Steve was unhappy with the limitations that these companies put on his ability to provide good customer service. He decided the only way he could provide clients with the best possible customer service would be through establishing his own business. He needed to find a product line to sell, so he bought a Canon dealership in Waynesboro which gave him the ability to sell and provide service in Northern VA, too, and Offix came into being.
Offix continually gets client referrals because of the excellent customer service it provides. Its team members provide quality service to all clients, whether they are single-person businesses, churches, non-profits, the Federal government, or commercial businesses. A case in point is the time that they helped a former client, who was closing his office, but could not find help to move his equipment. Steve and his staff drove to Charleston, NC, packed up the things in his office, and took them to storage for him. Steve said, “We wear our hearts on our sleeves.”
Steve comments that with bigger companies there are shareholders and it becomes “all about numbers, which can limit the number of parts companies use and the type of service they deliver. At Offix, it is not about numbers, but about customer satisfaction. Last but certainly not least, Offix is able to provide the finest customer service because their technicians are among the most highly-trained in the country, with 100% of them being ATSP certified. In addition, Steve provides them with everything they need to respond immediately to a client’s call. All of this enables Offix technicians to respond to a call within four hours and stay on the job until the client’s needs are met.
“It is hard to emphasize the importance of how Offix provides its customer service. There is always someone here to answer the phones before 8:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m. Someone always answers the phone. There is always a personal response.”
Steve knows the value of keeping his clients happy, saying “If we give ultimate customer service, our business will continue to thrive.”