5 ‘How do I know your service will be any better than Clearprint’s?’ You have an appointment to see George Kirby, sales office manager of Plastic Foods Ltd, with regard to the hire of a Mordex photocopier. You are bristling with anticipation as you know the present contract that Plastic Foods has with Clearprint, your closest competitor, is up for renewal. You have not met Mr Kirby before.

As you enter Mr Kirby’s office you notice that he appears a little under pressure. After introducing yourself, you say, ‘I’d like to talk with you about how we can improve the efficiency of your photocopying operation. I see that you use the Clearprint ZXR photocopier at the moment. What kinds of documents do you photocopy in the sales office?’

The discussion continues, with you attempting to assess his staff ’s requirements with regard to photocopying facilities and his attitude towards the Clearprint machine. One need is the ability of the photocopier to collate automatically, since some of the documents photocopied are quite lengthy.

Another requirement is for the photocopy to be of the highest quality since it is usual for photocopies of standard letters to be sent to clients. The Clearprint photocopier does have a collating facility and the quality, while passable, is not totally satisfactory. Further, there are sometimes delays in repairing the machine when it breaks down, although generally it is quite reliable.

At the end of the discussion you summarise the points that have been raised: staff time is being wasted collating lengthy documents; the quality of photostat is not totally satisfactory; repairs are not always carried out promptly. Mr Kirby agrees that this is a fair summary.