Early this year, at the request of Copier Careers, Inc., I took on the daunting task of doing a wage and compensation survey of service department employees.  Scientific survey methods and statistic gathering is not my expertise.  I received a “C” in statistics class during my sophomore year in college.  As a full time Director of Technical Service of a 40+ employee service department, I did not have the time or resources to methodically contact hundreds of dealers and persuade them to disclose the intimate details of their payroll.  I chose to gather the data by asking my service manager friends, readers of my columns and attendees to my seminars.

I openly admit the information I gathered was from the cream of the crop of office equipment dealers.  My acquiesces are dealers who read my columns in the The Image Source, R S & R News, ENX and BTA Solutions.  They take the time and invest the money to attend BTA, IBPI, ACCR and World Expo sponsored seminars.  Most tend to be the traditional BTA type dealer.  These are the people who talk with me, attend my service management seminars, read my articles and e-mail me.

I hoped these dealers would trust me (and my promise for complete confidentiality) enough to share their compensation information.   I asked for participation from over 250 people.  At first, I provided a simple questionnaire.  I quickly trashed the prepared question idea.  Everybody does their own thing.  I was able to get more people to respond by asking them to send me their information in any manner they desired. 

One hundred and twenty-nine provided me with the information I used in these statistics.  Information was e-mailed, faxed, voice-mailed, regular mail, handed in at the end of seminars, and told to me in person. 

THE NUMBERS

v    Salary ranges $7.25 to 32.00 per hour for working field techs. 

v    Entry level (trainee) with no formal training, $7.25 to $15.00 per hour.

v    Three-year analog tech, $9.00 to $21.00 per hour.

v    The average pay for a 5-year senior tech is $31,500 per year, ($2,625 per month, $15.00 per hour.)

v    Entry Level Network certified techs with no previous copier or computer experience (working in tradition copier dealerships), average tenure with in the copier dealership of 7 months $29,120 per year ($2,425 per month, $14.00 per hour.) 

v    Network certified techs with 5+ years copier experience average $46,280 per year, ($3,856 per month, $22.25 per hour.)

v    Five + year experienced Certified CNE or MCSE network, usually working as part of a sales department or independent IT department reporting to a sales department, average $54,000 per year, ($4,500 per month, $26.00 per hour.)

v    Service Manager, $37,000 to $105,000 per year.

v    Commission is paid 28% of the time.  Commission rates average 6% for billable calls and/or M. A.s sold.

v    65% pay lead fee to service employee who turns in a lead that results in the sale of hardware.

v    Average lead fee is $35.00.

v    In smaller companies (under 10 employees) 80% of techs have the opportunity to sell hardware and receive a “standard sales person’s commission”. 

ITEMS THAT WERE OFTEN MENTIONED WHEN PAY WAS ON THE LOW END OF SCALE:

      v      No state income tax, no state sales tax, areas of high unemployment (military base closings), rural 
             areas,  low cost of  living areas, housing cost, car registration fee, educational and recreational cost.

      v     The small companies (under 5 techs) pay lower or higher wages than the norm.

      v     Hiring bonuses ($1000 to $10,000) are becoming common.

      v     The average mileage paid is 26 cents per mile.

      v     If a company car is provided the tech pays an average $111 per month usage fee.

    35% of dealers provide company cars.

    80% of Mid-America and smaller dealer provide company vehicles.

    40% of companies that provide vehicles do not provide health insurance.

    85% provide tools, vacuum, digital true ROMS meter for their technical employees.

    55% provide SurTest for field supervisors and field service managers.

    65% provide lap top computers (or have a self purchase program) for some techs.

 v    The lowest paid tech in my survey was $7.25 per hour.  Entry level, no experience, small rural area.

 v     The highest paid tech was a working field service manager (service staff of 3) making $57,000 per year.

 v     Salary ranges $7.25 to 27.40 per hour for working (non-network certified) field techs. 

 v     CNE or MCSE, working within the service department, ranged from $14.00 to $32.00 
 per hour.  ($2,425 per month to $5,550 per month, $29,120 to $66,560 per year.)

Bonuses and/or automatic salary increases for completion of recognized network/application/computer certifications were  “usually given” or had a structured promised increase for 45% of dealers.

65% offer at least 2 weeks vacation after one year.

           85% offer at least 3 weeks after 5 years.

           45% offer at least 4 weeks after 10 years.

           20% offer at least 5 weeks after 10 years.

Sick days range from zero to 10 days.

           Average is 6 days sick time.

           30 % will pay for any unused sick time at end of year. 

           45% offer “paid unworked time”, mixing sick and vacation time together.

55% had 401K or structured retirement plan.

            85% of those dealers had company matching contributions ranging from 1% to 100% matching funds.   

100% of authorized dealers sent at least 40% or their techs to manufacturer's technical training school 
           in the past two years.

45% of authorized dealers do structured self-training.

45% award bonus money for top grades at manufacturers training schools.

100% use video, CD and/or Internet technical training.

Owners and managers with a selling background have a love-hate relationship with techs.  They are afraid the techs will leave.  They tend to pay higher wages with a negative attitude attached to the pay increase.  “Blackmail and extortion” were words that were used when a tech threatened to leave, unless a raise was received. 

A tech that is hired away from a competitor for more money, has an 85% probability of leaving the new company, in a similar manner, within 18 months.

Traditional copier companies that buy or merge with a traditional VAR or networking company lose 80% of the original computer/networking company’s employees within 16 months.

Items that were often mentioned with regard to pay, but which were considered less significant. 

No state income tax, no sales tax, areas of high unemployment (military base closings), rural areas, low cost of living areas, housing cost, car registration fee, educational and recreational cost.

Techs need to feel appreciated and respected for their contribution to their company’s overall success.

The more training a tech receives the easier their job is.  Techs value ongoing training as much as additional money.

By the time a tech works up enough courage to ask for a raise, you have already alienated them.  A smaller raise tied to appreciation or a specific pre-structured goal, is worth more to a tech’s moral and loyalty than a larger raise given under duress.

v     Commission is paid 28% of the time. 

v     The small companies (under 5 techs) pay lower or higher than the norm.

v     Hiring bonuses ($1,000 to $10,000) are becoming common.

Lesson one:  Average means 99% of the answer is incorrect.
Lesson two:  No two companies compensate their employees in the same way.

v     A tech that is hired away from a competitor for more money will probably leave the new company in a similar manner.

v     A company can earn a reputation as a “good or bad employer”. 

That which techs want most from current or potential employer:
ON-GOING TRAINING