CBS grows business via digital products, network administration

When Jim Quesenberry left Savin in 1993 to start Corporate Business Sys-tems, he knew there was no guarantee the company would be successful. Nine years later, CBS is meeting with more success than Quesenberry ever thought possible.

CBS, which sells high-end integrated digital office products such as JetFax systems and a complete line of Savin copiers, duplicators and printers, had six employees in 1997. Today the company employs 29.

In 1999, CBS was a finalist for the W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year Award, which is given out by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Corporate Business Systems also re-ceived the Savin Sales Excellence Award this year in recognition of its outstanding sales record with Savin products. CBS also was named as an Elite Dealer in 2000 and 2001 by Office Dealer magazine.

The company's fiscal growth also has increased substantially. This year, CBS first-half revenues were up 30 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Quesenberry.

Much of CBS' growth can be attributed to an expansion in customer service that began back in 1997. That's the year Donny Mihalevich was hired to oversee the installation of the high-end network copiers and printers CBS sells. Mihalevich had worked in enough offices to know that some companies would see the benefits of using CBS to not only install their network-ready copiers and printers, but to oversee the administration of their company's entire computer networking system.

Today, CBS' computer and network administration department has become an integral part of the company with four network engineers, three Microsoft technicians and one certified Novell technician.

The company's network engineers work closely with clients' information technology departments to gain a firm understanding of their desired output. Then they help configure a tailored solution that's included under one comprehensive sales and service contract.

CBS currently offers customers a standard two-hour block of network administration time with the purchase of any digital Savin system.

Customers also have the option to expand their service plan with additional blocks of time. To offset costs, the dealership makes a minimal cost adjustment on top of the suggested retail price of the equipment as an outpricing to their sales force, according to Quesenberry. In addition, CBS is a certified IBM and Microsoft reseller.

The company's bread and butter, however, still comes through the sale of high-end digital office products, many of which are manufactured by Savin. The multifunctional products made by Savin can be networked into an office's computer system and allow users to fax, scan, print and even store documents so they can be retrieved later.

"When you start looking at the number of pages you print, the time you save and the efficiency these machines provide, it becomes clear that buying a multifunctional digital product from Savin is well worth the money," said Quesen-berry. "Not only will you save money in the long run, you can get all of your office's computer needs handled with just one phone call."

These days an increasing number of clients are using CBS for all of their offices' computer networking needs. In fact, CBS has seen a 35 percent increase in its network service accounts during the past two years, according to Quesen-berry. This year, the department expects to bring in close to $1 million from clients.

"It takes more momentum to get a plane in the air than it does to keep it there," he said. "That's how I feel about the future of this company. The hardest part is behind us now, and we've got a lot of things going for us. We have momentum, we have name recognition, we're winning awards, and we've been in business long enough to establish a reputation. I think it's much easier for us now to attract customers, and I believe we'll continue to grow."