Biography (Part 3)

Over the years the MSS's have been faced with a continuous parade of new products to support, and have integrated product and systems training into their standard operating procedures in such a way that new products and systems are easily absorbed and efficiently serviced. In the late 1980’s, a new element was added - sales. While many MSS’s had before sold small items “on the side”, and all had of course sold their services, actual sales of radios and radio systems had been handled directly by Motorola. But Motorola was finding that handling a wide-spread and ever-expanding sales force had the same problems of management and cost as building a national Motorola-owned service organization would have had.

And so Motorola opted to solve a large problem by devolving much of its sales effort to local dealers. In short order, the MSS’s found themselves on the forefront of radio and system sales, and in active competition with other dealers in their markets (not all Motorola dealers are MSS’s). Now, where you find MSS service, you also find an active, growing, trained sales staff. And with the growth of sales capabilities, the MSS’s found that there was no longer a good reason to restrict their operations solely to two-way radio.

While they have accustomed themselves to continuous adaptation to new products and new market conditions, the MSS's have developed a character of cooperation, both among themselves and with customer-owned engineering, installation and service organizations. As a result, the MSS community is uniquely suited to adapt itself to the needs of regional, state-wide, multi-state and national customers. Today, the network of MSS's can provide practically seamless high-quality service, with sales support if needed, anywhere and everywhere in the United States. The advantages of MSS service to a customer are great:

• Experience, organizational and financial stability going back as far as 50 years
• Start-up times on new products and systems measured in days and weeks, rather than months and perhaps years
• Reserve capacity able to meet the peaks and ride out the valleys in service demand for a product or system. (Customer-owned service organizations must employ substantially more personnel than they ordinarily need if they are to be able to cover peak demands)
• Customer has minimal or no capital investment in service equipment, vehicles, tools, furniture, etc., versus the huge investment necessary for customer-owned service
• High-caliber local management of every facility, versus the crippling problem of attracting, screening, hiring and keeping qualified service management by remote control
• Demonstrated performance versus no track record
• Established good relations with many of the businesses and governmental agencies in the are 
• Established location and community image
• Attitude of being progressive and flexible, with service experience and community contacts not limited to one product or system

In the past, manufacturers and service marketers have had little choice but to establish their own sales and technical service departments, regardless of the cost. Today that is no longer true. For sales, installation, and technical service, the national network of MSS's is available. Today, local, regional, state-wide, multi-state or national service is only one phone call away.