Dealers
When it comes time to choose a dealer, "service" is the most important word you need to remember. A great copier with bad service can cause more headaches than a so-so copier with excellent service. Since you will need to be comfortable with your copier vendor for years and years, it is in your best interest to be particular when evaluating them.

Ask questions. Get to know the dealers that carry the copier you're interested in well. Ask as many questions as you can:

• How long have you been in business? Who are your major accounts?
• How long have your employees been working for you?
• Do you sell multiple brands? Which is the strongest seller and how long have you been selling it? (If it is not the machine you're interested in, look elsewhere.)
• What is the policy on breakdowns? Is there a time limit for repair responses?
• How many in-house technicians are available for this model in the local area? Where are they? (A cheap service plan won't save you anything if the help is hard to come by. The last thing you want to discover is that there is only one technician in the city for the model a salesperson convinced you to buy.)

Talk to the techs
Because modern copiers combine electrical, mechanical, digital, and chemical systems to produce your documents, maintaining them requires a unique mix of skills. Before deciding to buy, make sure the dealer has technicians with extensive installation and service experience. Having your IT or MIS department vet the dealer can be a good call to test for experience.

You do not have to take the dealer's word about the technicians' experience. Try to speak with the technicians directly. You can quickly judge how seasoned a technician is by having him or her recount stories of copier breakdowns or how users can prevent them from happening.

Take a tour
One of the best ways to get to know a vendor is to take a tour of their facility. You will be able to meet staff in different departments, get a sense of their size and professionalism, and take a look at their repair facilities. This can also help you make sure a potential vendor is large enough to meet your needs - but small enough to value you as a customer.

If you can't tour the vendor's facilities, make sure you research in-depth profiles of different companies to learn how they communicate with customers.

Check references
Any dealer worth buying from should be more than willing to give you references. And make sure you follow through with this; as with any product or service that you purchase, neglecting to check references can be a grave mistake. Of course the dealer will put you in touch with their best customers, but you can still learn from the conversations.

The references you call should own the exact model of copier you are considering. Ask them how responsive the dealer has been to service calls and how comfortable they feel about the technicians' competence and level of expertise. If the copier has been problematic, find out how these problems were resolved.

Superstores
Copiers at the lowest end of the spectrum are available at retail or online stores, but we do not recommend purchasing this way. Preventative maintenance and ongoing service and support are critical to your copier's performance, and retail outlets do not offer appropriate service contracts. To handle breakdowns, manufacturers offer warranties that cover repairs or replacement, but most businesses want the comfort of knowing that an experienced technician is available to address any problems they have.