B Y  S C O T T   D e L O A C H
SIG Manager
Atlanta Chapter
 

I've been the Xerox webmaster for slightly more than four years. Xerox hired me when I was 62 years old which indicates to me that they are truly an equal opportunity employer.

What is your background?

I became a publications manager in 1956. I spent 17 years in the aerospace business as a writer or publications manager working for such companies as Rockwell International, American Machine & Foundry, Scientific Data Systems, Western Electric, and Bell Telephone Laboratories. I spent 5 years at White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.

In 1969 (can't believe that was 30 years ago) the aerospace business in California collapsed and I took a writing job with Digital Equipment Corporation in Massachusetts. I eventually became a principal writer and was one of two people who set up the entire audiovisual training group for DEC.

I later moved back west and worked as a technical writer at Floating Point Systems and later as a publications/training manager for both Intel and DuPont.

In addition to my management jobs, I always kept my fingers in writing to make sure my writing skills stayed sharp. I sometimes wrote on the job but more often did a great deal of freelance moonlighting work.

I have been involved with a variety of projects from parallel near super-computers to computerized saw mills, from space telemetry to automated systems for copper mines, from missile control systems to mass spectrometers and gas chromatographs, from steel rolling mills to retinal identification scanners...etc., etc.

How were you hired as the Xerox webmaster?

Some years ago I had worked as a contract writer for Xerox in El Segundo. I later moved to Northern California where I was a Publications/Training manager for DuPont. DuPont closed down their computer division which meant I was out of work. My former manager at Xerox had moved to this area. He called me and said that there was a group at the Palo Alto Research Center that needed someone with my background. I interviewed, got the job, and that's how I became the Xerox webmaster.

How big is your team?

I have three people on my staff.

What do you do in a typical day?

In most companies the webmaster is a person who creates web pages, maintains the servers, possibly answers some e-mail, etc. At Xerox, we consider the webmaster to be a "function" rather than a person. We have hundreds of people creating content for our web site and a number of people handling technical functions such as maintaining the servers, dealing with Internet providers, etc.

My role was to set up a process for handling e-mail from our web site. When I set up the system, I laid down three very simple rules:

1. Answer every message. (If someone sends a message, they deserve the courtesy of a reply.)
2. Answer within 24 hours or less.
3. Provide an answer. (Don't ask the customer to call an 800 number.)

Because we answer each message personally (we use no automatic or computer-generated messages) and because of our large volume of mail, the majority of my day is spent handling mail.

Being a technical writer, what do you see as your strengths as a webmaster?

Actually, it's of prime importance. Xerox wanted a writer for the job. When responding to customers over the Internet, all they see is the written message. That message represents the corporation. It is therefore important that each message is not only free from any mistakes, but also is in a style that is professional and also makes the customer comfortable.

How many hits does the site get per day?

I read every message that we receive and then decide whether I or one of my staff will answer it. After I've apportioned out the work for the day, I spend most of the day answering messages. I also do reports and am often asked by other Xerox groups to compile specific statistics for them.

How many e-mails do you personally answer in a typical day?

In addition to reading all messages and the other duties I have, I personally answer around 100 messages a day.

How do you answer so many e-mail messages?

Being a fast typist helps a lot. Seriously, I've developed some special techniques that allow us to answer so many messages every day. It took quite a bit of time to build the system but it certainly has paid off.

Do you prefer e-mail to phone and/or face-to-face communication?

My personal preference has always been fact-to-face communication. I've studied communication techniques through the years and realize that written and/or verbal words are only part of the communication process. A person's eyes, body language, tonal qualities, etc. are a large part of the communication process.

What percentage of your work time is spent answering messages?

It varies from day to day but I'd guess I spend about 75% of my time answering messages.

What is your favorite question that you have been asked?

There are so many but some of my favorites are:

• "If someone has been blind from birth, do they dream?"
• "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
• "What is the meaning of life?"
• "What do you say to God when he sneezes?"

You have a book out about the site, right?

I do have a book out, but it's not about the site. I had been with Xerox only a few months when someone sent me a message that said, "I'm desperate, I need the Boy Scout Lyrics to the song Kumbaya. Please help!"

Although to this day I have no idea why he sent the message to Xerox, I answered out of courtesy. Soon there was a legend on the Internet that said "If you send a question to the Xerox webmaster, he'll answer anything."

So over the years I've received thousands of non-Xerox messages. I compiled the most interesting ones into a book. It's entitled, Do Fish Drink Water? and was published by William Morrow in August, 1999.

If you'd like to see what it's about, check out amazon.com. It has the publisher's comments, my comments, the Kirkus review, and several reviews from readers.

What is your favorite part of your job?

I've always enjoyed helping people and this job allows me to do that. If I can solve a customer's problem by having his machine replaced with a new one or if I can help some grade school student understand what makes the sound when you snap your fingers, it is rewarding. I get a lot of satisfaction out of this job.

...Least favorite?

Even though people are frustrated when they have a problem, we're here to help. I don't like the nasty messages full of four letter words that we sometimes get.

As far as non-Xerox messages, I dislike getting messages from graduate students who would like me to write their thesis...by tomorrow if possible.

What is your goal for the Xerox web site?

Although I'm not part of the design team, I would like the Xerox web site to be so easy to use that customers could easily find whatever they wanted and the only message we would ever receive would say, "You have an excellent web site."

The goal of myself and my staff is to not only serve customers the way we'd like to be served, but to convince other corporations to answer their e-mail and treat their customers well also.

As you probably know, we're known for having a world-class e-mail response team. I've been featured in the media over 100 times. Everything from CNN Headline News to People Magazine and from the South African edition of Cosmopolitan to major newspapers in Brazil and Mexico. In addition over 40 major corporations have asked me for advice in setting up their e-mail response operation.

And yet, I'm doing nothing unusual. I'm simply treating customers the way I'd like to be treated. I also consider the smallest customer just as important as our largest customer.

I tell my staff that if they receive a question that seems unimportant or trivial, it's very important to the person who sent it and should be treated as such.

The best advice I can give to aspiring webmasters is to always, always, treat every customer the way you'd like to be treated and to remember that employees in your company who contact you are also customers. It's the real secret of success.