1. Caffeine Motor Machines: How long have you been in the industry?
Rich Leeson: 33 years.
2. CMM: Best technical advice you’ve ever received?
RL: Take the time, make the effort to do your work right
3. CMM: Favorite coffee origin or drink?
RL: Ethiopian, or really any fresh cup available
4. CMM: What is the process for becoming a tech with Bunn?
RL: Standard Electrical, Mechanical and Customer Service experience. Then BUNN trains on the operating systems of their brand.
5. CMM: Hometown?
RL: Corona, CA
6. CMM: What do you wish you had gotten told when you were first starting out in service?
RL: The economic importance of our Tech jobs, what it cost the customer when the machine is down, and what it costs us when we must make a second or third trip because we didn’t fix it the first time.
7. CMM: Is there anybody you admire in our industry? Why?
RL: There are so many, older Industry people that have built and paved they way to what our Industry is today. And so many of the new and excited younger people that are going to take us to the next level.
8. CMM: How and why did you start working in our industry?
RL: The first job I was offered was a field tech, which I turned down, haha. I hired on into manufacturing, then moved into a Service Manager role, I found being a tech was satisfying because I could work on equipment “with my hands” and interact with the customer “with my mind” too.
9. CMM: Why is it gratifying for you to work in coffee?
RL: Coffee is this magical thing, it puts smiles on faces of so many people. From the growers to the consumers.
10. CMM: Favorite aspect of the job?
RL: This is not a stalled industry, technology evolves, customers evolve, so no 2 days are the same.
11. CMM: What drives you to do great work?
RL: I look at what I do each day as running my own business, my own success and my own reputation, it works for me.
12. CMM: What issues in coffee do you care about the most?
RL: Fair trade.
13. CMM: Favorite repair trick or tool?
RL: My multimeter, since we typically cannot see electricity, this tool is priceless.
14. CMM: Do you have any advice for a new tech?
RL: Use your mind, eyes and common sense, before you crack open your tool bag, it will shorten the journey.
15. CMM: How important is customer service training to techs?
RL: Huge, I feel customer service is 75% of a tech’s job. If a Tech can’t understand this, then being a shop or bench Tech is probably the best choice for that person.
16. CMM: Where do you see our industry in the next five years?
RL: I think the equipment we service will continue to be even more sophisticated, which will require us to continue learning new skills to work on them.