Fridays with Frank: Special Guest Martin Golobic

Summary

In this engaging interview, Scott Colin speaks with Martin GOC, CEO of Great America Financial, about the company's impressive history and success in the leasing industry. Martin shares his vision for the future, emphasizing the transition from a founder-led to a team-led organization, and the importance of innovation and customer responsiveness. He discusses strategic initiatives, such as promoting Jenny Fiser to Group President of Office Technology, and the challenges faced by the industry with the shift from A3 to A4 emphasis. Martin highlights Great America's adaptability and commitment to supporting dealers in a changing business landscape.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Martin GOC, CEO of Great America Financial, joins the Canada Report to discuss the company's success and future direction.
• 🏆 Great America has consistently been ranked as the top leasing provider by the dealer audience, showcasing their strong market position.
• 🤝 Martin emphasizes the importance of his relationship with his father and the positive family business dynamics within Great America.
• 📈 The company is focused on transitioning from a founder-led to a team-led organization, with Martin playing a key role in this strategic shift.
• 👥 Jenny Fiser's promotion to Group President of Office Technology highlights Great America's commitment to elevating customer voices within the company.
• 🚀 Martin discusses the need for significant investments in technology and innovation to continue meeting customer needs and staying ahead of the competition.
• 🔄 The changing business landscape, particularly the shift from A3 to A4 emphasis, presents new challenges and opportunities for Great America and its dealers.
• 🛠️ Great America is exploring new business concepts and divisions, such as an automotive division focused on repair equipment and electric vehicle chargers.
• 💡 The company is considering leveraging its collective knowledge and data to provide additional value-added services to its customers, such as industry insights and financial modeling.
• 🌐 Martin expresses optimism about the drive and competitiveness of Great America's sales organizations and their ability to adapt and branch out into new areas.

Q & A

Who is the guest featured in the interview?

The guest featured in the interview is Martin GOC, the CEO of Great America Financial.

What is the significance of the company's history and success?

The company's history and success are significant as it has consistently been ranked as the top leasing provider according to surveys, indicating a strong relationship with its customers and a high level of customer satisfaction.

What role does Martin GOC see for himself in the company?

Martin GOC sees his role as transitioning the company from a founder-led organization to a team-led one, promoting internal talent and bringing in new faces to continue driving innovation and customer service.

What was the impact of the pandemic on Great America and its dealers?

During the pandemic, Great America was able to support its dealers effectively, offering help when other leasing companies could not or did not match their level of service, demonstrating their responsiveness and commitment to their customers.

How is the shift from A3 to A4 products affecting the industry?

The shift from A3 to A4 products is changing the industry as it involves a move from more expensive machines to lower value products, impacting MPS (Managed Print Services) contracts which were crucial for dealers.

What steps is Martin GOC considering to address the MPS challenge?

Martin GOC is considering various strategies, including creating a new role of Chief Strategy Officer and exploring new offerings to help dealers adapt to the changing landscape. He emphasizes understanding customer environments and needs to provide tailored solutions.

How does Great America support its dealers in expanding their业务范围?

Great America supports its dealers by exploring various concepts and utilizing their collective knowledge and data to help dealers understand and meet the changing needs of their customers, including entering new areas such as IT services and electric vehicle charging solutions.

What is the role of the Chief Strategy Officer at Great America?

The Chief Strategy Officer at Great America is tasked with developing strategies to help the company understand and adapt to the changing market and customer needs, coming from a consulting background to bring a fresh perspective to the company's approach.

How does Great America plan to use its data and insights?

Great America plans to use its data and insights to improve their customers' businesses by offering industry insights, financial modeling, and potentially exploring new value-added services to enhance the dealers' ability to serve their clients.

What is the significance of the promotion of Jenny Fiser to Group President of Office Technology?

The promotion of Jenny Fiser to Group President of Office Technology signifies the company's commitment to elevating the customer voice within the organization and making enterprise-wide decisions that align with customer needs and preferences.

How does Martin GOC view the future of Great America?

Martin GOC views the future of Great America as one of innovation, team leadership, and customer-centricity. He believes in the power of the collective team and the importance of adapting to changing market demands to continue the company's success.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Company Success

The paragraph introduces Scott Colin, the editor and chief of the Canada report, who is hosting the show. He invites Frank and a special guest, Martin GOC, the CEO of Great America financial, to join the conversation. The discussion highlights the company's impressive history and success, particularly in terms of customer satisfaction and industry recognition. Martin shares his thoughts on the company's future direction, emphasizing the importance of transitioning from a founder-led to a team-led organization. He also mentions the promotion of Jenny Fiser to group president of office technology, aiming to elevate customer voices within the company. The focus on innovation and technology investments is also discussed, as well as the company's responsiveness to customer needs, especially during the pandemic.

05:01

🚀 Addressing Industry Changes and Strategic Initiatives

In this paragraph, the conversation shifts towards the challenges and changes in the industry, particularly the transition from A3 to A4 emphasis and its impact on MPS (Managed Print Services) contracts. Martin GOC talks about the creation of a new role, Chief Strategy Officer, to better understand customer environments and needs. He discusses the company's approach to empathizing with dealers and exploring new offerings to support them in the evolving market. The paragraph also touches on Great America's business units, such as the managed service providers and the automotive division, and how they can contribute to addressing industry changes. Martin expresses optimism about the sales organizations and their ability to adapt and compete, as well as the potential for using collective knowledge and data to improve customer businesses further.

Keywords

💡CEO

The term 'CEO' stands for Chief Executive Officer, which is the highest-ranking officer in a company, responsible for making major corporate decisions, managing overall operations and resources, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations. In the video, Martin GOC, the CEO of Great America financial, discusses the company's direction and his role in transitioning the organization from founder-led to team-led, highlighting the importance of collective effort and innovation in the company's future success.

💡Great America Financial

Great America Financial is the company being discussed in the video, led by CEO Martin GOC. It is implied to be a successful organization with a strong presence in leasing services, particularly within the dealer community. The company's history, success, and future direction are central themes in the discussion, with a focus on maintaining its top position in the industry and adapting to changes in the business environment.

💡Leasing Provider

A leasing provider is a company or individual that offers leasing services, allowing customers to use assets for a period of time in exchange for regular payments. In the context of the video, Great America Financial is recognized as a primary leasing provider, indicating that they are a preferred choice among dealers for leasing services. The company's responsiveness and support for dealers during challenging times, such as the pandemic, have contributed to its strong reputation in this role.

💡Multi-Generational Families

The term 'multi-generational families' refers to family units that consist of two or more generations living together or involved in the same business. In the context of the video, Martin GOC discusses being part of peer groups with other multi-generational families and family-owned businesses, which suggests the importance of传承 and continuity in their business model and culture.

💡Office Technology

Office technology refers to the hardware, software, and services that are used in a typical office setting to improve productivity and efficiency. In the video, Jenny Fiser's promotion to group president of office technology is highlighted, indicating her role in elevating the customer's voice within the company and making enterprise-wide decisions. This suggests that Great America Financial has a segment dedicated to providing office technology solutions and is focused on understanding and meeting the evolving needs of its customers in this area.

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the process of introducing new ideas, methods, or products to improve or expand upon existing ones. In the context of the video, Martin GOC emphasizes the importance of innovation for Great America Financial, as they strive to transition from a founder-led to a team-led organization. This involves promoting internal talent and bringing in new faces with diverse backgrounds to help drive the company forward and continue to meet the changing needs of their customers.

💡MPS Contracts

MPS contracts, or Managed Print Services contracts, are agreements between a service provider and a customer for the management and optimization of print and document processes. These contracts are important for dealers as they provide a steady revenue stream and ensure the efficient operation of printing services. In the video, the changing emphasis from A3 to A4 products in MPS contracts is discussed, highlighting the need for dealers to adapt to a shift in the market where lower value products are replacing more expensive machines.

💡A4 and A3

A4 and A3 refer to international standard paper sizes used widely in the printing industry. A3 is a larger size, typically used for printing posters, charts, and larger documents, while A4 is smaller and more commonly used for standard business correspondence and reports. In the video, the shift in emphasis from A3 to A4 products is discussed in the context of MPS contracts, indicating a market trend towards using smaller, less expensive machines for printing needs.

💡Chief Strategy Officer

A Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) is a senior executive role responsible for developing and implementing the long-term strategic direction of a company. The CSO typically works closely with the CEO and other executives to craft strategies that align with the company's goals and objectives. In the video, Martin GOC mentions the creation of a new role, Chief Strategy Officer, at Great America Financial, signaling the company's commitment to strategic planning and adaptability in response to changing customer environments and industry trends.

💡Collabrance

Collabrance is a term that likely refers to a collaborative relationship or partnership in the context of the video. It is implied to be a master managed service provider that Great America Financial has mentioned in the past. The concept of collabrance suggests a strategic alliance where parties work together to achieve common goals, such as providing managed services or exploring new business opportunities like electric vehicle concepts.

💡Data Insights

Data insights refer to the valuable information and understanding that can be derived from analyzing data. In a business context, this often involves using data analytics to gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, market trends, and operational efficiency. In the video, Martin GOC talks about using Great America Financial's collective knowledge and data insights to improve their customers' businesses, indicating a strategic focus on leveraging data to offer enhanced value to their clients.

Highlights

Martin GOC, CEO of Great America financial, discusses the company's success and future direction.

Great America financial has an impressive history and strong customer satisfaction rates.

Martin GOC emphasizes the importance of the relationship with his father and the family-owned business aspect of Great America.

The company focuses on transitioning from a founder-led to a team-led organization.

Jenny Fiser's promotion to group president of office technology is highlighted to emphasize the customer's voice in the company.

Great America is investing significantly in technology to continue innovating and meeting customer needs.

The company's responsiveness to customer needs, especially during the pandemic, is praised.

The shift in the industry from A3 to A4 products and its impact on dealers is acknowledged.

Great America has created a new role, Chief Strategy Officer, to address the changing market and customer needs.

The company is exploring new business plans to offer additional value to their customers.

Great America's sales approach is centered around understanding the dealers' businesses and needs.

The company is considering expanding into the IT channel and supporting managed service providers.

Great America has an automotive division that is also involved in electric vehicle chargers.

The company is looking at ways to use its collective knowledge and data to improve customers' businesses.

Martin GOC expresses optimism about the drive and competitiveness of Great America's sales organizations.

Great America is exploring additional services such as HR and financial modeling for their customers.

Transcripts

[Music]

good morning it is Scott Colin editor

and chief of the Canada report great to

be here with you today and before I

bring out Frank and his very special

guest I want to remind everybody to like

subscribe and comment and also send

Frank your questions he loves to respond

to them know now without further Ado

Frank how are you doing this morning and

who is this special guest well uh I'm

doing great and we're indeed very

fortunate to have Martin GOC the CEO of

Great America financial are joining us

today so welcome Haron nice to have you

thank you very honored to be here and

we've got to meet several times so

looking forward to diving in a

conversation with you well thank you for

that you know it's your your company has

a pretty amazing history your success at

least by any statistic we can compile

from our surveys because typically

within the survey who's your primary

leasing provider and the numbers that

out of out of our audience is just

incredible and it's a it's a great

credit to to your entire company because

it's just saying the deal when when a

dealer audience says you are number one

you're pretty damn good so you know here

your you're stepping in as the

CEO what do you feel about where where

Great America is going to be heading in

these future

years yeah great question Frank I we're

g to go a wide range of thoughts on this

topic because because first uh I've been

very fortunate to one have a great

relationship with my Dad I'm part of

several peer groups uh that are call it

multi-generational families and and

family-owned businesses as Great America

is and uh I gotta be honest I have it

really good Frank um I could not have a

a better relationship with my dad not

all all of my peers get to say that and

some of it's heartbreaking as you

probably have seen some of those stories

but you know your comment is by by the

way the one year we did not win your

award we still think about that year

there's one year there's one blip and we

L look back at the history books on that

one um we have not forgotten uh you know

as as we look forward you said the right

word there it's it's it's not just my

dad it's a team um and you know you know

Jenny fiser really well we announced her

promotion to group president of office

technology um really reporting directly

to me to continue to elevate our

customers voice in our in our company

because Great America does have other

segments not just office technology and

to help her bring that voice higher up

for enterprise-wide decision making and

strategies um and that's a big part of

it when I think of my role at the

company Frank I have a unique role which

is to transition the organization from

founder Le to team Le and I'm a really

big believer on that so that has meant

that I've promoted some people like

Jenny and we brought on some new faces

at Great America some of them from

within our own industry and some in a

very broad business background to

continue helping us you know innovate

bring new things to our customers um

significant Investments on technology uh

so i' I've said a lot Frank if there if

we want to dive in on something it's we

have a lot going on well you know it's I

think one of the things that you're most

highly regarded for is your

responsiveness to uh your customer

demand what the dealers need need from

you uh I recall when the pandemic hit

and there was some very very serious

problems and from everything that we've

heard from the dealers you were a great

help you were there for them you were

able to do things that other other

leasing companies couldn't quite match

or do as well as you did so that to me

is uh is incredible that you were able

to do that uh and I guess you know

you're you're coming into a position and

and I agree with you team is the best

word to use because you've got some very

good people working there and working

together

um we're we're going to be faced with

some heavy challenges I believe and when

I say heavy challenges the business is

changing the convergence or I shouldn't

say the convergence but rather the

changing of the emphasis on A4 rather

than A3 it's going to change a lot

because as you well know those are the

MPS contracts were so important to the

dealers and now we've got a lower value

product replacing a more expensive

machine uh have you given any thoughts

uh to to that in terms of how you can

help dealers in in terms of this MPS

problem that they're going to

face yeah we a lot of thought Frank

nothing I would say concrete that you

know we can breaking news with you

necessarily that that's one of the

reasons I I I created a new role at

Great America Chief strategy officer

that does not come um actually from any

adjacencies whether in the office

Imaging or in the financing business

they come from a Consulting business so

I think that's the approach that we

really need to take is understanding

ever more so our customers environments

and what they're being facing with um to

give you a sense we have some business

plans um that we're looking to enact on

that may give new offerings to our

Customer because what we do Frank is we

think about you know we tell our

salespeople at Great America you you

wake up every day and if and if you're

you know supporting someone a dealer as

an example in in office Imaging is you

think about your life as a dealer what

are they going through what technologies

do they use what services do they need

what is happening in their industry as

you mentioned

the the A4 as you know concept there and

and so you know many of them entering

the it Channel um Great America itself

has a separate business unit that is

supporting managed service providers so

tons of knowledge that we can bring and

share there we've mentioned collabrance

in the past our our Master managed

service provider to to get people to not

sure if they want to build it um or buy

it or they can partner with us for sure

on that so that's that's one of the

Frank and you know not having all the

answers for sure I will say the one

thing that being with our customers um

I'm just really optimistic about them

Frank these are sales organizations

these are driven people and they are

Fierce

competitors um and I have a lot of

optimist I know many of them are

branching out I've seen um we know water

um services are part of it we've seen a

lot of electric vehicle um Concepts

coming out the Chargers as you would

probably be familiar with lot these

folks are thinking about okay my reps

are going to an office what are all the

things that my customers need to do

business and can I do those for them um

so we've been exploring all these

Concepts we actually have an automotive

division at Great America that it's more

repair equipment um but through that

we're also getting electric vehicle

Chargers so we've been able to bring

that knowledge forward to to this

customer set um and you know then the

other

Frank what I'm thinking about is is

again how do we help them think forward

on this I I sense a big opportunity for

Great America to use our Collective

knowledge our bigger data in also ways

that can improve our customers

businesses so we do have an HR Services

Group but I've always wondered is is you

know many of our customers rely upon us

for industry insights Financial modeling

and should that be something we we

Explore More for them just as a value

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[Music]