April 25, 2021 • 16 mins
What is it like to work in the family business? How do you make it your own and work with confidence and autonomy? Jason Goemans of Goemans Appliances joins Leon to talk about how his mentor and father, the late and great Tony Goemans, enabled him to succeed in his role. Jason also discusses how his business has adapted and grown tremendously amidst a real estate boom.
https://www.goemans.com/home/
If you’re interested in one of our The Way Forward live webcasts, please visit https://peo-leadership.com/. Please reach out to Kelly May kmay@peo-leadership.com
If you’d like to listen to some of our past webcasts, we have recordings on our COVID-19 resource page (https://peo-leadership.com/covid-19-resource-centre/). Guests have included University of Toronto’s Janice Stein, Harvard’s Rosabeth Kantor. We’ve talked about such topics as mental health, rent negotiations, the stimulus package and a host of others.
If you’d like to find out more about our leadership community, please feel free to reach out directly to lgoren@peo-leadership.com.
If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please subscribe and give us a review on Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leon Goren (00:00):
Special thanks to Sharon GQueues for helping us
(00:02):
bring you today's pa leadershipsnippet podcast. Welcome to our
snippets podcast. I'm LeonGoren, CEO and president of PEO
Leadership, North America'spremier peer-to-peer network and
leadership advisory firm. Todaywe welcome Jason goemans,
President of goemans applianceand vice president of tg
(00:23):
appliance and tg being tasco.
And Goldman's appliance whichmerged about eight years ago.
And remember it Michellecaptains advisory team at peel
leadership. Goldman's applianceswas founded over 40 years ago by
Jason's father and mentor, Tonygoemans, who passed in 2013.
Today, TG operates with 14locations. Although it's like
many of us, they've now becomeaccustomed to serving customers
(00:44):
with the same passion, passionand service online. Jason, it's
great to have you with us today.
Jason Goeman (00:51):
Thanks for having me on.
Leon Goren (00:53):
So let's jump into talking about family business.
You grew up in a familybusiness, and now you're working
in the family business. And Iknow we've got lots of listeners
that are interested in terms ofwhat's it like to work in a
family business? What's it liketo grow up in a family business?
Are there any insights or anyadvice you can share with them?
Jason Goeman (01:14):
Stay away from it.
Just kidding. No, you know,growing up in the business, like
many family businesses, firstgeneration to second generation,
you've got the typical dynamicswith everybody hands on humble
beginnings. I watched my parentsstruggle for a long time trying
to keep the business going. Mymom gave up a nursing career to
(01:36):
raise the kids for kids and alsofor at home. And my dad started
up with about $2 to his name anddid everything he could to keep
it going and build a brand. So,you know, we grew up, you know,
I was selling appliances, andthrough high school and helping
me put myself throughuniversity, my brothers, I have
two twin brothers behind me thatwere also involved in the
(01:57):
business. My younger sisteractually went into teaching, she
was a smart one. But it My dadwas a mentor. He was he was
actually my best friend. And wekind of grew up together. And
before he passed 15 years beforethat.
Leon Goren (02:12):
He talked about, you know, it's such a great story. I
mean, with the fact you callyour dad, a mentor, your best
friend is so huge, like I see somany families where it's it's
it's definitely not like that,as you grew up and your father
was sort of mentoring you. Whattype of leadership styles What
did he help you out with interms of making you the leader
(02:34):
you are today?
Jason Goeman (02:36):
You know, the, my dad was a mentor did not just
meet a lot of people. He was agenuine, humble, pleasant guy.
they genuinely love the businesshe was in. And he was just like
a source of gravity. People justkind of flocked to him, because
he was always happy, always felta glass half full. It took a lot
to get him upset or stressed.
And they were different. It wasa different time back then. But
(02:57):
somehow he was able to run thebusiness and still be helping
coach t ball on soccer practice.
He was the ultimatequintessential family man.
family was first word for my myparents and my dad. And there's
still a big hole there wherehe's gone now. But his legacy
lives on through his family andfriends and doing well. That's
the biggest thing is he was justa genuinely happy person that
(03:21):
loved to have his kids and hisfamily around the business and
never expected to do majorthings in life, or become the
next Jeff Bezos. But he's justhappy to have his kids and his
family around and part of theteam
Leon Goren (03:33):
and the family like including yourself, Was this
your first job? Like, you know,I always hear the talk about I
don't want my kids to be in mybusiness at first let them go
work somewhere else and theycome work in our business
afterwards. Was it the same foryou guys?
Jason Goeman (03:49):
Not really, and my dad never suggested me come into
the business. I mean, my firstjob was a paper route. I worked
at a tire did a few things. Butwhen I went to Western and the
idea was for to go and get myundergrad and then take a few
years off and do the MBA. But atthe time, there was a lot to be
done. And I when I did my my BAat Western kings I came back and
(04:12):
I ended up going to the office Igot a taste of it, the marketing
the sales, there was a growthopportunity. So I kind of never
went back for my MBA and i i ijumped at my dad had his honors
business from Lori and he wentup he still to this day, but I
kind of went into I loved it. Ilearned as much on the trunk
delivering appliances forcustomers as I did in the
office, and I just didn't havethe appetite to go back to
(04:34):
school. Now, I would not giveadvice today. It's different now
but 20 years ago, it was adecision that that I made that I
still I don't regret because Igot a chance to work with them
and we were just two peas in apod and kind of just fell into
it.
Leon Goren (04:50):
Such a great story.
That's That's awesome. Now Iknow you. You started something
called the game. A number yearsago, and this year, it's a
little different. It's, youknow, it was a game as a
charitable event that you haddone. It was a memorial. Can you
maybe tell us a little bit? Tellus a little bit of the history
(05:11):
of it, but what you're planningto do this year as well?
Jason Goeman (05:15):
Okay, well, specifically the the game as we
call it, it's the Goldmansannual Memorial Day. So about
nine years ago, I lost my my sonhunter in a tragic accident. And
then shortly after I lost myfather, Tony to cancer. And it
was a really dark time. And Igot into the verge of the very
(05:36):
same time. And the game was justa way of me celebrating both two
great souls, my son and myfather, and it kind of spiraled
from an industry event and grewit. So there was an annual golf
day, Glen Abbey and their honor,and on behalf of the CIO, which
is a charity that the theproceeds have been going to. And
(05:57):
last year, like everything, likecommon story, things are
disrupted or halted because ofCOVID. And then again this year,
so because we couldn't do thephysical game. And then at the
course, we decided to take theprice table, which is pretty
significant. So $100,000 worthof prizes that are generous
suppliers and trade partnershave helped us procure, and
we're doing online raffle thatcan reach a lot more people for,
(06:20):
you know, $5 tickets, which iscoming up in a month from now,
to try and help the strugglingcharity that I become quite
attached to. And Tony and Tonyand hunters have the honor. And
it's really cathartic. It makesme feel good to I know it's
cliche, but to get back, it kindof keeps them Top of Mind and
aware in their memory and bringbring some good to some some
(06:43):
disabled and less fortunate kidsthat desperately need to be able
to utilize these camps. It'ssuch a shame that this COVID is
disrupted even that aspect of ofit. So yeah, we're gonna try and
see what happens this year andgo from there. So Jay, I
Leon Goren (06:57):
know that our members will know where to go.
But so many people listen tothis podcast, if you're just an
outsider listening in today,where can they go to find out
more if they wanted to?
Jason Goeman (07:07):
Well, in about a week from now, we're gonna
release it on actually thegoldmans.com website, slash kids
kids camp raffle, there'll be athing right on the main page,
they will go to and we'll we'llhave a social media and
awareness and public burn isgoing on. So they'll definitely
hear about it even without that.
But it's just our humble way oftrying to keep something going
and for all the right reasons.
And to be honest, this might bea net positive, because we would
(07:32):
the there might be more proceedscoming from more awareness for
all the right reasons. So asopposed to an insular industry
sort of a one day event, thismay have a better chance to do
more. So it might be netpositive. Having said that, so
we're crossing our fingers.
Leon Goren (07:49):
That's great. So let's take it back. Now back
into the business side of it.
And I know you've been at po forfor more than a year. But we're
back in March 2020, April 2020pandemic hits, we're now sitting
a year from that, from thatpoint in time. Talk to me about
any big surprises that sort ofhit you that you wouldn't have
(08:12):
predicted back then.
Jason Goeman (08:17):
Everything worked out perfect. Everything worked
out perfectly as expected. Forone I didn't think I'd be
sitting for one, I didn't thinkI'd be sitting in my bedroom
having this conversation withyou because my two kids are
occupying the den in the familyroom for this conversation
because their own scoring. Thesecond thing to be blunt is our
sales have gone up, which isstrange. We thought the role was
(08:39):
going to crash from a salesperspective when our stores were
closed down. But this ridiculoushousing boom that has been
prompted by the keyboard costand people's desire to move and
to greener pastures, I guess iswhere we're fortunate to be tied
to the housing industry. Sowe're selling a lot. There'll be
like so many retailers we can'tget the product. Our suppliers
(09:00):
and supply chain is just beenjust been crippled by the lack
of stock and parts which issomething that's been talked
about on the news and everywherelike so many industries short
supply is really a double edgedsword. So sales are up stock is
hard to get the frustrationlevels never been higher for
customers and tried to managethat there's been a huge
struggle. When we never wedidn't foresee that either as
(09:24):
the stock shortage and sales upthat disconnect has been a huge
stumbling block for us.
Leon Goren (09:30):
It's funny, I we were looking at bikes this past
weekend. And you start readingabout the bike industry and
they're saying inventory will bemeat 20% of the demand this
year. That's all the bikes thatare coming into this country
this year. Is it the same forappliances like do we just is
the year done? Or will it catchup?
Jason Goeman (09:50):
Well, funny anything tied to home or
cottages. So your bike story isthe same as for barbecues or
outdoor anything to do withoutdoor or home recreation
tools. It's all Saying noappliances isn't as bad. There
is stock. The problem is the theamount of choice we've been
accustomed to the last fewyears, there are 1000s of skews
(10:11):
almost made to order. And thesupply chain has really shrunk
back to just a certain amount ofthings are coming. So it's there
is stock, you're just going towait longer for it. And we're
not used to saying, you know,sorry, CES in three to six
months. And when people boughtprior and had hoses closing, and
they can't get the stock becausethe hole just in time system is
(10:31):
no longer just the time. Itreally is a disrupter. So you've
got the patient's expectationnow is much different. And it's
probably going to be another sixto eight months before we get
back to whatever the pre COVID.
Normal is. But yeah, it's it.
We're definitely not there yet.
Leon Goren (10:48):
What about the customer experience, I know like
we're in a lockdown again herefor what, six weeks or something
nobody retail shut down. Themove to virtual stores in terms
of people being able to see whatyou've got, or online. How's
that working like is it reallytransformed the business for you
guys?
Jason Goeman (11:09):
Well, to be blunt, it's propelled our online
activity more by a few years. Soour percentage of sales online
is incontestable tour toobviously our in store when when
people are paying 510 50$100,000 on appliances. That's
not something you're going tobuy online, unless you're forced
to. So our our online is acombination, not just the e
(11:30):
commerce but also the virtualchat that facetiming the the
digital aspect of it is gettingour sales people to now engage
on an omni channel opportunity.
So we're thinking a ton ofresources into that and trying
to adapt. And I think a lot ofit will stay post COVID people
are now comfortable, more sothan they made, they would have
been buying online or talking topeople through the phone or
through, you know, the the web'sthe webcast. So I yes, we're
(11:52):
adapting. But it's still a shamewhen we've got such great
beautiful experiential storesnot being utilized for those
bigger types of purchases,purchases.
Leon Goren (12:05):
Okay. And just the last thing i knew i, you and I
were chatting about this, andone of the other wasn't a big
surprise for you, but youmentioned your people. And, you
know, having them step up overthis past year, it's just been
an incredible, incredible thing.
And it's been like that for alot of organizations, but maybe
laborat a little bit on that interms of I don't think it was a
(12:26):
surprise for you. But it was itreally made a difference.
Jason Goeman (12:32):
100% I I'm humbled and excited, and it doesn't keep
this COVID doesn't keep me up atnight, in a way because we know
how our team came and stepped upthe leadership, the trust,
people just working from homeand, and making things happen,
everything from our ITdepartment to our service, the
troops really rallied, and thesales people going through
(12:54):
everything in the stores. Andthere were so many changes and
reactions and pivoting that werepivots been abused in our
industry, but I couldn't behappier about our team. And I
think in a lot of ways, it'smade us stronger. A lot of the
fluff gets cut out when you haveto really step up and say, Okay,
what are we going to do here?
So, from a strategy and aleadership perspective, I think
(13:14):
tg is stronger. Because it COVIDin many ways than we were
before. And I know it's cliche,people in a business where we
have skews that can be boughtanywhere by big box online, that
people are the difference on thefront lines, and throughout the
process those touch points. SoI'm more confident than ever
that we were doing the rightthings, maybe not fast enough
(13:34):
for some people. But we know ourplace in this world as far as
appliance retail that we've gota path and just glad to be by
the team to rely on.
Leon Goren (13:45):
So I'm going to ask you, because I truly believe
culture and the inspiration,engagement of people always
starts at the top. Is thereanything you can share with us
that you guys do that reallytook your people to another
level inspired them engaged? Andwhat are you guys doing at the
leadership level? That's reallymade a difference here?
Jason Goeman (14:07):
I think I'm outside of that, you know, the
town halls and little baggies, Ithink what we've done is we've
enabled our most of ourmanagement teams to make
decisions on their own in realtime without the typical red
tape or second guessing, not somuch ask for forgiveness instead
of permission, but we've reallyengaged and allowed them to, to,
(14:31):
to respond almost within abusiness within a business
mentality. So I don't know ifthat's a specific answer. But
it's true. we've extended trustthat we might not have a
necessity and it's absolutelyamplified back and raise the bar
across the board. And it'salmost tangible Leon that we've
seen performance, performancebars been raised and meeting
(14:55):
challenges without having tomicromanage or expect they're
doing these proactively. I'm ina remote environment where it's,
it's hard to do digitally, youmissed the buying and that
culture at the office in thewater cooler talk. And you know
that Mojo. And I do wishsomebody does come back in time.
But we have a new level of trustfor our leadership team. And we
just keep, you know, celebratingthat.
Leon Goren (15:18):
That's awesome. And thank you for sharing that.
Jason. That's all. That's great.
So, Jason, I want to thank youfor joining us and again,
sharing your insights. If you'reinterested in our live webcast,
the way forward live and anyother snippets, please take a
moment and visit us atpeo-leadership.com you'll find
on our site various previousrecorded webcasts, which include
guests such as Professor JaniceStein, Harvard's Rosabeth Cantor
(15:40):
and Michael beer, Robertchestnut, Dr. Greg wells, Dr.
Jason Selk, Mitchell Goldhar,and many more as we cover such
topics as Mental HealthLeadership, the world reset, and
a host of others. Thank you forjoining us today, and we look
forward to seeing you againshortly.
Jason Goeman (15:57):
Thanks very much.
Special thanks to Sharon GQueues for helping us
(00:02):
bring you today's pa leadershipsnippet podcast. Welcome to our
snippets podcast. I'm LeonGoren, CEO and president of PEO
Leadership, North America'spremier peer-to-peer network and
leadership advisory firm. Todaywe welcome Jason goemans,
President of goemans applianceand vice president of tg
(00:23):
appliance and tg being tasco.
And Goldman's appliance whichmerged about eight years ago.
And remember it Michellecaptains advisory team at peel
leadership. Goldman's applianceswas founded over 40 years ago by
Jason's father and mentor, Tonygoemans, who passed in 2013.
Today, TG operates with 14locations. Although it's like
many of us, they've now becomeaccustomed to serving customers
(00:44):
with the same passion, passionand service online. Jason, it's
great to have you with us today.
Jason Goeman (00:51):
Thanks for having me on.
Leon Goren (00:53):
So let's jump into talking about family business.
You grew up in a familybusiness, and now you're working
in the family business. And Iknow we've got lots of listeners
that are interested in terms ofwhat's it like to work in a
family business? What's it liketo grow up in a family business?
Are there any insights or anyadvice you can share with them?
Jason Goeman (01:14):
Stay away from it.
Just kidding. No, you know,growing up in the business, like
many family businesses, firstgeneration to second generation,
you've got the typical dynamicswith everybody hands on humble
beginnings. I watched my parentsstruggle for a long time trying
to keep the business going. Mymom gave up a nursing career to
(01:36):
raise the kids for kids and alsofor at home. And my dad started
up with about $2 to his name anddid everything he could to keep
it going and build a brand. So,you know, we grew up, you know,
I was selling appliances, andthrough high school and helping
me put myself throughuniversity, my brothers, I have
two twin brothers behind me thatwere also involved in the
(01:57):
business. My younger sisteractually went into teaching, she
was a smart one. But it My dadwas a mentor. He was he was
actually my best friend. And wekind of grew up together. And
before he passed 15 years beforethat.
Leon Goren (02:12):
He talked about, you know, it's such a great story. I
mean, with the fact you callyour dad, a mentor, your best
friend is so huge, like I see somany families where it's it's
it's definitely not like that,as you grew up and your father
was sort of mentoring you. Whattype of leadership styles What
did he help you out with interms of making you the leader
(02:34):
you are today?
Jason Goeman (02:36):
You know, the, my dad was a mentor did not just
meet a lot of people. He was agenuine, humble, pleasant guy.
they genuinely love the businesshe was in. And he was just like
a source of gravity. People justkind of flocked to him, because
he was always happy, always felta glass half full. It took a lot
to get him upset or stressed.
And they were different. It wasa different time back then. But
(02:57):
somehow he was able to run thebusiness and still be helping
coach t ball on soccer practice.
He was the ultimatequintessential family man.
family was first word for my myparents and my dad. And there's
still a big hole there wherehe's gone now. But his legacy
lives on through his family andfriends and doing well. That's
the biggest thing is he was justa genuinely happy person that
(03:21):
loved to have his kids and hisfamily around the business and
never expected to do majorthings in life, or become the
next Jeff Bezos. But he's justhappy to have his kids and his
family around and part of theteam
Leon Goren (03:33):
and the family like including yourself, Was this
your first job? Like, you know,I always hear the talk about I
don't want my kids to be in mybusiness at first let them go
work somewhere else and theycome work in our business
afterwards. Was it the same foryou guys?
Jason Goeman (03:49):
Not really, and my dad never suggested me come into
the business. I mean, my firstjob was a paper route. I worked
at a tire did a few things. Butwhen I went to Western and the
idea was for to go and get myundergrad and then take a few
years off and do the MBA. But atthe time, there was a lot to be
done. And I when I did my my BAat Western kings I came back and
(04:12):
I ended up going to the office Igot a taste of it, the marketing
the sales, there was a growthopportunity. So I kind of never
went back for my MBA and i i ijumped at my dad had his honors
business from Lori and he wentup he still to this day, but I
kind of went into I loved it. Ilearned as much on the trunk
delivering appliances forcustomers as I did in the
office, and I just didn't havethe appetite to go back to
(04:34):
school. Now, I would not giveadvice today. It's different now
but 20 years ago, it was adecision that that I made that I
still I don't regret because Igot a chance to work with them
and we were just two peas in apod and kind of just fell into
it.
Leon Goren (04:50):
Such a great story.
That's That's awesome. Now Iknow you. You started something
called the game. A number yearsago, and this year, it's a
little different. It's, youknow, it was a game as a
charitable event that you haddone. It was a memorial. Can you
maybe tell us a little bit? Tellus a little bit of the history
(05:11):
of it, but what you're planningto do this year as well?
Jason Goeman (05:15):
Okay, well, specifically the the game as we
call it, it's the Goldmansannual Memorial Day. So about
nine years ago, I lost my my sonhunter in a tragic accident. And
then shortly after I lost myfather, Tony to cancer. And it
was a really dark time. And Igot into the verge of the very
(05:36):
same time. And the game was justa way of me celebrating both two
great souls, my son and myfather, and it kind of spiraled
from an industry event and grewit. So there was an annual golf
day, Glen Abbey and their honor,and on behalf of the CIO, which
is a charity that the theproceeds have been going to. And
(05:57):
last year, like everything, likecommon story, things are
disrupted or halted because ofCOVID. And then again this year,
so because we couldn't do thephysical game. And then at the
course, we decided to take theprice table, which is pretty
significant. So $100,000 worthof prizes that are generous
suppliers and trade partnershave helped us procure, and
we're doing online raffle thatcan reach a lot more people for,
(06:20):
you know, $5 tickets, which iscoming up in a month from now,
to try and help the strugglingcharity that I become quite
attached to. And Tony and Tonyand hunters have the honor. And
it's really cathartic. It makesme feel good to I know it's
cliche, but to get back, it kindof keeps them Top of Mind and
aware in their memory and bringbring some good to some some
(06:43):
disabled and less fortunate kidsthat desperately need to be able
to utilize these camps. It'ssuch a shame that this COVID is
disrupted even that aspect of ofit. So yeah, we're gonna try and
see what happens this year andgo from there. So Jay, I
Leon Goren (06:57):
know that our members will know where to go.
But so many people listen tothis podcast, if you're just an
outsider listening in today,where can they go to find out
more if they wanted to?
Jason Goeman (07:07):
Well, in about a week from now, we're gonna
release it on actually thegoldmans.com website, slash kids
kids camp raffle, there'll be athing right on the main page,
they will go to and we'll we'llhave a social media and
awareness and public burn isgoing on. So they'll definitely
hear about it even without that.
But it's just our humble way oftrying to keep something going
and for all the right reasons.
And to be honest, this might bea net positive, because we would
(07:32):
the there might be more proceedscoming from more awareness for
all the right reasons. So asopposed to an insular industry
sort of a one day event, thismay have a better chance to do
more. So it might be netpositive. Having said that, so
we're crossing our fingers.
Leon Goren (07:49):
That's great. So let's take it back. Now back
into the business side of it.
And I know you've been at po forfor more than a year. But we're
back in March 2020, April 2020pandemic hits, we're now sitting
a year from that, from thatpoint in time. Talk to me about
any big surprises that sort ofhit you that you wouldn't have
(08:12):
predicted back then.
Jason Goeman (08:17):
Everything worked out perfect. Everything worked
out perfectly as expected. Forone I didn't think I'd be
sitting for one, I didn't thinkI'd be sitting in my bedroom
having this conversation withyou because my two kids are
occupying the den in the familyroom for this conversation
because their own scoring. Thesecond thing to be blunt is our
sales have gone up, which isstrange. We thought the role was
(08:39):
going to crash from a salesperspective when our stores were
closed down. But this ridiculoushousing boom that has been
prompted by the keyboard costand people's desire to move and
to greener pastures, I guess iswhere we're fortunate to be tied
to the housing industry. Sowe're selling a lot. There'll be
like so many retailers we can'tget the product. Our suppliers
(09:00):
and supply chain is just beenjust been crippled by the lack
of stock and parts which issomething that's been talked
about on the news and everywherelike so many industries short
supply is really a double edgedsword. So sales are up stock is
hard to get the frustrationlevels never been higher for
customers and tried to managethat there's been a huge
struggle. When we never wedidn't foresee that either as
(09:24):
the stock shortage and sales upthat disconnect has been a huge
stumbling block for us.
Leon Goren (09:30):
It's funny, I we were looking at bikes this past
weekend. And you start readingabout the bike industry and
they're saying inventory will bemeat 20% of the demand this
year. That's all the bikes thatare coming into this country
this year. Is it the same forappliances like do we just is
the year done? Or will it catchup?
Jason Goeman (09:50):
Well, funny anything tied to home or
cottages. So your bike story isthe same as for barbecues or
outdoor anything to do withoutdoor or home recreation
tools. It's all Saying noappliances isn't as bad. There
is stock. The problem is the theamount of choice we've been
accustomed to the last fewyears, there are 1000s of skews
(10:11):
almost made to order. And thesupply chain has really shrunk
back to just a certain amount ofthings are coming. So it's there
is stock, you're just going towait longer for it. And we're
not used to saying, you know,sorry, CES in three to six
months. And when people boughtprior and had hoses closing, and
they can't get the stock becausethe hole just in time system is
(10:31):
no longer just the time. Itreally is a disrupter. So you've
got the patient's expectationnow is much different. And it's
probably going to be another sixto eight months before we get
back to whatever the pre COVID.
Normal is. But yeah, it's it.
We're definitely not there yet.
Leon Goren (10:48):
What about the customer experience, I know like
we're in a lockdown again herefor what, six weeks or something
nobody retail shut down. Themove to virtual stores in terms
of people being able to see whatyou've got, or online. How's
that working like is it reallytransformed the business for you
guys?
Jason Goeman (11:09):
Well, to be blunt, it's propelled our online
activity more by a few years. Soour percentage of sales online
is incontestable tour toobviously our in store when when
people are paying 510 50$100,000 on appliances. That's
not something you're going tobuy online, unless you're forced
to. So our our online is acombination, not just the e
(11:30):
commerce but also the virtualchat that facetiming the the
digital aspect of it is gettingour sales people to now engage
on an omni channel opportunity.
So we're thinking a ton ofresources into that and trying
to adapt. And I think a lot ofit will stay post COVID people
are now comfortable, more sothan they made, they would have
been buying online or talking topeople through the phone or
through, you know, the the web'sthe webcast. So I yes, we're
(11:52):
adapting. But it's still a shamewhen we've got such great
beautiful experiential storesnot being utilized for those
bigger types of purchases,purchases.
Leon Goren (12:05):
Okay. And just the last thing i knew i, you and I
were chatting about this, andone of the other wasn't a big
surprise for you, but youmentioned your people. And, you
know, having them step up overthis past year, it's just been
an incredible, incredible thing.
And it's been like that for alot of organizations, but maybe
laborat a little bit on that interms of I don't think it was a
(12:26):
surprise for you. But it was itreally made a difference.
Jason Goeman (12:32):
100% I I'm humbled and excited, and it doesn't keep
this COVID doesn't keep me up atnight, in a way because we know
how our team came and stepped upthe leadership, the trust,
people just working from homeand, and making things happen,
everything from our ITdepartment to our service, the
troops really rallied, and thesales people going through
(12:54):
everything in the stores. Andthere were so many changes and
reactions and pivoting that werepivots been abused in our
industry, but I couldn't behappier about our team. And I
think in a lot of ways, it'smade us stronger. A lot of the
fluff gets cut out when you haveto really step up and say, Okay,
what are we going to do here?
So, from a strategy and aleadership perspective, I think
(13:14):
tg is stronger. Because it COVIDin many ways than we were
before. And I know it's cliche,people in a business where we
have skews that can be boughtanywhere by big box online, that
people are the difference on thefront lines, and throughout the
process those touch points. SoI'm more confident than ever
that we were doing the rightthings, maybe not fast enough
(13:34):
for some people. But we know ourplace in this world as far as
appliance retail that we've gota path and just glad to be by
the team to rely on.
Leon Goren (13:45):
So I'm going to ask you, because I truly believe
culture and the inspiration,engagement of people always
starts at the top. Is thereanything you can share with us
that you guys do that reallytook your people to another
level inspired them engaged? Andwhat are you guys doing at the
leadership level? That's reallymade a difference here?
Jason Goeman (14:07):
I think I'm outside of that, you know, the
town halls and little baggies, Ithink what we've done is we've
enabled our most of ourmanagement teams to make
decisions on their own in realtime without the typical red
tape or second guessing, not somuch ask for forgiveness instead
of permission, but we've reallyengaged and allowed them to, to,
(14:31):
to respond almost within abusiness within a business
mentality. So I don't know ifthat's a specific answer. But
it's true. we've extended trustthat we might not have a
necessity and it's absolutelyamplified back and raise the bar
across the board. And it'salmost tangible Leon that we've
seen performance, performancebars been raised and meeting
(14:55):
challenges without having tomicromanage or expect they're
doing these proactively. I'm ina remote environment where it's,
it's hard to do digitally, youmissed the buying and that
culture at the office in thewater cooler talk. And you know
that Mojo. And I do wishsomebody does come back in time.
But we have a new level of trustfor our leadership team. And we
just keep, you know, celebratingthat.
Leon Goren (15:18):
That's awesome. And thank you for sharing that.
Jason. That's all. That's great.
So, Jason, I want to thank youfor joining us and again,
sharing your insights. If you'reinterested in our live webcast,
the way forward live and anyother snippets, please take a
moment and visit us atpeo-leadership.com you'll find
on our site various previousrecorded webcasts, which include
guests such as Professor JaniceStein, Harvard's Rosabeth Cantor
(15:40):
and Michael beer, Robertchestnut, Dr. Greg wells, Dr.
Jason Selk, Mitchell Goldhar,and many more as we cover such
topics as Mental HealthLeadership, the world reset, and
a host of others. Thank you forjoining us today, and we look
forward to seeing you againshortly.
Jason Goeman (15:57):
Thanks very much.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.