Guy Marsala leads turnaround of EZ Lube after bankruptcy
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•755 views
This document outlines Guy Marsala's approach to leading a turnaround as the new CEO of EZ Lube after it declared bankruptcy. It discusses his focus on putting customers and employees first, improving culture, training, and operations. Under his leadership over 1.5 years, same store sales increased from declining 14% to growing 7%, company value doubled, and it was sold to a strategic buyer with 97% of employees retained. His lessons emphasize the importance of listening, communication, visibility, tough decisions, and maintaining the right positive attitude as a leader.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (10)
Similar to Guy Marsala leads turnaround of EZ Lube after bankruptcy
Similar to Guy Marsala leads turnaround of EZ Lube after bankruptcy (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Guy Marsala leads turnaround of EZ Lube after bankruptcy
- 1. Guy Marsala Orange County Service Academy Resource Network October 16, 2013 This information is proprietary and strictly confidential. It is intended to be reviewed only by the party receiving it and should not be made available to any other person or entity without the written permission of Guy Marsala. 1
- 3. Be true to my brand - values, integrity, respect First impressions and a fast start are critical! 30-45 Days: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ “Deep Dive” Report findings to employees Jig saw puzzle exercise Create the vision 3-4 key priorities Build our plan Take great care of the customer Take great care of the employees The right people…in the right jobs Clear roles and accountabilities Consistent, frequent communication & action Relentless execution “Walk the walk” Take great care of the shareholders This playbook works, regardless of industry! 3
- 4. "I'm convinced that every major problem we face as a country is a leadership problem." Jim Collins, Author 4
- 5. 1) Employees 4) Continuous Improvement 2) Customers 3) Shareholders 5
- 6. 6
- 7. Scared Distrustful Cynical Negative Threatened Resentful But, also… Resilient Proud Want to do the right thing Want to be successful Looking for Leadership! 7
- 8. Create Urgency Inspiration Open Communication Ask and Listen Empowerment Initiative Accountability Foxholes Trust! Not Panic Fear Shoot the Messenger Tell Micro-managing Paralysis Entitlement Silos Suspicion 8
- 9. “People will forget what you said…” “People will forget what you did…” “But people will never forget how you made them feel!“ Tone at the top Show people that I truly care about them! I value them! Look for ways to “walk the walk”! 9
- 10. Background: Founded in 1988 Investigative news stories, hidden cameras Sued by state of CA Bankruptcy 2008-2009 4 CEO‟s in 4 years Post bankruptcy performance deteriorating Goldman Sachs‟ mandate: sell in 2-3 years 10
- 11. EZ Lube Aims to Get Over Stumbles, Back to Growth By Kari Hamanaka Monday, August 22, 2011 The quick oil change company is looking to start a new chapter under Chief Executive Guy Marsala, who arrived after a 2008 bankruptcy that left EZ Lube‟s corporate culture and customer service programs broken. “What we‟re stressing in this relaunch are two things,” Marsala said, “We‟re going to take great care of the customer, and we‟re going to take great care of our employees.” “We are very focused on the present and the future and working hard to make sure that every customer who visits our stores receives friendly, professional, and quick service.” 11
- 12. “To be the “In „N Out Burger” of the quick lube business”! 12
- 13. “Working Hard to Make Car Care EZ” By: Getting Customers In & Out Fast Service with a Friendly, Cheerful Attitude Quality Work Done Right Every Time Delivering Exceptional Value to Customers 13
- 14. Improved training, development, & certification Higher hiring standards Higher execution standards: “Operation Exceptional” Monthly Store Manager Meetings Health and welfare benefits for all employees 401k Plan New Employee Handbook Improved Incentive Plans Conversion to non-exempt positions Organizational attitude survey 14
- 15. Consumer Research Operation “Refresh” “EZ Lube Listens” Non Negotiable Imperatives Weekly new employee orientation meetings Partnership with the Bureau of Automotive Repair 100% Satisfaction Guarantee “Race Team” Oil EZrider Loyalty Program Added Dedicated Customer Service Department New Service Offerings ◦ Air Conditioning ◦ Chevron Techron ◦ Brake Fluid Exchange 15
- 16. 16
- 17. July 2010 Dec. 2010 August 2011 18 38 54 24% 54% 73% 14 16 15 19% 23% 20% 42 16 5 57% 23% 7% 17
- 18. 18
- 19. Result: Same store sales from -14% to +7% More than doubled the value of the company on less than 2 years Sold to a strategic buyer 97% of employees retained 19
- 20. How Guy Marsala Led EZ Lube‟s Rebound from Bankruptcy By Erik Cassano Wednesday, February 1, 2012 ACG Orange County 2011 “Company of the Year” “Reinventing” category When Guy Marsala took over as president and CEO of Costa Mesa-based EZ Lube, LLC in April 2010, the only real option was to start climbing. “I could see right off the bat that I had to find a way to place a higher value on the customer and the employee,” he says. “Morale needed a boost, and we had a real sense of urgency and some very aggressive goals to meet.” Smart Business spoke with Marsala and discovered some lessons he learned about taking over a company in crisis. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start by listening Maintain the dialogue Remain visible Make the tough calls Have the right attitude 20
- 22. Service academies/military: great foundation! It‟s all about leadership! Empowerment (with alignment and accountability) vs. command and control I never got the A+ results with the B- team Tone at the top Truly care for your people! 22
Editor's Notes
- My name is Guy Marsala and I approved this message!Wow! This is quite a crowd! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here today. I don’t know about you but I’m in a great mood this morning because the Yankees didn’t get eliminated last night! (They got rained out)!the Harvard Business School Association has made a conscious decision to reposition these breakfast meetings as leadership meetings and I’m excited to share with you some of the things I’ve learned over the years.You know, I’ve been studying and practicing leadership for years. I’ve often been thrust into leadership roles from my high school days as a quarterback on the football team through my years at West Point and as an officer in the Army, and throughout my 30 years in the business world. Along the way, I’ve seen a number of great leaders in action and I’ve had some great mentors.When a well known and very successful baseball manager was once asked what the key to his success was, he replied that it was “to keep the 5 players who absolutely couldn’t stand him away from the 4 others who hadn’t quite made up their mind yet”!A simpler definition, but one I like better is leadership is the process of figuring out who needs to sweep the floor, getting that person to do a great job at it and then having them get to a point where they’re absolutely convinced it was their idea in the first place”! So, the next time you’re struggling to explain to your kids what you do, you might try that description!
- If you want a snap shot of where I’ve been and what I’ve done, here it is on 1 page!Look at this diverse group of organizationsAt first glance it doesn’t look like they have much in common?As we discuss them, you’re going to see that they are a lot more similar than you might think.For example, when I went to EZ Lube, many of the issues there were not that different from the issues at Corinthian Colleges. Grew very fast Size outstripped depth of management Compliance problems Didn’t value the customer etc.
- People ask how I can go from soft drinks to scholastic products at Jostens, to entertainment products, to office products, to uniforms, to career education, to the quick lube business…and the answer is that my playbook is the same! If there really is a secret to the sauceBe true to my brand - values, integrity, respect30-45 Days:Create inspiration and excitement, rather than fear “Deep Dive” “What’s working”? “What’s not working”? If you were CEO…Ask and listen, don’t tell What would it mean to you if…? What would it look like? How would you feel? How might we do that?Report findings to employees This is what I think I heard. Did I miss anything?Create the vision Some examples coming up3-4 key prioritiesBuild our planWhat does this do? Builds trust, shows sincerity, concern for them, humilityTake great care of the customerTake great care of the employeesThe right people…in the right jobs Jim Collins Clear roles and accountabilities-written documentConsistent, frequent communication & action all hands meetings, monthly store manager meetingsRelentless execution“Walk the walk”Take great care of the shareholdersThis playbook works, regardless of industry!
- We judge ourselves based on our intentionsOthers judge us based on our actionsWhat would it mean to you if…How would you feel if… when you opened your email in the morning you didn’t have 10 customer complaints.QualityBackordersInventoryShrinkage
- I want to acknowledge one of our key partners in the job of turning around EZ LubeAnd that’s Rich Maire, our attorney from the firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. They were our partner from the very beginning when we were dealing with a whole host of issues from proactively building a relationship with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, to dealing labor issues, converting our store managers from exempt to non-exempt status, right up to the end of negotiating and successfully concluding the sale.They agreed without hesitation to sponsor this breakfast this morning and Rich insisted on personally driving down early this morning to be here.Rich, I want to thank you and Manatt, Phelps and Phillips for supporting us.Would you care to say a few words?
- Financial issuesCompliance issuesLegal issuesIn summary: the culture was wrong!Revolving door of CEO’sEven after emerging from bankruptcy, a series of missteps had the company heading in the wrong direction
- Rich, comment on your perspective regarding your involvement with EZ Lube.