Marco
Saint Cloud, MN
www.marconet.com
Year Founded: 1973
President/Owner: Jeff Gau
Number of Employees: 1,406
Primary Vendors: Konica Minolta,
Sharp, HP, Lexmark, Canon, Kyocera, M-Files, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Citrix, VMware, Mitel, Tech Data, EMC, HPE
Primary Solutions Offerings: Managed/hosted services, business IT services, carrier services, phone systems, document management, physical security and audio/video systems
Primary Leasing Partners: GreatAmerica, U.S. Bank
Approximate Yearly Revenue: $358 million
Fastest-Growing Business Segments: Managed IT (18%)
Biggest Accomplishment of the Past Year: One of Marco’s largest acquisitions saw it obtain Phillips Office Solutions, a 78-year-old east coast dealer that specializes in copiers, printers and document management solutions.
Why We Consider Marco Elite:
- Acquisition marketing. Marco has developed a plan to help accelerate its M&A strategy and position the firm as a “company of choice” when dealers are seeking to divest their businesses. The plan includes a bi-monthly blog authored by CEO Jeff Gau in concert with print advertising in industry publications. Gau’s blog touches on topics including how to choose a buyer and deciding when is a good time to sell, along with insights into the future of the copier industry. The call to action encourages dealers to reach out to Gau if they want to learn more about Marco and/or selling.
- Geographic growth. In addition to the Phillips Office Solutions acquisition, which added 140 employees and 10 offices—creating a strong presence in both the Pennsylvania and Maryland markets—the dealer began working with a large health care provider in Texas, organically growing its on-site presence into the southern United States.
- Deepening relationships. Marco has formalized a cross-selling plan for its sales force to target clients that purchase only one type of solution from the dealer. In executing its CRM system (Salesforce) utilization, Marco can track opportunity development and performance. The company has also developed sales compensation plans to support the cross-selling initiative. Dashboard analytics are leveraged to review cross-selling percentages, profitability and success by region.
- Continuous improvement. All Marco employees are required to participate in Lean 101 and a standard work-training course during their first year of employment. Upon completing the course requirements, employees may be asked to take part in a Kaizen event or join a continuous improvement team to help develop a process and/or resolve an issue.
