The proliferating demands for backup generators are inbound as many household people prepare for the worst natural disasters. In the last year, there were several calamities causing blackouts for an extended period, leaving people in the dark. At such times, a backup generator is highly crucial to survive.
The desire of two brothers, Matthew Metcalfe, and late Wes Metcalfe, to help people during a hurricane by purchasing five generators and visiting the affected areas gave birth to a vision that came into existence as Generator Supercenter. The humble act of the Metcalfe brothers that helped people then has now grown into a well-known franchise worldwide.
Glenn Leingang, the Director of Franchising of GSC, unveils the company’s future and sheds light on how the franchise has grown to become the number #1 Generac dealer in North America.
The corporate office located in Tomball, Texas, is now the number one Generac dealer globally. With a desire to expand, seeing the need for its products and services throughout the country. The decision was made that the most efficient way to scale was through franchising, which began in 2018.
Generator Supercenter’s mission defines what it truly is. It reads: To joyfully provide comfort and peace of mind for our customers. To be an outstanding partner to our suppliers. To change the lives of our team members by giving direction, respect, and the opportunity for financial growth. To think and act in alignment with our creator.
The Best of the Best
Glenn asserts that “The Standby Power People” isn’t a catchy phrase; it’s a lifestyle. Generator Supercenter creates customers for life by providing a showroom experience to educate its clients on whole-home generators, from selling generators to providing turnkey installation.
What Generator Supercenter’s franchisees like the most are the recurring revenue which its model offers through service, monitoring, and maintenance to make owning a whole home generator easy.
Unique Work Culture
Steve Cruise (partner) and Matt Metcalfe believe in people, they invest in people, and they give employees opportunities to grow as much as they can without placing a ceiling on anyone. They have also modeled for us the importance of celebrating people. Glenn says, “We want to give people a career path. To say we are a big family sounds cliché, but I would invite anyone to come and see it first-hand. Our values and culture start at the top with Steve and Matt, trickling down multiple layers of our organizational chart.”
Train to Excel
Generator Supercenter’s partnership with Generac requires its partners to train through them before arriving at its training. It provides a week of in-house training with its team that lives and breathes the franchise daily. Glenn notes, “We then provide on-site training following our partner’s grand opening. After that, we welcome any of our partner’s new hires or team members to come to us to be trained by someone specifically in their department, sales, install, GM, service, etc.”
The franchise reviews every job electronically for all of its partners, providing ongoing support with site visits, conferences, and phone calls to help ensure their growth.
A Helping Hand
The idea of helping is engrained in Generator Supercenter’s every aspect. Its significant impact is providing peace of mind of owning a generator. It creates customers for life through monitoring, service, and maintenance, having encountered countless stories of how its products and services are a gamechanger for individuals and families, taking great pride.
Steve mentions that the franchise is deeply committed to St. Jude and the fantastic work it does by removing the financial burden of travel and hospital bills for families so the focus can be solely on their children.
Generator Supercenter also partners with Hope’s Path, a Christ-centered environment where young people are supported, equipped, and empowered to grow into their potential.
Technological Leverage
2021 was another record-breaking year for Generator Supercenter and its franchisees across the board. It always looked upon improving and providing the best possible technology to add more value to its entire model. It is launching a new software platform in Q1 this year which it purchased last year. Glenn asserts, “We have ongoing meetings with our IT department, Operations team, and another software firm to develop a more streamlined, less cumbersome application.”
In 2021, Generator Supercenter launched its Franchise Hub, serving as a one-stop-shop for its partners, scratching the surface to provide additional tools.
Over the Horizon
The leadership at Generator Supercenter knows that it has to be good stewards of what they already are by having by continuing to support its partners. Glenn shares, “When I arrived at GSC, we had three operational people who have been here since day one of our franchise. Since my arrival, we have added four members to the Operations team, which highlights our partner’s commitment to supporting our franchisees.”
Generator Supercenter aims to focus on hitting the 100-territory mark in the U.S., giving more brand awareness, and increasing the value proposition of its entire network. Due to its incredible relationship with Generac, it has identified areas where it would like to see a GSC soon. Its model works across the country and is a product of them identifying the right partners.
Bequeathing Excellence
The franchise industry is utterly amazing when done the proper way. There aren’t any shortcuts. Glenn shares his experience by expressing that franchising is a grind for the first 5-7 years. “In my mind, everything starts and ends in franchising with the process. From sales, onboarding, training, brand development, and ongoing support. Take time to develop and learn best practices from others.”
Concluding his thoughts, Glenn says, “In terms of entrepreneurs looking specifically at a Generator Supercenter franchise, I would simply suggest looking at our track record. Look at our current franchisee’s success. If we are a good fit for you, and you are for us, be relentless in learning and executing our system.”
Words of Experience
I’m Dan Miller with Generator Supercenter of Wilmington. What attracted me to Generator Supercenter was the fact that they were able to come in and kind of give me a turnkey solution that I could quickly get out to the market. They also gave me some structure on building the franchise up, the marketing, the storefront, things like that customer would be able to relate to quicker.
The positive thing about when you work with a franchise like Generator Supercenter is that you’re getting to support that you need. So, when I come up with a daily problem, there’s somebody there to answer the phone. So many times, people start companies on their own, or they don’t work with a franchise that has the people that are available to them, then they tend to fail. But with this, you can make a phone call, and you’ll get a callback. That helps us most in the industry that we’re working with.
- Dan Miller, GSC of Willmington NC
My name is Isaac Merenfeld, and I own the Generator Supercenter franchises for Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida. During Hurricane Irma, my family and I spent a couple of days in the hotel, and when we came back home, we found out that we didn’t have any power, and that lasted for 23 days. At that same time, I got an email from Generator Supercenter about the franchise opportunity, and I decided to check them out. I was very impressed by the amount of knowledge and the way that they had synthesized everything that is required in the standby generator power business. Everything from their sales organization to their installation process attracted me very much. I think that the franchise model for Generator Supercenter is the result of many years of experience. It cuts on the learning curve dramatically. This franchise has provided security for my family and the family of our employees. To our clients, it provides safety knowing that they have power 24/7.
- Isaac Merenfeld, GSC of Miami-Dade and Broward FL
