By Janice Sutton
Kristi Webb is president and CEO of Element Fleet Management. Since Element Financial Corporation’s recent acquisition of GE Fleet, which she previously led, she now heads up the largest fleet leasing and management company in the U.S.
We were delighted to talk with her not only about the strategic elements in place for the smooth integration of these two companies, but were very interested to hear her thoughts on the state of the fleet industry and where she believes it is heading.
Q. Kristi, so what is planned for the integration and then migration to assure Element clients that their service will not be interrupted?
A. Serving customers is our top priority for everything we’re doing on integration and migration. We have fabulous integration leaders in Mary Sticha and Bob Sandler, with a team of people that are focused on the technology and the processes that are crucial to serving our customers. Their goal is to make everything happen seamlessly and smoothly from Day One.
To help make sure the migration and the integration go smoothly, we are leveraging our Client Advisory Boards to make sure that experience is one that is good for all of our customers.
Q. What are the chief benefits for Element clients as a result of the combined organization?
A. When you think about the legacy and the history of the former PHH and the former GE Capital Fleet and all of the years of experience that come together in this company, my hope and vision is that this is a great thing for our customers. It’s a combination that’s not just good for our customers, but also for our employees, partners and suppliers. I think we have the ability to pick the best of both and at the same time create something new and bigger than we could ever have done on our own.
In addition, Element now has the scale now to invest in the future, to develop and innovate around technologies like predictive analytics and the connected vehicle, and next-generation fleet management platforms. And we are going innovate hand-in-hand with our customers.
Q. Given the many partnerships with varied suppliers, what new benefits will suppliers recognize from the new Element?
A. One of the things about the fleet industry that I love is that the value proposition we deliver is so dependent on and reliant on our partners and suppliers. Much of what we do is accomplished through those partnerships that are, in many cases, decades long.
And so, similar to how I think about it for employees and customers, we are bringing together and creating a new company – one that has the goal not just to be the biggest, but also very nimble, with the ability to make quick decisions and create new products and services that we haven’t even thought of yet. Our relationships with suppliers and partners will be beneficial on both sides.
Q. What are the strategic plans with respect to Element employees? Will offices remain in Eden Prairie and Sparks?
A. One of the questions that I’ve gotten a lot in the last few weeks is what about Eden Prairie and what about Sparks? And here is the way I think about that – we have two terrific campuses. In Sparks, Maryland, we have around 900 employees and in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, we have 700 employees, with another 500 employees across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The average tenure and relationships that exist in the industry with those employees is significant – 15-18 years average tenure. That means a lot to our customer relationships.
We have every intention of having two large operation centers in both Eden Prairie and Sparks. I will have offices in both, and I will be spending time in both locations equally, but also lots of time on the road, too, visiting with customers.
Q. One of the questions that fleet managers could ask is: Is this company going to be too big? Am I going to get lost in the shuffle?
A. Yes, we are big – and big isn’t a strategy, but as long as you think about it the right way, it’s also not necessarily a bad thing either.
The average fleet in this new combined company is 187 units. We serve companies that are very large and we’re also serving companies that are smaller. Our focus is on our customers regardless of size, meeting the needs of small businesses, medium size businesses and large companies. We will be able to do that in a way that is customized for the needs of our customers regardless of size.
Q. What is your view of the current state of fleet management both from the standpoint of fleet management companies and fleet managers?
A. Since I joined the fleet industry, I have seen so much change. One of the great things about this industry is that we are incredibly dependent on and have a great relationship with technology. As technology continues to advance, what we are seeing is that our fleet managers are leveraging technology and analytics in brand new ways. Whether their fleets are smaller or global in size, they’re looking at their data, and thinking about how they apply the data and run their fleets more efficiently. How can we use technology to make the lives of our fleet managers easier? I think there is no better time to be in the fleet industry than right now.
Q. How do you see the increasingly prevalent role of Procurement impacting the fleet industry?
A. Fleet managers play a role that is really complex in an organization. They intersect with IT. They intersect with human resources. They intersect with operations. They intersect with sales. They deal with drivers. I could go on and on with the role of the fleet manager. So it’s a role that is very high touch in an organization.
It is also important for organizations to run their fleets efficiently. Costs will always be a factor in the fleet industry. We need to be efficient – you know the old phrase, “Faster, better, cheaper.”
Procurement, depending on the role of procurement in an organization, can play a very strategic role in how you operate a fleet… Just to use one example – paper is a commodity. Fleet is not a commodity. Fleet is a capability and something that in many cases is strategic to the business model of how companies run. Without a service van operating productively on the road every day, for example, the business model breaks down. Fleet is in most cases a strategic asset to the business model. And so how we bridge that with procurement is something we all need to talk about.
Q. How is the role of the fleet manager changing?
A. The role of the fleet manager continues to evolve. I’ve had this conversation with people who have been in this industry for decades. It’s what makes our industry so interesting, because things are evolving. Some of it is because of technology, some of it is because of the role that global is playing, some of it the role that procurement is playing. Some of it is generational with drivers coming in.
We have a confluence of things happening in our industry that continues to change and shape the role of the fleet manager, keeping it interesting and challenging for all of us. I think that is something we will need to continue to talk about as an industry and how we make sure that the role of the fleet manager does continue to evolve.
Q. Where do you see this industry heading? Are you seeing more consolidation ahead?
A. When I came into this industry, I had the benefit of being able to study a timeline that came out in one of our trade publications about the past 50 years in fleet. I looked at how much change has taken place since the 1930s when the timeline began and fleet management companies were just starting. And then you could see the organizations – AFLA, AALA, NAFA – start to form and then, starting in the 1980s, GE Capital got busy in acquisitions.
We have seen other acquisitions take place, and now Element Financial Corporation has gotten very busy in the fleet industry, making acquisitions in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015…
More generally speaking, our industry is on the cusp of considerable change. We have been for a while – and it’s because of the amazing value and impact of technology and what it brings to us. I’m talking about things like advanced analytics, being able to look at data transparently that we were not able to see before, and predictive analytics that allows us look ahead to things we can do to help fleet managers operate their fleet more efficiently.
Q. Clearly you have a fabulous reputation and you are very well respected. What keeps you excited about the industry?
A. I joined this industry three years ago, and I feel like I found a home that I don’t ever want to leave. This industry is fascinating because of the things I talked about with the role of the fleet manager, who gets to work across an organization and leverage the asset that we know as cars, vans, and trucks to run a business and also to impact the lives of drivers.
At the same time, as a fleet management company, we get to help solve business problems with our processes and technology. We get to intersect lots of different things — including becoming not just a fleet management company but a technology company. I have not been bored one hour of the days that I have spent in this industry. I don’t think there could be a more exciting industry than fleet.
The post Q&A with Element CEO Kristi Webb — An Industry on the Cusp of Considerable Change appeared first on Fleet Management Weekly.
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