On this episode of the Independent Thinking Podcast, VP of Business Development for Nationwide Marketing Group (NMG), Derek Mattila, talks with Todd Good from Ford Pro about a new partnership that brings a fleet and purchase program to the NMG membership.

Derek Mattila (DM): All right, Derek Mattila here. I’m Vice President of Business Development for Nationwide Marketing Group and it’s really awesome and exciting to have Todd Good from our new partner at Ford Pro. Todd’s been an instrumental force in bringing these new programs to the Nationwide membership here at PrimeTime and I’m very excited to introduce Todd and introduce him and Ford Pro to the NMG members.

So Todd, welcome, thanks for coming here at PrimeTime. I know you put in a lot of work to get us here early on and just wanted to get your first impressions on PrimeTime. What do you think about your experience?

Todd Good (TG): Yeah, no, so thanks first of all for the invite. We’re super glad and excited for the partnership at Ford. I think it’s going to be a dynamic program that you’re going to be able to offer and I think most of your clients or most of your businesses will be able to really enjoy some great benefits through Ford. So we’re excited, as is my whole company back in Dearborn, so I’m looking forward to it. And so far it’s been a great, great day, great morning and great afternoon. So a lot of activity.

DM: Thanks for being here and thanks for all the work you put in to get us here to PrimeTime.

TG: Absolutely.

DM: As I think of the program that you have unveiled or kind of launched to our members here, I’m very excited and I couldn’t think of a better representative to help be a part of this fleet and purchase program than Ford. Your dedication to the independent businesses, your dedication to our country, the dedication to helping businesses grow is the best and I’m so thankful that you allowed us and chose us to be partners and I’m really excited about the future and really excited about the potential you guys are bringing.

TG: Yeah, awesome. And we’re such a dominant player in the commercial space and just talking to so many of the members here, you guys drive what we make, and so that’s cool and so hopefully this partnership will grow.

DM: It will.

TG: Yeah.

DM: And so a couple of things that I’ll ask you about. I think when we started our program, it was originally, we talked a little bit about purchase, but really I want to talk about the fleet management piece of it.

TG: Sure.

DM: And you’ve got a bunch of services, your fleet management, you’ve got a software solution that will help with tracking. You’ve also got some repair service and some other benefits that help make your fleet program very unique.

TG: Sure.

DM: So it’s not just for Ford product either, right?

TG: That’s correct. Yeah. We’re, I guess, agnostic as it comes to that, so we’re able to support any and all makes and models.

DM: Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about the management program in total, what are the benefits to a member?

TG: Yeah, sure. So, you know, fleet management, everybody thinks of it a little bit differently, but I always say that regardless of whether a company has two vehicles or they’ve got 2,000 vehicles, you still have to do the same things. You still got to, you got to buy them and you got to sell them and you got to fuel them up and you got to fix them when they get in accidents and you got to, you know, change the oil and you got a title and license.

So you got to do all the same stuff, right? And so Ford Pro kind of came into existence because we said, well, let’s provide all these services that any size fleet needs — two or 2,000 — and let’s provide a platform that will allow to, you know, basically manage all of these services.

And so we got the programs and services that you can use through Ford, or oftentimes we look to companies and say, Hey, we have the platform and the software that is kind of the, at the core of what we do. But if you have other partners that you’re working with in different areas, continue to work with them, but we’ll just bring that spend activity into the software, so you can get that complete total cost of ownership look.

So it really it’s a comfortable sell for us. If you want to call it a sell because we’re partnering with everybody. So we have open APIs within our platform so that if you’ve got a solution that works, or you have a partner that works in the, say the fuel card space or insurance space, keep using them. But we just want to bring that data and that spend activity into the software. So yeah, love to have the conversations with your members because we know we can support however they need to be supported.

DM: Yeah. That’s great. And it’s important, right? It’s an important part of the future of fleet and delivery trucks. As you know, we’ve got our members, a lot of their lifeblood is dependent on their delivery trucks and the teams that are bringing products into a customer’s home. That’s the differentiator that they have against other competitors and is doing a great job of fulfilling.

And those trucks are crucial, but it cannot happen without the vehicles. There’s a transition coming for EV in the future and that’s an important initiative for Ford. And it’s also an important initiative for the world as they transition. Talk to me about a little bit about the fleet management program and how that helps kind of bring them in and then give options to the future.

TG: Yeah, sure. So obviously as we talk, we have a fleet management software, the platform that we have. We couple that with the telematics that is now embedded technology within all Ford products. So the telematics piece and the dash cams, which is all part of technology that’s, that’s now touch and feel and use. And we’re able to not only help you use that technology, but you know how are other clients using that to become more productive with their drivers and their vehicles.

And then you talk about EV, I mean, EV certainly is a play for, for Ford. No doubt. You know, it’s technology that is not for everybody and that’s clear. But when companies are trying to understand, is EV a play for me? Can I make this work for my fleet? Can I be, whether it’s the green angle or it’s a cost angle, whatever it might be, you need a partner that can support you from beginning to end.

And that’s, what’s cool about Ford is that we’re able to help, help our clients try to understand what does this mean? How applicable is it for the, you know, the application that I’m using here? Are there vehicles in the Ford lineup or anyone’s lineup that can meet the needs of my clients as I need to deliver appliances or whatever it might be.

So we can kind of take you from beginning to end in that journey. Or just sell you some vehicles and sell you some chargers. So yeah, we look forward to exploring that. I’ve had a couple opportunities with some of your companies just to even just start having conversations around, does it work for us? And I can’t tell you yes or no, but we can have those discussions and help you figure that out.

DM: Well, thanks for leading us into the future of this. We’re going to need your partnership and leadership and guidance on this.

TG: Sure.

DM: As those questions will continue to grow. And we’re very thankful to have you as part of that solution and helping our members grow and figure that piece out as we go forward. Now that’s one part of the program. The other part of the program was purchase, right?

TG: Sure.

DM: We’re here to buy fair. Discounts are great. And being able to procure and reduce the cost to become better efficient and, and less expensive for our members is a big push of ours.

TG: Yep.

DM: You have a purchase program that also is available. Talk to me a little bit about that.

TG: Yeah, no doubt. So yeah, the members now will be able to participate with a fleet incentive. So each client will have that ability to get a fleet incentive code, which will then allow for you to go to your dealerships. We still have, you’ll still have that local dealer representation. Again, Ford Pro came into existence to support our dealers. So we, you know, we’ll, you’ll work with the local dealers. They’ll be able to work with the local dealers and then apply the incentive code and apply the incentive right to the end price. So you’re going to get some, you know, for the, even those folks that have two and three vehicles, they’re going to be able to participate in this and really get some, some nice savings.

As we move forward, the vehicles, depending upon the vehicles, there’s different incentives, obviously, that are out there. And we’ll work to continue to try to increase those incentives as we move forward and kind of build this and grow this partnership.

DM: Yeah, that’s great. And thanks for doing that too, because I think certainly creating value and a reason to continue to invest with the Ford products is a big part of our members’ needs and what they’re looking for. And it helps, helps bridge that gap. And it’s a great value and benefit for the, you know, to give us some range and, you know, those things are savings are here from 500 to $4,000, depending on the truck. Maybe I’ll play a little game of is it included or not.

So how about the transit vans? Are those included?

TG: They are.

DM: Yeah. How about, how about the super duty trucks? Are those included?

TG: Absolutely.

DM: Yeah. All right. Well, how about a chassis and cutaway box trucks? Are those included?

TG: Absolutely.

DM: How about, how about a Ford Mustang? Is that included?

TG: Go for it. Yeah, you can do that. I don’t know what you, I don’t know what you’re delivering in that, but you can, yeah, we can have that as a part of the program.

DM: Awesome.

TG: Yeah. So the other thing that we’d mentioned, and I think you and I were talking about this earlier, on the commercial vehicles, we’re actually able to, as a part of the, you know, not only do you get some, some dollars off on the purchase price, but we’re able to work through that extended warranty. So on those commercial vehicles, which are, I think it’s five years, 60,000 miles. We actually extend that to five years, 100,000 miles. So forget the monies that come on the upfront side, you know, saving a transmission at 88,000 miles that can be thousands and thousands of dollars. So that becomes available to all the members as well too, by using that FIN code that we’re, that will get established for you, for all the members.

DM: Wow. That’s incredible. So let me get this straight. So we have a fleet management program, which includes both software, telematics, and various services that help a dealer manage their entire fleet of delivery vehicles and trucks. There’s a purchase program and there’s a warranty enhancement that goes along with that. Service repair?

TG: Absolutely.

DM: Oh, good. Service repair options. That’s great. And how many local dealers are participating in the program if they were just to go through the Ford commercial program?

TG: Yeah. So all dealers are available to be used. We also have what we have called commercial vehicle centers, which are some of your larger Ford dealerships. It’s approximately 700.

DM: Yeah.

TG: So, you know, we can hook you up with those commercial vehicle centers, but if you have a local guy that’s right down the street that’s selling your trucks, do you like them? Keep using those. The thing that the CVC shops do is they obviously have a little bit more tendency to work with commercial vehicles. They also can work on a lot of companies that have some bigger trucks as well too. So they’re able to service all those vehicles as well too. So again, while we want you to buy Fords, we can service and we can manage and all these programs that we offer are available to all makes and models.

DM: Wow. That’s incredible. Thanks for all the work in putting this together. Thanks for coming on the journey with us at Nationwide.

TG: No doubt.

DM: Thanks for supporting all of the businesses, including our friends at Azione and the support that we’ll be providing to the FEI group in the future. We’ve got a great future together and I’m really, I can’t thank you enough for choosing us to be a partner. We look forward to helping, helping our members become a part of the Ford fleet program and take advantage of your discounts.

TG: Yeah. We look forward to it as well. Yeah. Bring it on.

DM: Yep.

TG: Thanks, buddy.

DM: Yeah.

TG: Thanks.