Check out our 5 Questions with A NuVinAir Global Leader below, featuring Matthew Golimowski, Director of National Programs.
Can you describe the path you have taken for your professional career?
Customer service has been a constant throughout my life. From my first job at a mall retail store to waiting tables in college, it was important for me that the customers I served always left happy and satisfied. This carried over to the automotive industry which I have been in for the last 22 years. The drive to please the customer never left me.
In fact, that desire to help others actually facilitated my professional growth and pushed me to excel in my career. I remember as a General Manager at both Carmax and AutoNation, the biggest compliments I ever received were when customers would come to me and say, “Are you the General Manager of this dealership?” When I would tell them that I was, they would respond, “Well, I want you to know you have the friendliest and most polite staff I’ve ever met.” In most cases they purchased and in some they did not, but I knew if I heard that, everyone did their job. That to me is the highest praise a GM can get.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it doesn’t matter what line of business you are in, if you take care of your internal customers (employees) and external customers, they will take care of everything else.
Why NuVinAir Global and what makes this company special?
NuVinAir’s COO, Troy Blackwell, and I worked together at CarMax and AutoNation. He suggested I take a look at what NuVinAir had to offer. He told me, “I’m not going to tell you anything about the company. I want you to research it.” I did and I was intrigued. I got online, read their blogs, looked at their website and really dug in to find everything I could about the company. I was impressed. I felt that with what I knew about the automobile industry and with what NuVinAir offers, I was a perfect match and this would be a great opportunity. And, I was right.
NuVinAir’s product line offers a huge benefit to both dealerships and so many other consumers. I always love a product that helps customers turn around and help their customers. And that’s what I get to do all day.
What are your thoughts about the COVID-19 pandemic, and do you have any advice for dealerships during this difficult time?
COVID-19 is a terrible thing and it will change the way people think forever. No one will ever look at a surface of anything again and not wonder what was previously on it.
NuVinAir is really stepping up during this difficult time and helping our first responders across the country. Our franchisees are currently offering free, healthy vehicle treatments to police departments and hospitals. As you can imagine, police vehicles transport a wide variety of people, and in doing so, encounter a variety of contaminants. Our partnership with these entities is giving first responders peace of mind during these challenging times.
As far as advice for dealerships, their world has changed as well. Customers are already asking dealerships what they have done to ensure a safe and healthy vehicle. The same goes for rental cars, buses, Uber/Lyft and any other form of transportation. Every dealership must respond to these customers’ new demands or they will put themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Two months ago, no one really cared about a “healthy vehicle.” Now everyone cares and NuVinAir has been addressing this issue before it was a problem.
What opportunities lie ahead?
This pandemic has certainly created new opportunities for us, some of which we had not really vetted before. There are a lot of essential businesses putting themselves at risk right now – trash collectors, truckers, package delivery companies, grocery store delivery businesses, and more. All of those businesses have fleets of trucks that could benefit from healthy treatments to their vehicles. Our product can give people a piece of mind that they don’t necessarily have right now. To be a part of a company that can provide solutions is very exciting for me.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I love nature and being outdoors. I live in Arizona and from my office, I can look up and see mountains. I’m a person who loves to collect experiences, so on the weekends I’ll take my Jeep off-road and just start driving into the wilderness, with no real destination in mind. I’ll often take pictures to capture the beautiful, untapped scenery from my adventures. Last weekend, I found myself in the middle of nowhere, with no houses, no electrical wires, and no roads. Suddenly, I had to pull off and wait for a dozen wild burros to finish crossing my path. Those are the kinds of unexpected experiences that really make me appreciate the simple things in life.