Electric Guard Dog, SDM’s 2016 Dealer of the Year, named Mark Wesley its CEO, as Jack DeMao steps down from the role.
DeMao will be staying on as a board member and investor, and is helping Wesley become acclimated to the job, Wesley told SDM.
“The company has grown significantly under Jack’s leadership,” Wesley said, “and he really modernized the company. He enhanced the service, support and value we provide our customers.”
Wesley, who has already begun his role as CEO, said DeMao and the EGD team is responsible for the growth and success the business has experienced the last 10 years. DeMao is stepping down to do some things personally he’s always wanted to do, Wesley said. “He’s a triathlete, so he’s going to work on that and stay involved on the board and do some traveling with his wife. He’s very active, so he won’t be sitting around.”
In Wesley’s last role, he was president of North and South America for Recall Corporation, an $850 million global business that operated in 23 countries and helped companies manage their documents and records and data. “We were really an information management company, helping companies manage both their physical records and electronic records,” Wesley said. “I had the pleasure of working at Recall 14 years and ran a business of increasing size and complexity during my time there.”
Recall, which serviced clients in the banking, government, legal and healthcare industry, operated with a very similar business model as Electric Guard Dog’s, Wesley said. The unit Wesley ran was about $400 million with about 2,000 employees.
“It has an RMR model, and in our industry security was critical,” Wesley said of Recall and his unique preparation for the role at Electric Guard Dog. “First and foremost our clients were trusting us with storing their critical documents and information. Our tagline at Recall was ‘Your information. Securely managed,’ so security was the main foundation of our value proposition.”
Wesley sees Electric Guard Dog’s strong customer-service focus as an asset that will continue to drive the company’s success. “I have talked to some customers and I have talked to our team leader, and what I’ve learned so far is that we have very strong partnerships with our customers and we provide a very high level of service; we get great customer satisfaction scores; I would imagine we will try to do more and more with our customers: listening to them, understanding what their needs are as it relates to security, and trying to provide more and more services that satisfy their needs.
Wesley said Electric Guard Dog will continue to be the leaders in the industry. “We will continue to be aware of trends and respond to our customers with solutions that, most of all, deter theft effectively.”
Wesley said he and DeMao did a “transfer of power” at the changeover ceremony in the office, where, while touching one of EGD’s electric fences, “We touched hands and completed a circuit, getting shocked at the same time. It’s not a pleasant feeling,” he laughed.
