Michael Starmer is a 30-year veteran of the appliance industry, experienced in driving the highest levels of revenue at the point of sale and after, for manufacturers and their retail partners. Mike led the small appliances startup at First Build, where he successfully drove the commercialization of the Opal Nugget Ice Maker, which has since been rolled into the GE Appliances small appliance business.
When did you start at OnPoint? September 2020
How would you summarize what you do? I focus on growing the OnPoint business. Making sure the teams are spending time on new customers that can have a material impact to our business. At OnPoint we have a very long selling process, and it takes time to build relationships and share our story and the value we add to companies. For example, I spent two years working with Electrolux before they finalized the agreement with us. I spend a lot of time talking with the sales team and channel owners to encourage and provide help where I can, and support with potential customers.
Please share any recent accomplishments or a particularly fulfilling aspect of your work. I love selling, and I love success. Success is very hard to accomplish, and when someone has success, I want to celebrate. Sometimes we celebrate ‘inches’ - deals might not be done, but we had good call, the idea was well received, or we received a positive response from a customer. Staying positive and “in the game” for the long term is very hard. I know this, we don’t win all our deals, but when we do win, that is HUGE! Some recent examples include the success we had at KBIS showing Service Avenger to all the OEM’s, and they LOVED it! We’ve had some great meetings with large accounts to share how we at OnPoint can add value for them. We’ve met with companies like Walmart.com, Amazon, LG, Hisense, Samsung, Rheem, and Whirlpool.
What aspects of our company culture or opportunities for growth inspire and motivate you to continue your journey with OnPoint? The people, we are blessed in this company to work with amazing people in all different functions. We have a supportive team and focus on doing what’s right for the customer. We have a ton of upside with our business, and I am just blessed to be part of the team working with everyone.
What do you like most about OnPoint's company culture? Share an example or your experience with us. Our team support - we are one big team and everyone works well together to reach our common goal. My office door is always open (unless I’m on a call) and I LOVE pop in visits to chat about business or life and share about what is going on.
Tell us the most significant project you’ve handled and how it has impacted our company. I was instrumental in bringing the Electrolux account on-board and that relationship and enable us to grow more with other accounts as well and provide success for our investors.
Who inspires you the most within our organization & share some examples of their leadership qualities or specific actions that are inspiring. The people I work with inspire me with all the projects everyone is working on. The IT team and Service Avenger, I LOVE this solution and what it brings to the market place.The Marketing team, from RFP participation, social media outreach and PR, to our Brand communications. The Operations team for the work of supporting existing clients to helping onboard new ones, and our Service team and front line crew and how they take care of consumers. I started my career at GE on the phone for two years and know how hard it is, and our team does an outstanding job.
Where are you from? Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Where did you go to high school/college? Chapel Hill High School / Stetson University (DeLand FL).
Tell us what you do for fun - include hobbies, interests, or extracurricular activities. I love photography, travel and reading. Leading a small group Bible study at home and I am a comic book collector (I focus on Spider-Man / Daredevil) from the 80’s and some of their spinoffs. To relax at home I also enjoy adventuring in Skyrim on PS5.
What is your favorite show on Netflix? My wife and I enjoy classic murder mysteries – so we have BritBox and we’ve been enjoying Vera, & Inspector Lewis.
Rapid Fire round:
- Coffee or tea? Of course…TEA! (English Breakfast or Assam)
- Pancakes or waffles? Waffles
- Reading a book or watching a movie? Watching a movie (if it’s good)…but there is nothing better than Tolkien and getting lost in Middle Earth.
- Fiction or non-fiction? Fiction…or better yet….Science Fiction 😊
- Road trip or flying? Flying
- Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise (My favorite time of day)
- Movie theater or streaming at home? Movie Theater – LOVE that popcorn and big screen 😊
