Sales Management

RON S. HAMILTON

*** ****** ******, ******* ** ***16, P.401-***-****,

***********@*******.***

SALES LEADERSHIP/MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Product Development - Category Management - Retail Comprehension- Process

Improvement

Sales & Marketing Executive with an MBA delivering outstanding returns by

building, developing and driving consumer product initiatives to new and

exciting levels of performance. Highly motivated and results-oriented

leader with extensive experience cultivating business and relationships,

and advancing goals toward top level corporate objectives. Driven Executive

with a proven record of accomplishment in developing and executing winning

sales strategies and leveraging relationships to gain market share,

resulting in bottom line profits and organizational excellence. Recognized

as a mentor and model of leadership behavior, creating brand awareness and

achieving sales goals and objectives. Known to push the envelope, capable

of precise communication and willingness to aggressively guide a

negotiation toward the desired result.

Consumer Products - Retail Expertise - National Accounts - Field Operations

Management - Brand Management Consumer Behavior - New Business Strategies -

Campaign Strategies - Strategic Marketing - Business Development - Client

Development - Product Launch - Retail Relationships - Marketing Collateral

- Sales and Margin Analysis - Cold Calling - Analytics - Process

improvement - Retail Financial Planning - Project Management

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

. Experienced in both the Retail and Sales & Marketing environments.

Understand the expectations of the retailer and design products and

programs to meet those needs, while achieving the financial needs of

the manufacturing organization.

. Evaluated consumer product program being sold in Australia, New

Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Re-designed packaging

and program to be more planogram friendly to American retailers.

Formed network of brokers to assist in launching line resulting in the

programs being accepted in Brooks, Eckerd, and Target within 8 months

of revamping program.

. Conceived, developed and launched new candy brands for chocolate

manufacturer resulting in new business volume approaching $500K.

. Designed and marketed private label brand of consumer goods. Reviewed

products to determine what would best meet the demographic and

psychographic needs of our customers. Developed specifications,

negotiated final pricing and finalized package design, trade funding

to promote product. Launched product approximately six months after

conception with the brand becoming the number 2 item in sales and

number 1 in profitability.

. Managed Category Review Process. Performed initial analysis of

category to determine high-level strengths and weaknesses of current

product selection. Identified opportunity gaps and changed mix to

close those gaps. Reviews were performed in Confections, Beverages,

Oral Care, Analgesics, Cough/Cold, Home Medical Appliances, Hosiery,

Watches, Grocery, and Salted Snacks. All category reviews delivered

on time, financial results were measured and exceeded industry growth.

. Planned and administered ad planning and sale promotions for five

geographical regions for 4000 stores spanning 23 states. Negotiated

funding levels with suppliers to improve sales and gross margin. Made

item selection and produced sales and margin forecasts. Completed post-

ad analysis to determine if financial objectives had been met.

Promotional sales and margin outpaced company performance by 23%.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES/CAREER HISTORY

Black Opal Inc., Westborough,

MA

2004 to present

A U.S. based company importing confections and other consumables from

Australia specializing in gourmet licorice.

Vice President Marketing/Business Development

. Directed changes in packaging resulting in greater appeal to U.S.

purchasing professionals and ultimate consumers. Created new

partnerships and business opportunities with major retailers and

various brokerages across the country.

. Developed marketing strategy for each class of trade resulting in

permanent placement at Target and in/out programs at other retailers.

Responsible for managing start-up business leading to sales of over

$1M in less than one year.

RON S. HAMILTON

Hebert Candies, Shrewsbury,

MA

2003 to 2004

A confection company specializing in manufacturing gourmet and novelty

confections.

Vice President/National Accounts (2003-2004)

. Conceived, developed and marketed seasonal programs for major national

accounts, including Wal-mart, Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy and Brooks

Pharmacy. Also managed 20-30 smaller accounts.

Worked with the owner of the company to establish weekly and monthly

priorities and helped key staff members to plan and organize their

activities so that most priorities were achieved.

. Responsible for one third of Hebert Business; grew sales 200% through

new product offerings and new business development.

. Created and sold new brand "Hebert Candies Kids!" that featured

novelty candies with play value. Developed a new business, "On the

Go!" program that allowed consumers to indulge in smaller quantities

of candy, while maintaining freshness and quality. Program was sold

into several C-store chains.

CVS/Caremark, Woonsocket,

RI

1977 to 2003

Category Management (1995-2003)

. Responsibilities included assignments in Confections, Beverages, Oral

Care, Analgesics, Cough/Cold, Home Medical Appliances, Hosiery,

Watches, Personal Care Appliances, Grocery, and Salted Snacks as ACM.

. Developed and launched new private label brands, including Ice Cream,

Salty Snacks, Cookies and Crackers.

. Responsible for item selection for seasonal and special event

merchandise programs. Sell-thru target achieved 90% of the time.

. Managed ad planning process for 4000 stores in 23 states and 5 ad

regions, including item selection, pricing and trade promotions.

. Managed, conducted and presented category reviews. Worked with vendor

partners to produce actionable marketing plans.

. Authored a Store Operations manual working closely with field

management and almost every internal department at HQ to gain

consensus on how stores should operate. When no policy existed,

carefully crafted one and gained consensus from the appropriate

department for approval. The result was that field management had a

tool that they could use to establish standards and also establish a

level playing field for performance evaluation.

Previous experiences with CVS/Caremark include:

Category Management/Pricing Analyst/Merchandising Analyst/Project

Manager/Corporate Operations

Field Management

EDUCATION

MBA, Focus on Consumer Purchasing Behavior, Marketing Science, Micro

Economics

Bentley College, 1991

BSBA, Focus on Consumer Marketing

Graduated Cum Laude

Northeastern University, 1990

Contact this candidate