Sales Manager

Nicholas A. Walton

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***** *.*. *** ******, IN 47001

Home: 812-***-**** Cell: 513-***-****

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

Results Driven, Service-Minded Manager

Professional Experience

Primerica Financial Services-Mason, OH November 2008-Present

Division Leader

Managed 3to 15 Representatives directly

• Helped train and develop a new process for finding qualified prospects, which was implemented throughout the entire office for

both part-time and full-time representatives and managers.

• Train new associates one-on-one on selling strategies and on client presentations.

• Interview, hire, train, and develop new people daily.

• Help train between 30-70 representatives and managers during weekly group training sessions.

• Gave group and one-on-one presentations to prospective clients and new associates weekly.

The Home Depot-Florence, KY October 2005-September 2008

Merchandising Assistant Store Manager February 2007-September 2008

Managed 10 departments and 80 to 100 associates with 13 direct reports

Created and led a team to reset the front of the store in order to open up the store visually due to concerns of clean, clear and

uncluttered aisles identified through Voice of the Customer Surveys.

Developed, initiated, and managed a plan to create an outdoor selling center. This plan allowed for a tent to house patio

furniture, allowing us to carry a wider selection, an area to test drive tractors before you buy, an extended selection of live

goods, and a drive thru for customers for landscaping products.

Redesigned the garden department to increase shop ability by putting project items closer to one another and creating more

exciting lifelike displays. This project required moving almost all aisles inside and out but created an opportunity for us to host

the annual garden road show. Most stores soon after adopted this design. Additionally this was a key contributor in the

department’s success in achieving a 1.8% comp.

Acted as Store Manager on a regular basis giving daily and weekly priorities to other managers and associates. Participated in

DM weekly conference calls and communicated garden department information to other managers within the district.

Created weekly store and department sales forecasts so that schedules could be created within budgeted hours.

Analyzed sales data to create seasonal buys in key areas such as patio furniture, outdoor lighting & heating, power equipment,

grills, and watering, for all district stores.

Led new hire orientation to over 150 new associates.

Improved end cap appearance by adding sign placards and boxing in side caps to make the main aisles of the store more

appealing.

Executed a strategy to increase cleaning supply sales by enhancing customer awareness of these products that Home Depot

carries. This was done through signage and creative merchandising at the main entrance. This strategy increased cleaning sales

by 18%.

Led the redesign of the Hardware department in order to put like items together. This also included opening the back of the tool

corral to allow access to the department from the rear. Prior to this remodel the department missed sales plan by 5.6% but

rebounded the following year

Inspired Pro Account Sales Associates to work as a team by dividing key accounts by their previous career experience. Coached

them in using relationship selling in every transaction to create long term customer growth. The department went from a -2%

sales deficit year to date to a +12% year to date in a four month period.

Operations Assistant Store Manager June 2006-February 2007

Managed 9 departments and 70 to 90 employees with 11 direct reports

Identified an $800,000 inventory overage and created an action plan to reduce this inventory in a 6 week period. By the end of

week 4 we had dropped $823,000 in inventory.

Implemented a seasonal gift card promotion which resulted in a 20% increase in gift card sales.

Reduced the out of stock goal of the store by 40% lower than the goal of the company. Established new routines for inventory

management associates to achieve these goals. Conducted a weekly open forum meeting so that they could address any issues

they were having with in stock.

Created a monthly budget for book keeping associates to ensure that the store remained profitable. If store sales were down

Nicholas A. Walton

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Professional Experience (Continued)

the expense budget was then reduced in equal proportions.

Human Resources Manager January 2006-July 2006

Interim position responsible for driving the execution of HR initiatives in the areas of Staffing, Learning, Performance Management, and

Associate Relations

Reviewed staffing throughout the store and made 30 key hires for spring/summer season while closing a 12% gap in affirmative

action goals.

Communicated training needs during weekly staff meeting in order to meet monthly achievement goals.

Facilitated town hall meetings to allow associates to address their concerns in a private manner with no fear of retaliation.

Compiled notes during meeting and choose the top three to five associate concerns and created SMART action plans to resolve

these issues.

Specialty Assistant Store Manager October 2005-June 2006

Managed 5 departments and 30 to 50 sales specialists and associates with 3 direct reports

Selected as a certified instructor to teach Selling for Success that taught associates and specialists how to sell using The Home

Depot Four Step Selling Process. Taught this class multiple times to anywhere from 1 to 75 people.

Increased a two key sales team to a six key sales team which produced a 180% comp in one year.

Revamped Home Depots touch point scorecard and used this to observe a minimum of fifteen specialists’ business transactions

weekly. Recorded findings and coached the specialists based on these findings.

Held weekly meetings with under performing sales specialists and department managers. Coaching them on selling skills, quote

follow, and general performance.

Held weekly meetings with specialty leadership team reviewing the previous week’s reports, developing weekly game plans,

and following up on high dollar quotes.

Coordinated and facilitated a quarterly sales specialist meeting. These meetings recognized sales specialists for outstanding

performance, recap the previous quarter’s performance, establish and outline a vision for the current quarter, complete sales roll

plays in order to show proper sales techniques, and address questions and concerns.

The Home Depot-Harrison, OH April 2003-October 2005

Department Manager April 2003-September 2005

Held 7 different department manager positions; managed anywhere from 10 to 20 direct reports and routinely covered all MOD

functions.

Initiated the creation of six new sku’s that weren’t previously available at Home Depot. Gathered all pertinent information such

as potential suppliers, cost, and pack sizes. Teamed with buying office and convinced them to get these sku's activated.

Prepared weekly demonstrations which showed customers how to use certain products and allowed them to get hands on

experience. Partnered this with current company or store initiated promotions to create increased excitement.

Created end caps to show unconventional ways of using different products which helped boost sales in out of season categories.

Expanded and improved the holiday area from previous years by decorating and setting up all aisles by dollar amount. These

changes drew more attention to the area and made gift shopping easier.

Pinnacle Vending-KY January 2003-Current

Owner

Own and operate all business functions of small vending machine company.

Research locations within 15 mile radius in order to limit travel expenses while targeting businesses with 75-150 employees on

sight.

Research demographics at vending locations to determine proper inventory mixes.

Record Seasonality trends in order to maintain appropriate inventory levels from month to month.

Provide surveys to businesses to get an idea of what products they prefer.

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Education

Thomas More College-Crestview Hills, KY 2004

Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business with an emphasis in Finance. 3 credit hours short of receiving Diploma.

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Special Skills

Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, Word, Publisher, Access, Excel, Multitasking, Customer Service, Clear Communicator, Results

Driven, Setting Challenges and Clear Expectations

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