Sales Project Manager
Resume:
CHRISTOPHER H. PRICE
Marietta, Georgia 30068
*********@**********.***
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY:
Proven Procurement / Marketing / Category Management / Management
Professional offering extensive experience and a track record of success
in highly competitive and fast-moving markets. Readily available to
travel, interface with C-Level executives and contribute to corporate
goals through personal drive, exceptional negotiating skills, industry
knowledge and commitment to results.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
INKSTOP, Inc., Warrensville Heights, Ohio
Sept., 2008 - Oct., 2009
Category Manager - Electronics and New Business Development
Managed / administered all aspects of a $25+ million business across
numerous categories within consumer electronics, PC's and peripherals,
digital photography, business machines, and flash memory. Achievements
included:
. Achieved over 118% comparable store increases in net sales dollars
across the aforementioned categories during the fourth Quarter of
fiscal 2008 (Oct. '08 - Jan '09).
. Named as the primary liaison and promoted to Project Manager in
January of 2009 in order to lead a company-wide initiative to grow
Lexmark Business Machine sales.
- This initiative included the remerchandising of all business
machines within InkStop with new concepts in point-of-purchase
materials being implemented.
- New, aggressive marketing plans were developed in conjunction
with the vendor's implementation team. These plans covered
print, radio, outside sales canvassing, direct mail, and email
mediums. Ecommerce-specific promotions were introduced in late
July of 2009.
- Introduced regionalized, hands-on sales training for all sales
associates and field management personnel.
- For Lexmark business machines, comparable sales increases of
over 413% in dollars were achieved in May of '09 with sales
dollar increases in excess of 320% being attained during the
June '09 through Sept of '09 timeframe.
. Reduced the level of overall distressed inventory across the
categories within my charge from just over 37% in Sept '08 to
approximately 5.2% by the end of Sept '09.
PHILIPS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, Atlanta, GA Oct.,
2006 - Sept., 2008
Director of Marketing, Home Communications
Overall business leader for North American for the Home Communications
category (cordless phones, Internet Communications (VoIP), and related
products). Specific responsibilities and achievements included:
. Product Management - Developed and implemented annual and quarterly
product portfolio roadmaps with Category, Business Unit, and
factory partners to ensure competitive product positioning,
consistent with the overall corporate strategy.
. Business Planning Responsibilities:
- Top-line Sales and Gross Margin - Created and executed annual
and quarterly product, promotion, and distribution strategies in
line with business objectives. Lead financial and inventory
planning processes.
. Grew top-line sales from $3.6M in 2006 upon my arrival to
$18.2M in 2007, a forecast of $34.1M in 2008, and a
forecast in excess of $58M in 2009.
. Gross Margin dollar, GM%, and EBIT goals were all exceeded
for 2007 and on track to do so again in 2008, with EBIT at
2.8 times goal year-to-date for 2008.
. Market share for Internet Communications (VoIP) was taken
from 13th in the U.S. to 1st within 8 months of my arrival.
- Financial and Commercial results - Planned, in conjunction with
the worldwide Category and overall Business Unit, the critical
actions required to drive the desired business results.
- Capital Investment Requests/Project Justifications - Responsible
for execution of business plan which meets objectives set in
capital expenditure budget. This includes the administration of
a Category marketing budget in excess of $1M for North America.
- Inventory Asset Control - Monitor and control production and
stock levels in relations to sales plan, to ensure that working
capital is minimized and cash inflow is maximized. This
includes review and approval of all factory build schedules,
incoming inventory levels by product, methods of bringing
inventory to North America, allocation of inventory to
customers, reviewing and approving all product level forecasts
from customers, and correcting any overstock situations quickly
and at minimal cost.
. Sales Force Interaction: Worked with sales teams across North
America, including the Consumer Electronics division in Atlanta,
GA; the Accessories and Computer Peripherals division in Ledgewood,
NJ; the Personal Care division in Stamford, CT; and the Canadian
Consumer Lifestyles Team in Toronto, ON.
- Prepared presentations and proposals for and attended sales
calls for all major current and prospective resellers.
- Determined pricing, marketing support, volume rebate levels,
point-of-sale merchandising and sell-through assistance, along
with any other program components for resellers. This includes
direct negotiation of these programs with the resellers, in
conjunction with the Sales Team.
. Category Integration Team: Requested to lead Team from Jan through
June of 2007 for Atlanta, GA; Ledgewood, NJ; and Toronto, ON. The
areas of integration included: IT, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales,
and Visual Merchandising. This resulting process became the
template for all other Category Integration initiatives for North
America.
OFFICEMAX, Inc., Shaker Heights, Ohio
July, 1999 - June, 2006
Senior Category Manager - Digital Photography, Landline Communications,
and New Business Development
. Worked with all aspects of the administration of a $290+ million
business encompassing the aforementioned categories.
. Achieved highest performance above plan for all Senior Category
Managers and Category Managers for 5 consecutive fiscal years in
the Technology division and 4 consecutive years for the company as
a whole.
. Grew Digital Photography category from $23M in FY '99 to over $190M
in FY '05.
- Grew market share in digital cameras from less than .1% in '99
to 4th in the nation by 2003.
- Grew digital camera flash memory business from less than $4M in
'02, once taking over this area, to more than $43M in '05.
- Converted over 23% of annual business to consignment during FY
'03 - maintaining a balance of greater than 28% for both FY '04
and FY'05.
- Grew margin rates for entire category while reducing distressed
inventory levels over 40% from FY '99 to FY '02.
- Increased inventory turn rates from 2.39 in FY'99 to 4.58 in
FY'05
. Conducted annual Category Line Reviews for Landline Communications
from FY '00 thru FY '05. The 2005 Line Review achieved a fact-
based re-engineering of the assortment to better serve the needs of
the SOHO customer. The impact to sales was extraordinary - turning
-5% to -13% comp sales decreases to comp sales gains of up to 9%
during late Q-2 and for the 2nd Half of '05. Gains in SOHO-centric
multi-line corded phones ran up significantly -- cresting 50% in
dollars and 40% in units by Q-3 '05. Overall GM rates for the
category increased by 3%. Rising from a range of 22% to 24% GM to
25% to 28% by Q-3 of '05.
. Reduced the level of distressed inventory for this category from
48% upon my arrival to just over 8% by the end of December, 1999.
Distressed inventory levels were maintained at 4% to 6%, for the
remainder of my tenure.
. Consistently exceeded Vendor Income Plans for my categories since
my arrival. This has ranged from beating the 2nd-Half of FY '99 by
over 41% to more than 240% in FY 2000. These plans have been
exceeded by no less than 23% during FY '03, FY '04, and FY '05.
. Served on the Operational Improvement and Category Management
development and Implementation teams.
KMART CORPORATION, Troy, Michigan
July, 1997 - July, 1999
Co-Buyer - TV, VCR, Appliances, New Technology, PC's, and Peripherals
Managed / administered all aspects of a $500+ million business
encompassing TV's, VCR's, major appliances, microwave ovens, seasonal
white goods, and new technology areas for a 2,200+ store mass merchant
chain.
MONTGOMERY WARD & CO, INC., Chicago, Illinois
April, 1995 - June, 1997
Buyer - Home Audio (3/96 - 6/97)
Responsible for selection and supervision of over $200 million in annual
sales for a 400-plus store chain encompassing the Montgomery Ward,
Lechmere, Electric Avenue & More, and Lechmere Home Image divisions.
Buyer - Home Audio & A/V Accessories (4/95 - 3/96)
Duties same as above for over $60 million in annual volume for the 28-
store Lechmere chain based in Woburn, Mass.
HIFI BUYS, INC. - Atlanta, Georgia
May, 1987 - April, 1995
Audio Buyer (1993-1995)
Duties included choosing assortments, negotiating programs, developing
and implementing marketing campaigns, maintaining open-to-buy and turn
structure for over $40 million in annual sales with over 1,000 active
SKU's.
Initial experience as Associate Audio Buyer & Sales Associate
EDUCATION:
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Atlanta, Georgia
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
- National Merit Scholar. Dean's List.
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