EUGEN GASSMANN, **** Claremont Street Atlanta, Georgia 30318 ac9e6i@r.postjobfree.com

+1-470-***-****

www.linkedin.com/in/eugengassmann/en

SUMMARY

An internationally experienced and top-performing SENIOR LEADER with vast expertise in industrial B2B product marketing, product management, international/ technical sales, lead generation, branding, and market communication. Utilizes extensive expertise to identify process improvements and create strategic initiatives to sustainably grow the business. A highly skilled and results-driven producer who uses excellent interpersonal and communication skills to work with cross- functional teams to increase productivity and maximize revenue channels for the company. Process oriented, facts and data driven.

EXPERIENCE

FESTOOL USA, LLC, Lebanon, Indiana, USA

VP of Marketing North America, Aug 2018- May 2019

Festool is a premium brand of power tools, well established in Europe but with tremendous potential for growth in North America. The brand features a unique GTM strategy with its Brand Equity program that ensures consistent pricing across thousands of dealer outlets in the USA and online. Recent projects:

• Saved over 20% in marketing spend, but dramatically increased brand visibility and prospect/ new customer engagement

• Designed and executed a new road show concept focused on dealer activation, student and educator training, and ‘Open House‘- events for intense customer engagement and optimized PR exposure in 30+ Metro areas across North America

• Introduced Marketing Automation to start ABM and launched NPS survey to 250k+ contacts to increase customer centricity

• Completely revised approach to (traditional) print media, print collateral, implemented a ‘mobile first’ approach for collateral

• Run behavioral research and mystery shopper program to re-imagine the in-store experience of the future, featuring digital, interactive displays and active product demonstration, currently being implemented at large distribution partner

• Revamped approach to video production and increased customer engagement on social channels, launched radio pilot with DR

• Launched partnership with ‘This Old House”, achieved 150 MM+ impressions on PBS and 15 MM impressions online within the target audience with dedicated video tutorials (Q3/2018- Q1/2019)

PANTACONSULT, PANTA, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

VP Sales & Marketing, Jul 2017- July 2018

PantaConsult provides consultancy and implementation services for B2B with a focus on strategy, leadership alignment, and sales & marketing Recent projects:

• Provide thought leadership and market expertise in industrial B2B markets for strategy development and M&A projects

• Designed Inbound (digital) Marketing Programs, incl. Discovery (interview with sales people and internal stakeholders), data mining, structural design (buyers journey, systems architecture), content production (posts/ articles), user tracking (MA system)

• Coaching and moderation of individuals or teams, moderate workshops/ strategy sessions for PM teams in industrial B2B markets

• Introduction session to strategy tools (e.g. Value Discipline Model, Treacy/ Wiersema, Challenger Sales

MONDI BAGS USA, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Director Business Development and Marketing, Mar 2016-Jun 2017 Focus on performance, efficiency, and process improvement in sales and marketing. Spearheaded business development including lead generation, web content management, marketing automation, sales enablement and pipeline management, customer satisfaction surveys, market segmentation, trade shows, PR, and corporate identity.

• Lead a sales efficiency improvement program with 3 regional sales directors, 25 sales executives, to secure $400MM revenue

• Introduced CRM, lead generation, pipeline management across 10 factories

• Introduced Customer Satisfaction Survey (NPS) to reduce churn (heat map high risk accounts) and drive account penetration

• Introduce and managed MA for e-mail marketing, trade show preparation and follow up, visitor tracking on website

WIKA INSTRUMENT, LP, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA

Director of Business Development, May 2013- Dec 2015 Led and drove organizational change, streamlined processes, improved customer focus, and developed market access in North America. Designed and conducted value innovation workshops, driving portfolio enhancement, road map, and optimized supply chain.

• Introduced business development as the missing link between marketing and sales to increase sales efficiency by as much as 200%.

• Spearheaded use of marketing automation and content marketing driving campaigns and lead generation, combined with speaking opportunities at leading industry events and VOC.

• Researched new transactional business and built growth strategy to capture business in excess of $10MM via channel/ distribution partners and direct sales.

• Instrumental in closing one of biggest single OEM deals worth several million USD.

• Cut delivery time in less than half for all standard product shipments from Germany to US and increased process reliability from less than 70% to less than 95% using value stream mapping and kaizen/ business improvement to optimize supply chain leading multi- national/ multi-company team.

• Introduced and refined value innovation workshops as sales tool for deeper account penetration (VIW, ‘Blue Ocean’ Strategy) generating business opportunities in excess of $10MM.

• Created mystery shopper to understand outside/ customer view and measure performance of channel partners (distributors), market pricing, and fulfilment challenges including item selection and delivery time.

• Completed market analysis, defined business plan, road map, market requirement specification, and product requirement specification capturing future revenue in excess of $20MM.

Director Product Management, Klingenberg, Germany, Jul 2007- Apr 2013 Oversaw and owned global product portfolio and marketing mix (4P) managing a team of product managers at HQs in Germany and provided direction to over 40 product and sales managers worldwide at subsidiary level. Transformed the previous product support team into a high- performing, pro-active global marketing team. Introduced digital/ content marketing and successfully used SEO to get consistently to number one, two, or three ranking in generic (google) searches. Created multi-language blog with hundreds of articles, highly relevant to decision makers in target audience, focusing on the critical moments in buying/ decision making process.

• Initiated and completed one of biggest global data collection on Key Factors of Competition (KFCs) collecting more than 10,000 of data points from key decision makers, buyers, influencers about trends, product perception, information search and supplier selection behavior and decision-making criteria by segment.

• Built globally available product support center and information system with thousands of standardized support documents available 24/7 for sales and marketing in subsidiaries.

• Developed interactive application note database with 700+ records searched by product, market, segment, application, competitor, price, and quantity.

• Introduced WIKA Academy, monthly global webinar with news, tips, market trends, best practice stories, and run more than 100 sessions for global product management and sales team.

• Combined business intelligence (BI) and market intelligence (MI) function to systematically provide dashboards based on segments, product market combinations, and established KPIs for budgeting, road mapping, and strategy development.

• Created global e-learning program for global sales force and established and evaluated minimum training standards.

SARTORIUS AG, Edgewood, NY, USA

Business Development Manager, Jan 2007- Jun 2007

Temporary assignment to develop a Business Plan for the Process Instrumentation Market of Sartorius in North America based on market research and competence assessment.

• Aligned channel strategy (Direct/ Rep/ Distributor/ VAR) and coordinated sales and marketing actions

• Introduced personal profiling as a pre-selection criterion to increase efficacy of lead generation

SARTORIUS PROCESS WEIGHING & CONTROL, Hamburg, Germany Director Marketing, Jul 2001- Dec 2006

Global responsibility for product management and marketing (market research, strategic marketing, portfolio management, multi- brand management, industrial & corporate design, price and distribution policy, market communication, direct sales support in strategic growth regions (USA, China, Japan).

• Created and Implemented globally a new Corporate Design and Identity along with a new business strategy

• Reduced the PM and MarCom Team from 15 down to 6 but increased output and efficacy by exploiting synergies with Corporate HQ and streamlined processes managing a larger budget and sales volume

• Aligned channel strategy (Direct/ Rep/ Distributor/ VAR) and coordinated sales and marketing actions

• Won several design prizes for product design

• Demonstrated thought leadership on international conferences and workshops

• Run global multi-channel marketing and communication programs in up to 23 languages. using Direct Marketing (Mailer, Outbound Call Center) and Inbound Marketing (Landing Pages) to capture opportunities.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

GWT GLOBAL WEIGHING TECHNOLOGIES, Hamburg, Germany Deputy to Director Marketing, Jan 2001- Jun 2001

Lead and manage the local product management and marketing team on behalf of the Head of Marketing to further develop my leadership and managerial skills.

Team Leader Product Management, Jan 2000- Dec 2000

First leadership position, leading a young team of product managers and assuming global responsibility for the successful portfolio management and organize marketing/ promotion/ sales support of products

Product Manager, Jan 1999- Dec 1999

Worldwide responsibility for a multi-million core product of the company, life cycle management, idea generation and definition of new products, international product launches, creation of all relevant sales literature and sales support material, design and lead global and local promotion campaigns, define target markets and the resulting sales approach, generate product specifications for new products. Senior Program Manager CRM, Oct 1998- Dec 1998

First strategic/ cross-functional role to link sales and marketing, defining global requirements for a new (international) CRM system, select potential suppliers and develop implementation plans across Europe.

PHILIPS WEIGHING (PHILIPS ELECTRONICS UK), Cambridge, United Kingdom National Account Manager UK, Feb 1997- Sep 1998

First job abroad, setting up and managing a sales office in Cambridge, UK. Market sensors and components to OEMs, machine builders, automation and engineering companies throughout the United Kingdom. Identify and manage distribution partners and liaise with relevant industry bodies.

PHILIPS WEIGHING (PHILIPS INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS)

International Key Account Manager, Hamburg, Germany, Aug 1996- Jan 1997 First international role of Key Account Management for automation and control solutions to Oil Blending Plants (Shell, Castrol)

Area Sales Manager, Bamberg, Germany, Jan 1995- Jul 1996

Achieved > 110% of target, tripling sales in the first year! Direct sales of industrial weighing and batching solutions for the process industry(mainly chemical + food and beverage) via system integrators and engineering companies as well as to machine builders Junior Sales Engineer, Hamburg/ Kassel, Germany, Apr 1994- Dec 1994 Support field sales force and get in-depth sales and product training. Tasks and responsibilities included quotations and follow-up calls, extensive cold calling for lead generation and to build and maintain suspect/ prospect/ customer data base in CRM system, preparation of customer visits, technical support for complex system sales, covering various sales areas across Germany during holiday periods.

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCE, Karlsruhe, Germany

Dipl.Ing., Telecommunications, (1989 - 1993)

focus on analogue and digital signal processing and imaging (industrial + medical) Dissertation at Dornier/ DASA, (Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG) achieving 1.0 (A-grade)

“Development and testing of a High Definition (HD) frame grabber module for the DO-SAR (Dornier Synthetic Aperture Radar) high-speed image processing unit”

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF KARLSRUHE, Karlsruhe, Germany Electrical Engineering, (1987 - 1989)

Military Service

Telecommunication Corps, German Army, Jul 1986 - Sep 1987

Leadership Profile

Unique combination of profound international Sales, Marketing and Business Development expertise on Director/ VP level plus extensive technical Product Management and international Sales experience. Broad industry exposure (power tools, manufacturing, process, machinery, instrumentation, sensors, automation and controls), international profile, ‘can do’ mentality, working for top organizations (Philips, GE, Sartorius, WIKA, Mondi, Festool) in various countries and positions (sales, marketing, product management, business development):

• Highly analytic, forward thinking and a strategic leader– to sustainably grow the business!

• Strong technical background – to truly understand what customers are talking about!

• Excellent communication and presentation skills – to inspire and excite customers and staff alike!

‘I firmly believe that Customer Focus and Customer Centricity are the lifeline of any business and need to be deeply rooted in the culture of the entire organization- because ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’. It has become a passion to create a true climate of excellence in the teams I lead – with or without formal authority. Careful selection and coaching of individuals and applying transformational leadership to foster outstanding performance have proven to be the cornerstone of outstanding results.

I just love to work with people, build teams and networks that have a strong focus on customers and markets- and I thrive in a truly international and challenging environment.”

Public Speaking/ Conferences:

I have been a speaker on many industry conferences covering challenges of organizations in the B2B world with a focus on (Product) Management/ Marketing:

MSC Annual Conference for Professional Product Management, Heidelberg, Germany:

- "Implementation of a Global Communication Strategy" (April 2013)

- "Methodology for Personnel Selection and Development in Product Management" (May 2012)

- "Successful Management of 'international' Products" (May 2010) marcus evans "9th Annual Conference: Professional Product Management in Machinery and System Integration”, Cologne, Germany, 2015:

“The New Role of Product Management- how the dramatic change in the buying and decision making process impacts the role of sales and marketing" (Masterclass+ Workshop) marcus evans "Controlling and Optimizing Sales Success in the Machine Building Industry", Stuttgart, Germany, 2012:

"Sales and Marketing pulling one rope- but in the same direction?" marcus evans “Strategic Market Intelligence in Machine Building and System Integration", Cologne, Germany, 2012:

"Introduction of Market Intelligence in SME- Challenges and First Results" marcus evans "Global Product Management in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Industry", Berlin, Germany, 2011:

"Recruiting and Managing International Product Management Teams" econique "Smart Product Management Masters", Berlin, Germany, June 2011

"New Technologies and Markets- a Growth Engine for the Business"

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