VP Business Development

LeRoy W. Emerson

Apopka, FL ***** 407-***-**** adhz5f@r.postjobfree.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/leroy-w-emerson/

VICE PRESIDENT SALES

Turnaround under-performing organizations by creating focus, confident and well-trained associates

Experienced sales-focused, results oriented media thought-leader with expertise in sales, marketing, direct response marketing, direct mail, internet, and new product launches. Comprehensive knowledge of consultative selling practices and processes for regional and national B2B and B2C accounts, customer engagement, and performance metrics. Led sales initiatives with inbound/outbound customer interactions and sales processes via phone and in-person.

Recognized for ability to recruit and build world-class salesforce while coaching to optimum performance, inspiring creativity, and motivating individuals to excel.

Adept at building and sustaining long-term business relationships and identifying new revenue opportunities despite challenging market and economic conditions.

Act as go-to resource for day-to-day questions or concerns and serve as the first line of communication for sales issues.

Presented business updates, new opportunities and industry-driven initiatives and insights to senior leadership and sales team.

Competencies

New Business Generation Multimedia Strategic Planning Sales Force Designer Strategic /Analytical Thinker

New Product Developer & Designer Solutions Architect Corporate Sales Trainer

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

VALASSIS/RED PLUM SALES & MARKETING SERVICES, INC. Orlando, FL 2013 – Present

Director/Healthcare Sales

Directed, mentored, and coached team in delivering intelligent media through complex media to the healthcare industry. Led all facets of the sales cycle including prospecting, customer assessment, analysis, strategies, best practices ROI modeling, key industry research rollout, focus group information synthesis, competitive intelligence, marketing/sales data driven proposals and alignment to existing solutions.

Oversaw the development and execution of all insert, print and fulfillment programs to support sales and marketing objectives including creative, segmentation and targeting.

Developed and executed innovative strategies to acquire new customers through the development of client proposals, sales, and contract negotiations with both existing and new businesses.

Uncovered new opportunities and shared revenue/profit building ideas and opportunities with other corporate teams, sales leaders and sales teams as required.

Recruited, trained, and coached a sales team to increase productivity through retention of existing clients and gaining closure with prospective clients.

Founding Sales Leader on the newly created Healthcare team – selected team members (Account Executives), account assignments, developed “go to market” strategy, set priorities and created quotas & budgets.

Generated $7.3 million in revenue (FY19) from new business clients by focusing on sub-category execution, tactical application of product suite and swiftly building sub-category knowledge and expertise.

Performance Achievements

oPresident’s Club Member, 2019: Ranked #1 sales leader, 129% to overall annual quota and 136% to last year.

oPresident’s Club Member, 2017: Exceeded overall sales quota 109%, new business revenue quota 286% and digital products revenue quota 251%.

oPresident’s Club Member 2015 with $1.5M in digital sales (386% to quota of $390K); ranked #2 nationally in digital performance.

oExceeded new business quota of $830K with actual performance of $1.6M (199%) ranked #4 nationally in FY15

oImproved sales team performance of 94.2% (FY14) versus quota to performance level of 126.04% ($3M) over quota in FY15. Ranked #2 nationally in overall performance

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MEDIA GENERAL INC. 2010 – 2013

Vice President/Advertising Sales, (The Tampa Tribune & TBO.com), 2012-2013

Corporate Vice President/Sales Development and Training, (Media General Corporate), 2010 – 2012

Promoted to lead the sales team to achieve revenue and audience growth goals of The Tampa Tribune, a cluster of 18 weeklies, CENTRO and TBO.com with 130+ employees. Managed and mentored 9 direct reports to develop maturity, business savvy, and sales potential. Accountable for total revenue of $62 million including digital and print.

Participated in planning and review sessions and produced monthly, quarterly, and annual business reports and plans

Developed, supervised, and accounted for all annual strategic sales planning, revenue, and new business initiatives.

Trained team members on consultative selling processes and how to leverage available sales tools/metrics while establishing goals and monitoring sales ability and customer satisfaction levels

Ensured region exceeded company performance benchmarks—as measured by sales, gross margin sales, campaign retention, and overall territory profitability. Set clearly defined objectives, assigned individuals to specific initiatives, and conducted regular accountability and progress meetings where success was publicly recognized

Directed organizational development for the sales department by streamlining processes, creating action plans and managing departmental priorities to ensure best practices were documented and applied

Corporate Vice President/Sales Development and Training, (Media General Inc.), 2010 – 2012

Held a key leadership role to manage change adoption efforts and develop the strategic direction and on-going sales training for digital products and services.

Hired sales leaders and digital product training team to ensure the sales force had the tools, processes, and training needed to support the sales process.

Partnered with market and local sales leaders to effectively improve current sales competencies and performance at the seller and manager level.

Drove significant ROI through accelerated and sustainable revenue growth for media general and advertisers.

E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY, (THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL), Memphis, TN 2007 - 2009

Director/Sales and Marketing Administration

Acted as Chief Administrative Officer for sales and marketing division. Led the strategy development, innovation, deployment and analytical functions of marketing, advertising, customer service and sales with approximately $73 million in annual revenue. Managed three direct reporting managers and 32 indirect advertising sales representatives in addition to three division managers accountable for creating, managing and tracking all financial projections and budgeting.

Created and sold complex strategic multi-media marketing, direct response solutions and advertising plans for local and regional enterprise clients

Managed the utilization of high-caliber qualitative/quantitative research methods with expert analysis skills and market awareness to drive strategy, change and subsequent growth.

Led product design and pricing based on market need, research, and growth potential.

Designed and implemented new go to market approach for the division with a focus on detailed audience-based selling and client centric optimization.

Led and directed a cross departmental team to vet and recommend new technologies, pricing models and organizational restructure for efficiency and productivity.

GANNETT CORPORATION INC/USA TODAY, Mclean, VA 1999 – 2007

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company. In the United States, the company publishes, more than 260 daily brands, serving 46 states and Guam and nearly 850 non-daily publications.

Director, Corporate Advertising, (Gannett), 2005 – 2007

Advanced from local newspaper to corporate position as a point of contact for media convergence solutions for sales strategies and technology. Reviewed operations annual budgets and expense budgets and managed three direct reporting sales managers and 11 dotted line reporting advertising training managers. Trained, developed and mentored 50+ professionals in sales and high-level negotiations.

Implemented audience-based selling (a new go-to-market strategy) across Gannett’s newspaper division with 78 individual properties. Grew incremental revenue from $11M to $29M in 3 years

Led corporate sales training effort to sell multi-media, developed training materials

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Gannett continued

Frequently met face-to-face with existing and potential advertising clients to develop innovative ideas and marketing services capabilities.

Worked with management team and group president to lead, plan, present, sell, and execute sophisticated strategies that resulted in double digit YOY revenue growth

Assisted in the restructuring and roll out of the national sale force in 78 locations involving over 300 sales managers and 1500 sales executives.

Designed and deployed financial and quality performance rating scorecard to ensure consistency of advertising solutions along with implementation of tools to measure quality.

Developed pricing models for multi-product audience-based solutions.

Manager, Advertising Sales Development, (Gannett), 2004 - 2005

Conducted financial analysis to benchmark performance of products, managed product performance reviews and implemented corrective action for identified deficiencies.

Developed, designed, and implemented strategic and tactical planning projects for direct response cross-media advertising sales for the newspaper division.

Steered cross-organizational sourcing reviews to identify opportunities for consolidation, automation and standardization of products and sales processes.

Led group personnel in attainment of monthly, bi-annual, and annual incremental revenue growth goals as outlined in operational plans, and measurably impacted advertising share with high opportunity clients.

Retail Advertising Manager, The Herald-Dispatch (Gannett Newspaper), 2002 - 2004

Managed the daily operations and annual strategic planning of the advertising and marketing department for daily newspaper and information resource. Monitored, and revised all sales activities and supervised two managers and 11 outside sales representatives (retail and classified).

Developed and vetted sales presentations and marketing plans and negotiated agreements with outside sales vendors.

Built annual revenue budget and developed monthly and quarterly flash.

Advertising Budget & Finance Manager/ Retail Sales Manager, The News - Press (Gannett Newspaper), 1999 - 2002

Prepared, formulated, and directed the Advertising Department’s annual revenue budget of $92 million and capital budgeting process for Southwest Florida’s daily newspaper. Prepared, analyzed, created, and interpreted a variety of statistical business reports and financial statements.

Provided in-depth sales, marketing analysis and sales performance improvement plans for local advertising sales department, including AE tide-a-longs, competitive analysis and market share analysis. Identified performance trends, assessed deficiencies, and prepared gap analysis.

Directed financial components of the Advertising Matrix, built out pricing and multiple product discount schedules and recommended pricing and rate programs to the CFO

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

Target Intelligence Specialist, United States Air Force

Curriculum Advisor, Florida International University School of Journalism & Mass Communications 2000-2005

Published Author, For Posterity, 2016

AWARDS

President’s Club Member, Valassis Marketing Inc., 2017 & 2019 and 2019 #1 Performing Sales Leader

Top Performer Sales Director’s/Distinguished Sales Performance, Valassis Marketing Inc., 2015 & 2016

Biggest Contributor to Advertising Department, The News-Press (Gannett), 2000

MEMBERSHIPS

National Small Business Banking Committee Member, Risk Management Association

Presidential Nominee to the Board of Directors, Clinton Administration Recommended for National Corporation for Housing Partnerships

EDUCATION

Master of Business Administration Marshall University, Huntington, WV

Bachelor of Science in Organizational Behavior University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

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