CHARLES M. LESS                                                                      9011 Napfield Drive, Spring, TX 77379

 


832-640-1994  Ÿ clpilot@earthlink.net

 

Senior Marketing and Business Executive with proven success in P&L management, B2B marketing, international business development, sales, JVs, startups and turnarounds.

 

Drove revenue from $24 million to $38 million, capturing $7 million in profit in 1 year.

Led $350 million division from 27% to 35% profit margin, becoming company's #1 profit generator.

Spearheaded 66% revenue growth to $100 million at 35% margin for international division.

 

Visionary leader with record of positioning companies for growth and expansion.

Ÿ  Catapulted sales from $6 million to $30 million in <2 years with key account by reorganizing sales structure.

Ÿ  Doubled sales from $15 million to $30 million, reversing a 10-year sales decline by restructuring sales organization.

Ÿ  Won Total Quality Leadership Award in B2B marketing for $7 billion global organization.

Ÿ  Launched new product that generated $25 million in revenue within the U.S. and European marketplaces.

 

Tenacious achiever who spurs teams to excellence and consistently increases revenue, profitability and efficiency.

Ÿ  Instrumental in reversing loss to profit for $200 million division in <2 years.

Ÿ  Played key role in turning around underperforming divisions for $1.5 billion global manufacturer.

Ÿ  Record of closing business with companies including Motorola, Selectron, Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams, Maytag and ICI.

Ÿ     Expertise spans launching startups, leading turnarounds, managing full P&L and directing high-impact workforces.

Ÿ     Set a 15 year profit record which directly contributed to the value obtained for the sales of a company

 

Results-driven marketing strategist adept at making deals and envisioning and creating new opportunities. Excellent communication, negotiation, team- building and interpersonal skills.  Career record of success in  B2B marketing, launching new products and technologies and increasing brand value.

 

BS, Chemistry, University of Denver, 1973

Certificate, Business Administration (2-year program), Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, 1982

Open to international relocation/travel. 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

Intercontinental Fragrances,  a global supplier of custom fragrances for industrial and retail products             2003- Present

Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Responsible for direct and indirect sales globally. Manage sales,

 marketing, and customer service. 20 domestic and international  direct reports. A member of the senior

 management team.

Ÿ          Restructured the company into global businesses.

Ÿ          Developed this company’s first market and product strategies.

Ÿ          Closed manufacturing in Mexico and integrated personnel into global business team.

Ÿ          Developed global team-selling at strategic customers and retail specifiers opening up opportunities for growth.

Ÿ          Developed a new branded technology which achieved 6% of total sales in one year.

Ÿ          In the first 8 months contributed $700 thousand of profit through cost reductions.

 

Philipp Brothers Chemicals, $500 million specialty and materials chemical company                                      2002- 2003

Vice President of Sales Marketing and Business Development. After the successful completion of a consulting

contract, hired by Philipp Brothers Chemicals to sell Prince Manufacturing and to increase the sale price through

 profit improvement, business development and the maintaining of positive employee morale/productivity.

Ÿ          Increased the sales value of Prince Manufacturing by 1.5 to 2 profit multiples.

Ÿ          Through  market strategy development, sales focus and price management achieved record EBITA exceeding budget by 35%.

Ÿ          Identified joint venture partner to double the size of Prince Manufacturing.

Ÿ          Helped finalize the sale of Prince Manufacturing Company. 

 

Value Creation, management consulting with a focus on Price Management and Creating Value for Customers     2002

Owner, developed this company in response to consulting request from previous employers.

Ÿ          Identified and implemented price management changes that added $700 thousand profit for Prince Manufacturing.

Ÿ          Consulted for Indium, Rohm and Haas, and Philipp Brothers Chemical.

Ÿ          Trained Rohm and Haas’ European Business Team “Pricing to Value Created”.

 

 

 

Indium Corporation, privately held manufacturer supplying products to $1.4 trillion global electronics market 1999 -  2002

Vice President of Marketing Reported directly to the president. Charged with restructuring the company

 and developing management to accelerate profitable growth. After restructuring the company into business

 units, directly managed the company’s largest business unit. 7 direct reports responsible for marketing, customer service,

 communications and advertising, business management, and telesales.

Ÿ  Charged with restructuring the organization and creating a cohesive company culture.

Ÿ  Grew sales 26% in 1 year, increasing market share 41%.  Cut operating costs 15% through continuous process improvements.

Ÿ  Restructured operation into 5 strategic business units.  Managed global third-party sales channels; increased profit 35%.

Ÿ  Designed new price management practices enterprisewide; reversed price erosion and added $1 million to the bottom line.

Ÿ  Improved profit $1+ million annually by effectively managing indirect sales channels.  Created industry's first value council.

Ÿ  Created Solder.com's business model and obtained funding post-dot-com crash; launched startup valued at $100 million.

 

Ferro Corporation, $1.5 billion global producer of specialty chemicals and materials                                   1995 - 1999

Vice President, Marketing, reported directly to the CEO. Responsible for the improvement of sales and

marketing competencies throughout the corporation and strategic planning to improve business results.

Developed and managed several action teams to address a variety of significant business issues.

Ÿ  Pivotal in improving profitability by 8% through market segment management, new pricing practices and management training.

Ÿ     Created The Corporate Strategic Planning Processes; brought the senior management team into alignment with corporate goals/objectives.

Ÿ     Helped the CEO develop a market/customer centric organizational structure.

Ÿ     Established plans at the strategic business unit level to improve sales and marketing competencies.

Ÿ     Played key role in turning around $200 million division.  Provided strategic direction to turn around $375 million operation.

Ÿ     Created and implemented throughout the corporation a process  to improve productivity by focusing resources on the customers of greatest value.

Ÿ  Championed establishment of new product development practices and Internet/e-commerce marketing strategies companywide.

Ÿ     Won award for excellence in marketing by independent group among competitors including Continental Airlines and Hallmark.

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Rohm and Haas, $7 billion worldwide chemical company                                                                                              1972 - 1995                                                                                                                                                                    

Group Market Manager, Philadelphia, PA, 1992-1995. Managed 7 market managers and  the communications

and advertising functions for $350 million business. Responsible for changing the marketing function from a

sales support function to a global business leadership role developing and implementing the strategic plan.

Ÿ  Recruited to lead $350 million division.  Managed team of 14.  Increased profitability 24% as company's #1 profit performer.

Ÿ     Created value within the market by pull-through and downstream marketing programs; produced 15% year-over-year growth.

 

Business Manager - Coatings, European Region, London, England, 1989-1992. Spent over 10 years living

and working in Europe. Instrumental in designing a European business structure for Rohm at Haas’

Polymer and Resins business. Achievements resulted in being given full P&L responsibility for the largest first

time European Coating business with  sales over $100 million.

Ÿ  Managed $100 million P&L and restructured business operating in Europe, Nordiska, Africa and the Middle East.

Ÿ     Set strategic direction and reversed sales decline; captured 30% revenue increase, salvaging share of European market.

Ÿ     Record sales results for five consecutive years.

 

Business Development Manager, European Region, London, England, 1987-1989

 

Ÿ  Identified new markets for newly developed technology. Improved international communication by bringing region online.

Ÿ     Created and launched new product that became industry standard globally.

 

Sales Manager, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland territories, Stockholm, Sweden, 1984-1987.

Responsible for rebuilding the sales force and turning around a 10-year decline in sales

 

Ÿ     Led turnaround, doubling sales to $30 million after restructuring sales organization. 

Ÿ     Created/implemented a novel P.C. based CRM system.

 

 

Additional Sales and Marketing experience: 6 progressive positions, 1972-1984. Managed several

of Rohm and Haas’ largest customers. Recognition of achievements resulted in being promoted into a divisional business

development position, which led ultimately to first international position in Europe, based in France.