Ara
Business Development Director - Canada - iCEO #30424

Experience

I articulated the first corporate strategic proclamation that gave the company a clear vision and a mission for the next 5 years. Result : complete overhaul of corporate culture, clear understanding of customer needs and the introduction of CRM, the implementation of ISO standards, building a corporate marketing strategy with an emphasis on cross-marketing & building a corporate brand.

Major Achievements

I was able to turn a € 1.69 MN spot business into an established distributorships whereby sales exceeded € 5.85 MN in year two and grew by an average of 18% thereafter. I launched a brand in more than 40 countries in Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East in less than three years while managing the development of 25 existing distributors. I expanded and developed low-end distribution in Saudi Arabia to reach 67% of ponts-of-sale. Subsequently, market share increased from 32% to 43% in four months and established leadership of brand in Saudi Arabia. Notably, the company existed and was managed directly for 14 years prior to my arrival. During the same period I negotiated with the company's distributor in the Eastern Mediterranean to reorganize the sales structure to accommodate 37 exclusive sales representatives and cover all major cities. As a result we were able to increase market share preemptively from 46% to a significant 62% within six months and establish the leadership of the brand for the next four years. These were achieved as a result of my adeptness in negotiating, proactive thinking in identifying opportunities, clear understanding of specific needs of each market, communicating goals and objectives to internal and external clients, “outside the box” thinking to finance marketing and a lot of work in the field.

Industry Sector Competencies

Electronics

Telecommunications

Consumer Goods

Automotive

Media

Professional Objectives

Function: COO/ VP International/Regional Director

Sector: FMCG/Automotive

Interim Manager: No

Permanent Position: Yes

Operational: Yes

Availability: Full time

Prefered Locations: Western Europe;Middle East

Countries Covered

Lebanon

Operational Competencies

Business development (Professional)

Acquisition and shadow management (Professional)

New product or service launch (Professional)

Geographical expansion (Professional)

Company rescue or turnaround (Professional)