Joe Durand

Responsible for development and management of Accvent Brands, Klip Xtreme, Forza Power Technologies, Xtech Americas, Nexxt Solutions brands for the North American Region.

Managed Retail, Apple Reseller (APR), Duty-Free, AAR Reseller and Channel Distribution of consumer electronics, Apple Equipment, Audio Equipment, and multimedia equipment. Brands: Apple, JBL/Harman Kardon, Belkin and others. Tasked with turning around company including Mexico operations: analyzed problems, identified solutions and reorganized sales structure which resulted in a profitable business within 6 months. Reinvigorated sales and sales operations after having significant sales declines, cash flow and old and end of life inventory issues, to a profitable operation by restructuring, renegotiating, liquidating inventory, and successfully collecting past due receivables. Renegotiated contracts and previous agreements in order to restructure previous losses and return accounts to profitability, negotiated new sales plans with customers to return sales from previous non active accounts. Reduced 112-day collection period down to 77.6 days by cutting back credit lines, negotiating with customers with delayed payments and selling in-demand inventory to accounts with fewer days of terms.

Managed Retail, Reseller, Vertical enterprise, and distribution network. Oversaw Latin American and directed entire sales and marketing strategy, and tasked with increasing brand and sales in the region. Competing with brands like HP, Dell, Samsung, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, Gigabyte, ASUS and many others. Doubled revenue to 81% in 4 years, increased customer base from 47 to 98 accounts and doubled major $1M+ revenue accounts. Traveled extensively to all regions in order to develop each territory and create strategies for each region that addressed distinct regional needs. Forecast all product lines, sales targets, and budgets, including staff salaries and commissions, marketing budgets and approvals for each region. Negotiated deals with largest customers, including special terms and conditions; deals with headquarters and factory; direction of product mix and launches by region; and finance credit approvals and denials. Responsible for report / database consolidation and transition; Oracle implementation / integration experience.

Responsible for entire distribution channel development, research of new channel accounts and opening accounts, relationship and business development in Latin America. Managed Retail, Reseller, Channel and local distribution which increased revenue 19% 2004, 29% in 2005. Established and developed Andean, Central America, and Caribbean regions through effective cold calling and networking. Trained and developed distribution channel sales force and road show training for all product categories. Reached individual sales targets at 92% to over 115% or higher in every quarter.

Specialized in Product Market development of consumer electronics, computer software, hardware, storage solutions, networking and enterprise products through all stages of each products life cycle. Managed brands: Acer, AOC, Canon, Lexmark, Microsoft, LiteOn, HP, NEC, Creative Labs, and many others. Responsible for new product launches from product conception and design to go to market, sales and P&L. Trained sales staff, determined quotas, and designed sales tools and strategies to regain former customers. Negotiated a program that increased revenue over 20% and gross profit increase of over 6% for one account. Created and implemented marketing programs, market and viability research, and product positioning strategy, to identify opportunities to target and develop new accounts while maintaining existing accounts. Responsible for over $100M revenue per year, successfully opening several new vendor accounts representing over $20M in revenue for 2002. Managed account relationships including, negotiation, budgets, P&L, contracts, credit lines and A/P.

Responsible for enhancing profitability, sales and brand market share of business software products using effective marketing, procurement, and asset management, of accounts and worked with brands such as: Adobe, Intuit, Microsoft, Symantec, Corel, Nuance and others. Managed all stages of product life cycle from product launch, sales development up through obsolescence. Managed account relationships including, negotiation and procurement, marketing budgets, design of promotions, P&L, contracts, and contract renewals, credit lines, and A/P. Accountable for total assets of each account including, purchases, inventory turnover, P&L, and product returns. Saved company over $100,000 on one account after reconciliation. Recovered another $300,000 through effective negotiations on a possible write-off with another account. Assisted in Negotiations and developed a plan for new software launch which doubled gross profit on that account. Assisted in Managing and negotiating sales volumes for major accounts like Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot, Office Max, Fry’s, and CompUSA.