Bill Grau Email & Phone Number

Arden Hills, Minnesota, Us

Wayzata, Minnesota, Us

Marshall, Minnesota, Us

Manage forecasts for Shotshell and Rimfire business lines. Work with cross functional teams of business lane leaders and marketing teams to identify changes in market conditions• Manage sku level forecasting for Shotshell and Rimfire business laneo Increased sku level accuracy by 25%, decreased forecast bias by over $10M• Developed and executed New Product forecast strategyo Created process to track new product forecasts from concept to launch allowing New Product Development to have accurate data for project rationalization and provide Purchasing appropriate planning horizonso Identify impacted existing skus and adjust forecasts to prevent inventory growth due to cannibalized sales • Build and maintain complex reporting tools aggregating business metrics (inventory, COGS, order positions, forecast, fill rate) in order to provide accurate decision making dashboards for business lane owners• Implement forecasting solution (ForecastPro) identifying required system resources and data. Additionally developing solutions to enable better business integration with forecasting tool

Manage cycle that aligns manufacturing and purchasing resources to best meet forecasted demand in order to support $1.4B annual global sales in commercial ammunition for shooting sports division• Collaborate with Sales Analysts to identify changes in forecasts, misses in prior forecasts, and work to resolve issues to increase forecast accuracy• Meet monthly with factory managers to identify gaps in production capacity to forecasted demand. Identify best ways to meet production, sales, and labor goals given forecasted demand profiles and in-elastic production capabilities• Identify categories that have production gaps – work with buyers to source finished goods to fill near term production deficits• Work with cross functional team to meet budget requirements in sales, inventory, WIP, and finance metrics

Medina, Mn, Us

Led wholesale department and developed strategy to grow sales and build brand identity• Developed strategy to build brand, reduce channel conflict, simplify pricing, and increase profits for Bench Dog Tools brand and Rockler wholesale channel o Increased net income for entire wholesale channel by 15% over plan budget o Opportunities identified in international markets led to increased international sales revenue of 40% over budget while maintaining budgeted margins o Increased net income for Store-within-a-store program by 41% year-over-year and by 22% over budget by controlling promotional costs and maintaining top line sales• Drove P&L for wholesale channel and developed opportunities for Rockler Wholesale and Bench Dog brand o Aggressively controlled COGS and G&A expenses to help increase profits o Decreased inventory position by eliminated repetitive SKUs and increased inventory turns and GMROI• Rebuilt relationships with big box home centers (Home Depot, Lowes) and hardware co-ops (Ace, Do it Best, Orgill) to identify compatible products that work with their product selection and customer base o Built re-launch strategy for hardware co-ops to increase awareness of the Bench Dog Tools brand to co-op member stores• Designed and drove plan to shift manufacturing to suppliers who can meet retail partners’ social and ethical code of compliance requirements

Eden Prairie, Mn, Us

Built strategy to drive awareness, understanding, and sales for Dell’s enterprise storage services and support• Increased add on sales for Compellent Copilot System Advisor (CSA) program by 125% year over yearo Identified weaknesses in existing marketing program – customers and sales teams had low awareness of the program and low understanding of the benefits the service providedo Created and executed a training plan for global sales team to build awareness of the CSA program and to educate them on how and when to position the programo Created messaging and marketing collateral to communicate the value of the service for both the technical sales team and customers to better educate them on the value and necessity of adding on the serviceo Identified target customer profiles to help sales teams identify opportunities with current and new customers• Managed and curated Dell Storage Customer Council (DSCC), an expert user community built of customers across all Dell enterprise storage productso Organized and planned two national level customer council meetings, bringing together dozens of customers from various industries to engage them in product level feedback and strategy discussionso Created agenda and Voice of the Customer discussions with DSCC members to identify opportunities for existing product portfolio • Led weekly technical training webinarso Increased average attendance of technical sales personnel from 60 per week to over 200 per weeko Due to popularity, the webinar became the primary communication vehicle for new product launches o Collaboratively worked with multi-functional team to build quarterly agenda and to align webinar schedule with product launcheso Webinars became the most downloaded sales resource for the entire product line

• Recommend pricing, unique selling proposition, naming and branding for new online grocery service• Developed strategy for integrated marketing communication mix to drive trial and create loyalty and engagement with online grocery shopping service

Minneapolis, Mn, Us

• Led clients in planning sessions to develop strategies for building teams and growing business in alignment with client’s mission, vision, and values• Design and lead engagements with client’s executives, write final client recommendation reports

• Developed training plan for CIDNE, a web-based database and resource tracking program - deployed training resources to teams in field resulting in 60% higher usage rates of critical users of the platform• Managed weekly Civil Operations meeting, ensure staff report requirements were delivered on time, key reporting tasks are completed, and verify final slide deck for presentation to Commanding General• Promoted to Staff Sergeant and received Commanding General’s award for successes in information management that were critical to the war fighting effort

Madison, Nj, Us

• Sold over $6M in sales and established successful and profitable business within first year of operation• Increased second-year sales volume 50% using communication strategy focused on personal brand• Awarded Sales Person of the Month, Top Listing Agent, Top Listing Presentation

Director of Education• Developed and implemented strategic direct marketing plan targeting key educational partners that increased center revenues by 10%. • Led team of 30+ teachers to improve student test scores by 15% through use of best practices• Named Director of the Month (for outstanding leadership and dedication) and was promoted to Associate Center Director as well as Director of Education

• Taught high school economics and government to at risk students at alternative school program for kids with drug, alcohol, and chemical dependency issues• Fulbright Scholar: Studied in Namibia and developed cross-cultural curriculum for the State of MN

Mba, Marketing

Baa, Secondary Education - Social Studies