Brad Bender Email & Phone Number

Richmond, Va, Us

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Leading a sales team of account managers encompassing the Philadelphia and New York markets.• Managing a $205 million portfolio with a $64 million sales trade budget used to strategize growing profit and minimizing Cost to Serve metrics year over year in a diverse and fragmented marketplace. • Joint business planning collaboration with key accounts within the market to drive execution excellence. • Working cross-functionally to ensure proper trade allocations for the team to execute annual brand initiative strategies. • Negotiated with the Albertsons leadership team to prevent corporate diverting by creating a pay-for-performance plan.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Oversaw the sales team to achieve a remarkable 10% surge in annual sales margin, employing strategic planning to devise and execute tailored account plans.• Managed a $27 million sales trade budget, ensuring meticulous cost control and resource optimization while upholding pinnacle sales efficiency standards.• Directed and empowered a high-caliber sales team, employing adept coaching, performance management, and precise sales strategy deployment.• Formulated annual sales strategy, aligning it with overarching corporate objectives.• Implemented targeted training initiatives aimed at skill enhancement and the nurturing of individual career aspirations.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Directed trade strategy, planning, and execution for a branded portfolio totaling $500 million in annual sales. • Created and implemented a comprehensive secondary display playbook with a focus on high-margin displays, enriched by brand-specific insights. • Led the successful divestiture of the private-label peanut butter business, acting as a vital intermediary between the acquisition company’s sales leadership team and customer teams alongside our own.• Strategically applied customer-specific approaches to the peanut butter segment in FY20, effectively reshaping the brand's trajectory.• Successfully led the divestiture process for the Peter Pan peanut butter line for our dedicated field sales teams.• Drove a branded initiative (Regional Stars) propelling year-over-year growth in beans and chili brand equities, which generated an impressive $5.1 million in net sales and $1.3 million in gross margin dollars during FY20.• Contributed as a panel interviewer for the selection process of varying roles within the sales organization.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Managed an extensive $200 million portfolio spanning five distinct categories. • Demonstrated expertise in introducing new products, skilfully conducting pricing negotiations, and establishing a reputation as a category leader. • Leveraged data-driven insights to contribute to informed modular decisions. Consistently conducted annual forecasting and upheld exceptional accuracy in rolling forecasts. • Achieved the prestigious Walmart office forecast accuracy award three times.• Facilitated cross-functional collaboration initiatives to drive the sales of new items, harnessing collective expertise to maximize success.• Served as a steadfast advocate for Walmart internally, actively participating in driving pivotal corporate initiatives that align with Walmart's objectives.• Devised a price increase for Odem’s Tennessee Pride products, demonstrating adept negotiation skills and strategic acumen.• Assumed a leadership role within the organization, effectively guiding team members in adhering to company practices, procedures, and commodity insights.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Oversight of trade and strategic operations across 25 brands, collectively accounting for $570 million in annual net sales. • Provided valuable support to CBMs in annual planning and strategy formulation through adept SWAT and TPM system training.• Collaborated closely with HQ CSP to effectively convey market-wide promotion and SPD strategy challenges, subsequently aligning Walmart's strategic vision with Conagra's overarching objectives.• Orchestrated the team's successful navigation through the annual SWAT planning process, ensuring meticulous preparation and alignment of strategies.• Partnered with Category Leadership to construct comprehensive pricing reports and meticulously track competitive activities to inform strategic decisions.• Assisted CBMs in the proficient management of account initiatives, encompassing the development of pricing ladders, addressing 80/20 price gaps, and facilitating the seamless transition to pure EDLP/EDLC brand strategies.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Spearheaded field sales strategy oversight for Conagra's $350 million snacks and refrigerated business within the direct grocery business unit.• Collaborated closely with brand and internal strategy teams to ensure the seamless execution of new product launches, successful MAPS implementation, precise retail pricing, prioritized distribution channels, and meticulously crafted promotional strategies. • Assisted the sales team in the formulation of tailored trade management strategies on an account-by-account basis. • Played a pivotal role in fostering cross-functional collaboration, actively engaging with teams in Shopper Marketing, Trade Strategy, and Pricing Analytics to align efforts and drive cohesive strategies.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Directed and cultivated relationships with a portfolio of direct retail and wholesale accounts across Illinois and Wisconsin. • Strategically leveraged the designated trade rate to drive both top and bottom-line growth. • Directed and managed the Acosta team, proficiently guiding them through retail sell-in processes for new product launches. • Fostered direct collaboration with brand and business development teams, actively participating in funding discussions to implement rate increases and strategic investments. • Applied strategic management techniques to a declining top-line account, resulting in its transformation to positive PCM and NRP performance. Achieved a notable improvement in fund balance compared to the previous year.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

• Managed and nurtured key retail partnerships alongside distributor relationships.• Collaborated actively with colleagues on a strategic initiative to establish a dedicated Yammer page on the ConAgra Intranet, exclusively for the Convenience Channel. • Fostered a productive partnership with a notable beverage distributor in Las Vegas, resulting in an impressive 64% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.• Recognized as the inaugural ConAgra Sales Representative to secure the sale of a snack item to an airline. Projections for the first year encompass Western and Eastern flights, with a single SKU forecasted to generate $105,000.

Baltimore, Md, Us

Manage key retail accounts within territory by selling promotional products as well as new products. Develop advertising campaigns featuring key products. Manage distributor sales representatives by holding product education meetings.

La Verne, Us

Promote sales of high quality products and services to architectural and construction industry. Execute aggressive closing techniques to secure agreements with general contractors, sub contractors, and medical facility decision makers.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, Us

Drove sales of products through multiple retail channels, including Wal-Mart, to achieve gross sales objectives and expand market share. Consulted with customers and developed sales plans to achieve store profit goals; conferred with senior internal management to establish performance goals and implementation plans.

Towson, Md, Us

Richmond, Bc, Ca

Us

Bachelor’S Degree, Communication And Media Studies

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies

Associate’S Degree