Love working at findhelp, which is committed to helping people find free or low-cost social services - with dignity and ease. As the RFP Manager for Sales, I work with virtually every department at findhelp as we craft strategic responses to RFPs, which includes close collaboration with the CEO, COO, and other senior stakeholders. We have a high percentage of RFPs wins in the Government, Healthcare, Education, and other commercial sectors.We've been awarded an increasingly high percentage of RFP contracts during my tenure, which ends up helping thousands more people in the U.S. I've proactively developed and implemented more efficient RFP processes and built relationships with SMEs throughout the company, including Security, Legal, Customer Success, and Community Engagement. I also manage the on-time and on-point delivery of high quality responses - researching and responding to the prospect's needs beyond what is outlined in their RFP. Stakeholders and colleagues appreciate my marketing experience and operations/software background, which helps me offer new ideas in winning the business. Our RFP responses not only reflect well on findhelp (and contribute to significant customer acquisition), but also demonstrate how our genuine partnership with customers and community-based organizations enable people to get needed help.

While looking for new opportunities after a reduction in workforce at Expedia due to COVID, I intentionally explored professional enhancements and focused on social services companies that were helping people during the pandemic.

Delighted to work with talented colleagues at Escapia Software, Vrbo - an Expedia company - to support Property Managers worldwide in using Escapia enterprise vacation rental software . In the first year, I rebuilt the software implementation team, integrated website implementation services, and grew Escapia Software University e-learning trainings. Within two years, I increased software implementation throughput 125%. We focused on solid project management strategies to guide customers "across the finish line." This enhanced customer satisfaction, while significantly reducing escalations. I led a business model change at Escapia Software/Vrbo in providing a better website experience for our property manager customers, including increasing vacation rental bookings. I spearheaded a RFP process, coordinated stake-holder decision-makers, and helped negotiate a rev-share agreement with a preferred vendor. We then sunset our costly internal solution. In 2019 I grew the team from 12 to 30 and worked with newly hired managers to streamline processes in order to scale to a projected x3 customer demand for implementations starting 2020. We also expanded implementations into Australia-New Zealand. To make implementations easier for customers, we took on the work of migrating key data. We also worked with Product/Dev to automate data migration starting 2020. We revamped the training program to decrease the time to Go Live, which benefits the customer and the business. This revamp included new blended learning and education improvements for global customers. Customers especially appreciate training geared to their specific needs and in-depth consulting that helps "translate" their move from one software to another. The credit for our success goes to our team, who embrace agile processes and continual improvement. I lead by example with "grit" - determination to quickly find solutions so that our customers have everything they need to succeed.

In this position, I was honored with the company's peer-selected award for exemplifying leadership excellence / work ethic leading to corporate success.In Operations, I improved functional teams, strengthened communications, and developed new policies and procedures for the company. As an executive, I also worked directly with prospects and internally with Sales and Engineering to structure proposals, including strategic RFP responses. This contributed to the company's highest percentage of revenue growth in the past decade.In Professional Services, I expanded and led Professional Services including SaaS / Hosting, IT Services, Customizations, Data Conversions, Software Upgrades, Training, Implementation Services, Customer Onboarding, Technical Support, and Global Services. My new initiatives drove process improvements leading to improved customer satisfaction. The company also benefited from my work in:• Negotiating contracts, which grew multi-year sales.• Developing new services for SaaS / Hosting, using new technologies and elevating client satisfaction.• Introducing an agile methodology for custom software projects.• Improving the escalation process for problem-solving and opportunity-closing.

Seeing the opportunity for revenue growth, I transformed the Training department into a full-delivery Services department. I used a consultative approach to structure new services proposals for large customers, resulting in significant sales. To build services, I:• Reorganized the department, increasing revenue 23% without growing 10-person team.• Created new services, built packages, and changed pricing structure, generating new revenue.• Developed specialized services meeting needs in RFP proposals, increasing revenue steadily each year.• Created inter-departmental RFP strike teams to enable early submission of RFPs/ other proposals, reducing response times 30%.• Collaborated with Development team, resolving upgrade issues for large customers.• Negotiated custom services for large customers, increasing close rate and creating new revenue streams.

As Manager of Marketing, I directed strategy and execution of all marketing including Google AdWords, SEO, link building, social media, print advertising, trade shows, and demand creation.• Updated website, optimizing for search and increasing lead gen through short forms and targeted CTAs.• Created in-house marketing automation system, tracking leads and measuring pipeline progress.o Collaborated with Director of Sales to develop custom email marketing, increasing leads by 10%.o Initiated prospect segmentation, attracting business from targeted industries.o Designed drip campaigns, nurturing add-on sales and social engagement with current customers.• Initiated online communities and launched social media presence, engaging new prospects.• Reduced lead qualification time with third-party lead originators, shortening sales cycle by 14%.• Collaborated with Training team to add new classes and target specific audiences, created and marketed new services, and worked directly with Sales to promote expanded service offerings in proactive proposals and RFP proposals - all of which increased sales revenue.

Based on my PR and marketing background, I was hired by MicroMain to manage public relations initiatives and event planning to include the company's annual users conference.I reached out to the media and partners to increase the company's visibility, and positioned executives as thought leaders. In addition to using my marketing skills in working on RFPs with the CEO, I:• Sought out speaking and byline opportunities, growing number of interviews, published articles, and trade show presentations.• Initiated media / analyst relations, enhancing brand awareness and winning additional industry and customer-choice awards for product innovations.• Updated website and press release content to add links and optimize for search, expanding content exposure and improving user experience.

I provided senior-level consulting for established and start-up technology clients, adding value by identifying new opportunities as well as providing requested PR / marketing analysis and content generation. I created and managed agency-side deliverables – strategic marketing counsel, positioning & messaging, marketing communications, media content, and public relations strategies – resulting in client satisfaction and retention.