Lou Pearsall

Experience

As Director of Global Marketing for United Technologies Carrier, he managed marketing strategies, brand expansion programs and channel development initiatives on a global scale.

While President & CEO of Primary Service Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Washington Gas Light, he led the development and roll-out of a merger & acquisition program in the service industry. He also served as a Principal in IBM’s global consulting practice, providing thought leadership to executives on leadership, strategic management, and employee engagement.

Areas of Expertise:

Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Acquisitions & Joint Ventures, Financial Management, New Product Development & Introductions, Sales, Marketing & Operations Management, Technical Support & Customer Service, Global Distribution, Brand & Channel Management, Academia

Industry Experience:

Manufacturing, distribution, transportation, post-secondary education, retail

Education:

Lou received his BA in Political Science from LeMoyne College, an MBA in finance from the Simon School of Management, the University of Rochester, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in Business Administration, focused on leadership and organizational behavior at Northcentral University.

Accomplishments:

Executive Level Business Development

Developed an executive sales team as Principal for a global technology firm to provide consulting and education for the leaders of the Fortune 500 corporations. This practice consisted of business executives with the experience and qualifications necessary to assist corporate CEOs and CFOs in researching, developing and executing on strategic initiatives for their firms. These initiatives were high-level plans requiring an understanding of Board dynamics, financial analysis, and implementation experience. Sales revenue more than $100 million realized in the 1st year.

Business Start-up/Acquisitions

As President & CEO, working for the Chairman of the Board of a mid-Atlantic utility company, developed a long-term strategic business plan addressing new market opportunities in the unregulated arena. This strategy outlined a start-up venture in the residential & commercial service business and led to the market launch. Secured debt and equity financing, selected the acquisition candidates and managed the due diligence process. Integrated the acquisitions into district operations to meet operating efficiency and expense targets. Led the initiative to establish an enterprise solution for integrating financial and customer data across multiple systems. Assisted with the design and introduction of mobile computing for the field service and sales organizations and developed the appropriate metrics to validate the impact on profitability and customer retention.

Acquisitions/Integration

Served as team leader for the review and recommendations for acquisitions in the communications and manufacturing business sectors. Developed integration strategies to address product issues of brand, product features, distribution channels, pricing strategies and advertising. Worked with engineering to reallocate resources between R&D, design, and mechanical requirements. Conducted evaluations of the market, price advantage, product line, supply chain, and production capabilities.

Change Management

Led the organizational change initiative to integrate Customer Service and Technical Service into a new Customer Support Group to meet customer requirements for the US and International markets. This process took approximately ten months and included relocating personnel, preparing new job descriptions and developing procedures to meet customer demands. This effort resulted in improved customer satisfaction as reported by follow-up surveys.

Integration/Team Building

Integrated the operating business plans for acquired manufacturing company including marketing (product, pricing, advertising), channels (direct sales and dealer sales programs), engineering resources (efficient use of resources for R&D, design, mechanical & production) and sales (personnel & forecasting requirements). Led a cross-functional team of engineering, marketing, sales and production in developing a new product introduction process resulting in increased speed to market.

Global Initiatives

Led a corporate effort in establishing a worldwide network of service centers for the purpose of improving customer response and efficiently employing the resources of several independent divisions to represent a ‘larger, unified’ face to the market. This effort resulted in the consolidation of service support for the fiber optic, data communications and systems groups of a European firm.

Business Development

Initiated a ‘Business Development‘ department to offer consulting services to an independent and national distribution network in support of their growth plans. This department was an integral part of the firm’s retail strategy and helped to introduce over 450 stores worldwide in 6 years. Services provided were:

Personnel Policies & Issues (training requirements, compensation, evaluation), Financial Analysis (profitability, efficiency ratios, margin analysis), Marketing & Sales (market research, competitive analysis, pricing issues), Advertising & Promotions (local and national programs), Customer Surveys (how to conduct, how to use survey results in defining new customer initiatives), Site location studies (demographics and market research for the location of new stores), Acquisitions (assistance with due diligence and business reviews).

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain experience included responsibility for the material and inventory control functions managing an inventory valued at $200 million (annual). Responsible for asset management targets (inventory/raw materials). Maintained inventory levels to meet the requirements of customer satisfaction targets. Directed the purchasing department in procuring $180 million in annual purchases from over 200 suppliers worldwide. Oversight and maintenance of the product database including part numbers cost, sources, drawings, and specifications, etc. (over 160,000 SKUs). Provided factory production schedules for finished goods and components in support of a $500 million manufacturing plan. Developed and managed a product rationalization program which identified high margin or strategic product lines for expansion while reducing the number and volume of low margin products. Generated a 2% ROS improvement in less than 12 months.