Steve Abrahamian
Huntington Beach,California
Summary
Executive experienced in general sales management, strategic/tactical planning, financial management, development and execution of integrated sales and marketing plans including retailers and distributors. Strong track record in delivering results for large national customers within a complex matrix organization and multi – tiered decision making. Experienced in Headquarters management, direct store delivery format as well as sales agency management. Strong experience base managing key channels including grocery, club, mass, and small format
Overview
37
37
years of professional experience
Work History
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SALES
SARGENTO FOODS
Plymouth, WI
03.2007 - Current
- Lead Account selling teams on largest national customers including Kroger, Albertson’s, Amazon
- Safeway, Target, Costco, 7- Eleven
- Accountable for top and bottom line results, share, pricing and promotion strategy
- Work collaboratively with cross functional team including marketing, trade management, operations, and finance to develop and execute near and long-term plans
- Developed and implemented best in class innovation launch programs with key retailers leading to award – winning distribution and revenue results
- Developed joint business planning process for key customers and actively engaged with retailer senior levels
- Significantly strengthened sales organization by infusing new talent and coaching of current individuals
- Drove improved customer penetration at senior levels and leveraged those relationships for gains in distribution, category influence and driving profit and share growth for consecutive years in a row.
DIRECTOR oF SALES
MILLER BREWING COMPANY, NATIONAL
Milwaukee, WI
07.2001 - 02.2007
- Was responsible for volume, market share and profit attainment for total National Account customers
- Club, Drug and Mass Merchandiser channels
- Led development of go-to-market strategies for these trade classes and implemented sales and marketing plans
- Improved market share performance at Wal-Mart through designation of Volume Producing Item (VPI) CEO of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, USA
- As category captain for top drug store customer Rite Aid, oversaw five-year compounded annual category growth rate of +14%
- Managed team of National Account Managers with overall account volume and share responsibilities for Rite Aid, CVS, Brooks, Costco, BJ’s Wholesale, Meijer, Target, K-Mart
- Designated VPI at Wal-Mart in 2002 by CEO, first beer category VPI ever at Wal-Mart
- Obtained 2003 VPI assignment at Sam’s Club, another first time category selection
- Awarded “Supplier of the Year” by Rite Aid in 2002, first ever DSD front-end supplier to win such designation.
NATIONAL CHAIN SALES DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
Milwaukee, WI
01.2000 - 06.2001
- Responsibilities included leading learning and development of nationwide chain sales organization
- Lead development and delivery of curriculum in category management, selling skills and space management for over 200 key account sales people as well as over 150 distributors
- Dotted – line responsibility for 21 Chain Sales Managers across country
- Developed entirely new curriculum for sales people in Chain Selling and Category management that also appeared on “Miller University” Web site.
CHAIN SALES MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
Irvine, CA
05.1997 - 12.1999
- Responsibilities included managing volume, share and profit targets for all major chain customers in Southern California and Nevada with annual revenue of $200 million
- Led team of nine Key Account Managers with call coverage and performance responsibility for all channels
- Focused on turnaround efforts in people development, through coaching and training, and leading team to 20% improvement on feature ad attainment versus prior year.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
Irvine, CA
07.1995 - 05.1997
- Responsibilities included managing performance of Metropolitan Los Angeles wholesaler network by developing annual business plan for volume, profit and product distribution
- Interacted on weekly basis with Distributor Principals and General Managers to ensure compliance with agreed upon goals
- Managed three out of top four performing distributors in Market Area in case volume for two straight years.
KEY ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
ADVO, INCORPORATED
Los Angeles, CA
03.1994 - 06.1995
- Responsibilities included new business development calling on large regional and divisional customers
- Developed and launched new direct mail coupon product for consumer products industry by leveraging sales and operations experience in persuasive manner
- Responsible for negotiating pricing, volume and contracts with customers such as Quaker and Lipton.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
San Francisco, CA
05.1993 - 03.1994
- Responsibilities included managing advertising/marketing budget and national marketing initiative implementation
- Responsible for setting pricing, performance requirements, managing revenue stream as well as net operating profit for a $90 million business covering three facilities
- Led team to number one position in major new products launch and sales incentive by implementing a strategy to drastically reconfigure selling space in over 1200 stores.
KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
06.1992 - 05.1993
- Responsibilities included calling on major chain customers across all of Northern California, selling calendar-marketing agreements, managing advertising budgets, and supporting field personnel in ensuring in store execution
- Called on regional offices of Shell Oil, Chevron, USA, Exxon USA, and Texaco
- Successfully gained advantageous ad feature calendars versus competition in all responsible accounts.
SALES MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
05.1991 - 06.1992
- Responsibilities included managing staff of 25 employees in both product selling and delivery
- Management and union direct reports were responsible for in store execution, volume, revenue, and labor cost targets for a $15 million business
- Major Accomplishment
- Achieved volume and costs targets as well as improved market share for brands.
SALES REPRESENTATIVE
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
01.1989 - 05.1991
- Responsibilities included calling on restaurant and vending customers in both an account maintenance basis as well as prospecting new business.
MANUFACTURER’S REPRESENTATIVE/PROPRIETOR
SA MARKETING
San Francisco, CA
01.1985 - 01.1989
- Owned and operated a sales company with responsibilities for all for Northern California
- Was responsible for sales management of various audio/video and home furnishing products
- Called on several key chain customers in audio/video and furniture retailing as well as department store chains
- Examples included Good Guys, Circuit City and Broadway.
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA12.1989
Master of Business Administration - Marketing
Touro University Worldwide
Los Alamitos, CA12.2021
Skills
- General Sales management
- Strong cross functional knowledge
- Customer joint business planning
- Innovation execution excellence
- Proven financial results orientation
- Excellent presentation and communication
Timeline
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SALES
SARGENTO FOODS
03.2007 - Current
DIRECTOR oF SALES
MILLER BREWING COMPANY, NATIONAL
07.2001 - 02.2007
NATIONAL CHAIN SALES DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
01.2000 - 06.2001
CHAIN SALES MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
05.1997 - 12.1999
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
07.1995 - 05.1997
KEY ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
ADVO, INCORPORATED
03.1994 - 06.1995
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
05.1993 - 03.1994
KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
06.1992 - 05.1993
SALES MANAGER
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
05.1991 - 06.1992
SALES REPRESENTATIVE
PEPSI COLA COMPANY
01.1989 - 05.1991
MANUFACTURER’S REPRESENTATIVE/PROPRIETOR
SA MARKETING
01.1985 - 01.1989
Bachelor of Arts -
University of California, Berkeley
Master of Business Administration - Marketing
Touro University Worldwide