Mark Randle
Vice President Of Growth
Ellicott City,MD
Summary
A strong collaborator, I’m an experienced communicator and negotiator in matrixed structures with cross-business integration across a wide variety of marketplaces and business models. I am passionate about employee development and creating a culture that engages and empowers people to be great at what they do. I have Integrated a number of innovative strategies to drive revenue, extend reach and improve results across businesses domestically and worldwide.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Vice President of Growth
TruPlace
Gaithersburg, MD
10.2022 - Current
- Hired and managed employees to maximize productivity while training staff on best practices and protocols.
- Increased market share in the DMV region to the highest in 21 year history of the company on 2023..
- Identified opportunities to improve business process flows and productivity.
- Led efforts to form a group of independently owned companies in the short term rental space called the VR Collective. Group outs on educational and network events at industry shows and select destinations.
- Led development of strategic marketing plans to raise awareness and drive sales growth.
- Executed a partnership with the fastest growing consortium in the Vacation Rental industry, Monarch Collective.
- Negotitated founder's deals with Bright MLS (2nd largest MLS in the US) and CubiCasa.
- Evaluated product development strategies and prepared alternative approaches to goal achievement.
Marketing Operations and Technology Manager
Rackspace
San Antonio, TX
05.2022 - 10.2022
- Managed implementation of new technological improvements resulting in increased efficiency.
- Directed the strategic alignment of essential marketing platforms, maintaining robust vendor partnerships to ensure top-tier service and continuous innovation..
- Created a new audit process for analyzing platform effectiveness and efficiency across all international regions
- Analyzed client business processes to propose optimal software applications for unique requirements.
- Recommended technology upgrades to improve client security.
- Authored best practices documentation for use in new personnel onboarding processes.
- Train and support MarTech power users on best practices and assist with technical questions.
Director of Strategy and Operations
Choice Hotels International
11.2016 - 01.2021
- Led the effort to replatform, launching an entirely new reservation system, search algorithm, and Vacation Rental marketplace (ChoiceVacationRentals.com) in under 5 months.
- Spearheaded inventory growth moving from 1,100 bookable units to 30,000 bookable units in less than 7 months. The most available bookable properties of any competing Hotel-branded Vacation Rental business unit (Homes and Villas by Marriott and Wyndham Vacation Rentals).
- Increased Vacation Rental brand EBITDA YOY (2018-19) more than 23% by focusing on aggressive guest retention strategies and emphasizing earned/owned channels over paid.
- Led the business development strategy for the VR brand focusing on customer segmentation, market strategy, sales strategy, and resourcing.
- Directed all partnership and inventory provider negotiations on behalf of Choice. Worked with lead counsel to streamline the contracting process. Was given signing authority on all contracts related to Vacation Rental business unit.
- Prepared and pitched a business case for Choice's entrance into the Upscale Extended Stay market. Project was well received by both the Choice CEO and CFO but remains in holding pattern due to market conditions surrounding the pandemic recovery.
- Owned all relationships with industry consultants, commercial real estate brokers, vacation rental service providers and other related communities in the vacation rental industry for Choice Vacation Rentals brand.
- Led major initiative to transition to become Merchant of Record on all transactions. Merchant capability unlocked several new revenue streams including revenue management, service fees , promo codes, and (loyalty) points-plus-cash.
- Created a point redemption model to integrate VR into the Choice Privileges loyalty program. Led to the largest single redemption in the history of the Choice Privileges program (over 1m pts) and an average redemption value more than 14x greater than the average value for hotel redemption nights.
- Managed operating budget over more than $4m and owned long term LTR forecast model/scenarios for Choice Vacation Rentals brand.
- Led effort to create a points-plus-cash model, expanding the addressable audience of Choice Privileges members and creating the first dual currency redemption model among major hospitality brands.
- Headed the effort to transition Choice Vacation Rentals marketplace to collect and file sales and occupancy tax directly in an effort to normalize the variability of marketplace facilitator laws at the state level.
- Directed internal liaison efforts with Legal, Tax, PR, Shared Services (call centers), Loyalty, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, etc.
- Presented to the Choice Hotels Board of Directors annual and semi-annual updates on the Vacation Rentals brand development and growth.
Project Manager - Brand Strategy and Marketing
Choice Hotels International
12.2015 - 10.2016
- Executed and implemented digital commerce and product merchandising strategies for VR brand increasing total booking volume by 230% from the original vacation rentals pilot offering.
- Oversaw all marketing related initiatives across earned and owned channels including but not limited to, vendor selection, creation, ideation, execution and reporting.
- Managed entire customer lifecycle for both B2B and B2C relationships. Built partnerships within the industry intended to add value to franchisee including travel insurance, data intelligence, revenue management and on-site activity providers.
- Responsible for multi-layered branding launch campaign "This is Vacation". Campaign featured in places such as CNN.com, Forbes.com and USAToday.com
- Led an internal team of analytical data scientists on large scale multi-stakeholder data science projects focused on increasing shoulder season conversion. Were able to increase booking conversion by roughly 5-6%.
- Served as the Product Owner for the initial Vacation Rentals branded site within ChoiceHotels.com.
- Led the effort to fully integrate Maxxton property management software into Choice's central reservation system. The first integration type that had ever been interfaced through Maxxton's enterprise software.
- Trained and authored SOP's for all tiers of Choice call center teams regarding best practices, conflict resolution and escalation paths for any guest/property issues.
- Developed partnerships to enhance overall product offerings and enhance on property guest experience.
- Led RFP process to select a new web developer and ecommerce platform as the brand shifted away from franchising to a new business structure.
Director of Business Strategy
Visual Data Systems (Acquired By BlueTent)
01.2014 - 11.2015
- Responsible for overseeing the new products department and serving as the lead Strategy Consultant for our flagship guest retention platform Guest Advantage.
- Pioneered development of the first a Guest Life Cycle Retention SaaS product of its kind in the Vacation Rental industry.
- Developed an Automated Communication Platform with series of subscriber actioned emails and triggered SMS responses utilizing the Twilio REST API.
- Conducted on-site comprehensive training sessions to educate and facilitate the deployment of aforementioned retention platform.
- Formulated and implemented a new Rewards credited module and valuation structure for the rollout of our automated Guest Benefits Program.
- Oversaw the conceptualization and development of apps for both the iOS and Google Play app stores.
- Developed a new analytics metric system and detailed reporting to determine loyalty and retention progress.
- Created SMS and Push Notifications best practice guidelines.
- Planned and roadmapped the development of Guest Advantage 2.0 and a new secure owner management application for the Hospitality industry called OwnerNet.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Organizational Communication, Marketing
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI 09.2000 - 05.2005
Skills
Lead Generation
Business Development
Customer Retention
Product Management
Coaching and Mentoring
Inventory Management
Budget Development
Client Account Management
Content Marketing
Strategic Planning and Execution
Performance Analysis
Process Improvement
Corporate Communications
P&L Management
Market Positioning
Relationship Building
Timeline
Vice President of Growth
TruPlace
10.2022 - Current
Marketing Operations and Technology Manager
Rackspace
05.2022 - 10.2022
Director of Strategy and Operations
Choice Hotels International
11.2016 - 01.2021
Project Manager - Brand Strategy and Marketing
Choice Hotels International
12.2015 - 10.2016
Director of Business Strategy
Visual Data Systems (Acquired By BlueTent)
01.2014 - 11.2015
Bachelor of Science - Organizational Communication, Marketing
Eastern Michigan University
09.2000 - 05.2005