Ronald Daemen
Ankeny,IA
Summary
Sales Executive with 20+ years of experience. Sales territories covered: North America, Central America, Brazil, EU, Russia, Middle East and South Africa. Areas of responsibility included forecasts, budgeting, sales planning, management reports, managing key accounts, providing sales leadership and training, problem solving, reporting business trends and area performance to the management team. Develop & maintain successful business relationships with all new prospects and established customers. Traits: Well versed, multi-lingual, customer service, problem resolution, both a sales hunter and farmer, organized, punctual, and honest.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Consultant
Daemen Consulting LLC
Ankeny, IA
08.2018 - 03.2019
- Consulted for a large Midwestern Energy Group in support of Business Development related to Controlled Environment Agriculture; Greenhouses and Vertical Farms
- Introduced organization to contacts within the industry
- Provided organization with a report on the basics of plant growth and controlled environment farming
Realtor
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Ankeny, IA
12.2017 - 03.2019
- Obtained my realtor license in December of 2017
- Generated $1.5 million in revenue during first year
GM North America
Ridder Group
10.2011 - 10.2017
- Company Overview: Drives for ventilation and screen systems for Greenhouses and Poultry buildings, and through our HortiMaX entity: software and hardware development for climate solutions (Controls, Labor Management, Irrigation, Fertigation)
- Transitioned all US accounts from distribution to direct sales
- Management expected to retain 80% of customers
- Once complete 100% of customers were retained
- Established an office location and staff in Leamington, Canada, from ground up
- Established a local warehouse in the US to support the greenhouse market with Ridder products
- Added sales engineering support to assist customers with installation, commissioning, and field issues (HortiMaX products)
- Responsible for making a major cultural change to Ridder customer service
- Change involved pro-active communication (good or bad news), meeting or exceeding deadlines, improving after sales service, and doing business as Canadians and Americans as opposed to forcing European customs upon customers
- Received many accolades from customers and Ridder CEO for making a major impact on the sales cycle
- Served 4 years as a board member for the NGMA - National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association
- Ridder acquired HortiMaX in October of 2011
- As a result of the positive changes made to North American Sales, I was promoted to President of Ridder/HortiMaX in 2013
- During my tenure sales increased from about $1 million to $15+ million
- Major competitors attempted to buy business in Canada in competition with Ridder
- Customers were provided 20% discounts to attempt to buy business
- My focus at the time was to establish a customer service team whose service was unparalleled in the industry
- All customers unanimously agreed that the discount offered was not enough incentive since the service we provided were second to none as well as the quality and lifespan of the product
- Drives for ventilation and screen systems for Greenhouses and Poultry buildings, and through our HortiMaX entity: software and hardware development for climate solutions (Controls, Labor Management, Irrigation, Fertigation)
International Sales Manager
LB White, Inc
03.2009 - 10.2011
- Company Overview: Forced Air Heating Systems for Hogs and Poultry
- Stepped into a disorganized BU with many unresolved issues related to reputation, cost of quality and past due accounts
- Rekindled relationships with large existing customers that did not hold LBW in high regard
- Established relationships with a number of large Development Groups within the Poultry and Hog sector and won large bids with a variety of companies including MAD-agri and Munters SA and developed those into loyal committed repeat customers
- Was approached by the Ridder Group and accepted their offer to join a newly created Global Sales Team
- Forced Air Heating Systems for Hogs and Poultry
VP of Operations (and Inside Sales/Drafting)
Dwinell's Visual Systems
11.2003 - 12.2008
- Company Overview: Corporate and Wholesale Sign Displays
- Revamped inside sales by implementing modern software and tracking systems
- Also replaced and added new talent along with a structure to pay monthly incentives for completed signage projects (based on margins), making employees more productive and reducing cost of quality due to errors
- Completed a workflow analysis and implemented changes which resulted in a reduction of cost of 15-20% depending on signage product
- Succesfully completed an entire Signage change over for Shurgard Storage for the State of Washington
- Once project was approved, it took my operations team 7 weeks to manufacture and install 90% of locations (permits requirements in some municipalities took months to resolve)
- Corporate and Wholesale Sign Displays
Director Of Marketing and Outside Sales
Insul8 (Currently Conductix/Wampfler)
08.2002 - 11.2003
- Primary objective was to evaluate our sales channels and provide a report with evaluations of current system and recommendations for changes to improve efficiencies, customer experience, and margins
- Successfully re-engineered the entire sales channels from distribution/sales agents to company employed district sales managers
International Sales Manager
Midcom
09.1996 - 08.2002
- Company Overview: Design and manufacturing of telecom transformers
- Grew sales from $500K to $18+ million
- Put a Distribution Network in place in key territories: Netherlands, Israel, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Germany, France
- Introduced Global Account Management which was adopted by Midcom
- Strategic breakdown of sales responsibilities and different levels of commissions that could be earned (semiconductor design win, purchasing location, customer design win)
- Informed Israeli company ECI that I was planning on breaking off our relationship for taking our approved semiconductor designs and reverse engineering them through Taiwan
- Immediately received a $500K order within 1 week as they could not afford to loose our design capabilities
- Design and manufacturing of telecom transformers
Sales Manager - Wholesale
Persona
03.1993 - 08.1996
- Company Overview: Commercial Signage
- Provided leadership to a team of 5 inside sales representatives
- Landed major Exxon account for canopy signage with margins of 60+%
- Provided a completely new training manual for employees from scratch which was implemented
- Commercial Signage
Education
BA/MBA -
Drake University
01.1986
Valley Forge Military Academy
01.1980
Skills
- Sales
- Customer service
- Problem resolution
- Sales leadership
- Training
- Forecasting
- Budgeting
- Sales planning
- Management reports
- Key account management
- Business trend reporting
- Relationship building
- Organizational skills
- Punctuality
- Honesty
Websites
Languages
- Dutch
- German
- Spanish
- French
Timeline
Consultant
Daemen Consulting LLC
08.2018 - 03.2019
Realtor
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
12.2017 - 03.2019
GM North America
Ridder Group
10.2011 - 10.2017
International Sales Manager
LB White, Inc
03.2009 - 10.2011
VP of Operations (and Inside Sales/Drafting)
Dwinell's Visual Systems
11.2003 - 12.2008
Director Of Marketing and Outside Sales
Insul8 (Currently Conductix/Wampfler)
08.2002 - 11.2003
International Sales Manager
Midcom
09.1996 - 08.2002
Sales Manager - Wholesale
Persona
03.1993 - 08.1996
BA/MBA -
Drake University
Valley Forge Military Academy