Craig Ackerman is a Principal in the Atlanta office and a leader of the firm’s healthcare practice. Areas of focus in his consulting work include market segmentation, customer coverage models, sales process effectiveness, sales job design, quota setting, and incentive compensation design. Craig works with sales organizations to develop actionable go-to-market strategies across many sectors, including medtech, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical.

Prior to joining the Alexander Group, Craig held leadership positions in sales and marketing with major telecommunication and distribution companies, and as a management consultant with a Big 5 firm. Craig has extensive expertise in business process improvement, operational support systems, and customer acquisition strategies. Craig has a B.S. from Florida International University and an MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University.

Michael Albert empowers people to explain complex issues from their listener’s point of view by leveraging storytelling techniques to bring their ideas and recommendations to life.

He has extensive business experience in the technology industry, where he excelled in the field of high-end technology sales, product marketing, and management with global organizations. Michael delivered annual sales in the multimillions for both Oracle and TeleDirect International, where he achieved Number One Sales Producer ranking.

He is highly regarded as a trainer and coach, helping both sales and technical teams develop and deliver impactful, memorable, value-added messages that drive better decisions faster.

In addition to working as a spoken communications expert, Michael has a passion for writing. He has written and directed several short films and is now writing his second novel.

Michael and his wife live in Florida (U.S.). Michael has also lived also in the Dominican Republic, Portugal, and Costa Rica, where he polished his conversational Spanish skills.

Jerry Alderman is the founder and CEO of Valkre. Through Valkre, he has helped companies, including GE, Owens Corning, Philips, Amgen, Varian, Sabre, and others, leverage technology to improve customer value creation and co-creation. He started his business career at Boise Corporation, where he spent 12 years learning and experiencing the unique challenges of B2B companies. Before starting his business career, Jerry served for six years on nuclear submarines as a naval officer through the Admiral Rickover Program. These experiences, combined with a bachelor degree in civil engineering, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, provide the basis for his work.

Steve Andersen founded Performance Methods, Inc., after a successful technology career that included multiple appointments as chief sales officer. PMI’s unique approach provides clients with customized sales, account management, and sales management solutions that are among the most highly regarded in the sales performance industry. Steve’s background includes extensive experience in sales, sales management, and sales leadership, and he brings a contemporary, practical view to his work with clients, who include many of the world’s largest corporations. Steve has addressed a variety of audiences on a wide range of sales and account management topics and has numerous publications in the areas of sales, sales management, and account management best practices, including Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World and The Keys to Effective Strategic Account Planning.

You can reach Steve on LinkedIn.

Sahar Anderson currently oversees the Strategic Accounts organization within LinkedIn Sales Solutions. In her capacity, she leads a dedicated team focused on fostering partnerships with some of the most prominent national and global brands. The objective is to help our customers drive revenue growth through leveraging the innovative capabilities of the LinkedIn Deep Sales platform.

Prior to her current role, Sahar played a pivotal role in steering the customer business at Elevate, LinkedIn's enterprise advocacy platform. There, she empowered companies to facilitate employee engagement by sharing relevant content and enhancing brand visibility. Prior to her tenure at LinkedIn, Sahar served as a Regional Vice President for the Large Enterprise segment at Oracle Marketing Cloud. Her career journey also includes holding various leadership positions within the technology startup landscape, with a strong foundation in digital media.

A true Californian at heart, Sahar calls Tiburon home, nestled in the picturesque Marin County just north of San Francisco. Outside of her professional endeavors, she finds joy in culinary adventures, exploring nature through hiking, and cherishing quality time outdoors with her loved ones. Additionally, Sahar dedicates her time to volunteer work, actively supporting initiatives at UCSF Benioff Hospital for Children and the Paws Association.

Shakeel is the head of the leadership coaching, and strategic alignment practice at The Summit Group, a global sales and marketing transformation firm with a thirty-year history of helping Fortune 1000 firms grow revenue and create value for their largest clients. He is also the founder of OceanBlue Strategic, a leadership coaching, facilitation, and consulting firm focused on helping leaders, entrepreneurs, and leadership teams embrace the challenges and opportunities in rapidly changing business environments. He is a practicing leadership coach with the Ivey Academy at the Ivey Business School and an ICF accredited certified leadership coach.

Dino Bertani serves on the board of directors and on the executive committee of the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) and brings over 20 years of big pharma experience. Dino worked at AbbVie, Allergan, MSD (Merck & Co.), and Pfizer in local, regional, and global roles spanning marketing and sales management, commercial excellence and innovation, customer centricity, and strategic account management.

In November 2022, Dino joined Zealand Pharma in Copenhagen, Denmark, as vice president, to lead and establish the Alliance Management Department to maximize the potential of the company’s pipeline through global co-development and commercialization partnerships. Before joining Zealand Pharma, Dino implemented a company-wide strategic account management (SAM) program at Allergan Aesthetics (that became part of AbbVie) by driving the change management activities and building strategic account management competencies and skills through an internal training curriculum before leading the international strategic account management activities as executive director.

He also redefined the go-to-market models at MSD International by rolling out of the customer centricity strategy across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada before managing the company’s global priority accounts in the public sector. During this time, Dino also completed SAMA’s Certified Strategic Account Manager (CSAM) program.

Dino originates from Zurich, Switzerland, where he earned his Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) before starting his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. He also holds an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology.e

Doug Beveridge is a Principal in the Atlanta office and a leader in the firm’s health care practice. Doug brings a wide range of experience working with clients who serve the health care industry, including biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, software and service providers, and insurance companies. Doug also brings significant cross-industry experience and leads complex engagements that include organizational mergers and integrations, global go-to-customer transformations, and comprehensive change adoption programs. Before joining the Alexander Group, Doug held several leadership positions in sales and marketing at Delta Air Lines. He also worked as a member of the Organizational Design and Change Management Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Doug has his B.S. in civil engineering from Bucknell University and an MBA from the Warrington College of Business Administration from the University of Florida.

Reporting to the CEO of Brenntag Essentials, Jon is responsible for the strategic development of Brenntag’s largest global customers.

With 29 years of experience in chemical distribution, Jon has held a variety of commercial leadership positions with companies under both private and public ownership.

His previous roles include EBITDA responsibility for regional distribution hubs, sales & marketing, and KAM leadership in EMEA. Jon is also a member of Brenntag Essentials Group Executive Committee.

In 2022 Jon was honored to accept, on behalf of Brenntag, a SAMA Excellence Award for “Outstanding Mature Program of the Year.”

He lives near Cambridge in the UK and is married with two children.

As the head of International Business at Mercuri, Robert excels in guiding clients through the complexities of change, focusing on bespoke solution development tailored to each client’s unique needs in strategic account management and sales.

When acting in his capacity as global account director, Robert allows his international experience to come to the forefront. He leads change projects for Mercuri’s global clientele, focusing on improving their business outcomes and enhancing their teams’ skills. His work across more than 40 countries underlines his ability to navigate diverse business cultures and environments, always with a client-centric approach.

Robert’s contributions to internal product development demonstrate his deep understanding of client requirements. His expertise in AI is particularly valuable in today’s technologically driven business landscape, where he guides clients in leveraging AI for enhanced business performance and decision-making. He has been responsible for the Mercuri International’s development of AI solutions for over five years.

Robert’s background as a lecturer in the SAMA Certified Account Manager program further cements his commitment to client support. His teachings in multifunctional team leadership and his insights, as seen in the Velocity article “Artificial Intelligence and the Augmented SAM," illustrate his dedication to advancing the field of SAM and AI, directly benefiting clients. His leadership in projects that have led to clients’ receiving Brandon Hall Awards is a testament to the effectiveness of his client-focused approach.

Rachel Brutosky is the Vice President of Sales-Strategic Accounts for Nilfisk, Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of cleaning equipment. Brutosky joined Nilfisk in 2007 with a communications background and has worked in various roles in the marketing and sales departments, serving as both contributor and leader. In 2021, Brutosky took over the company’ s strategic account program, trailblazing a progressive strategic account strategy founded on SAMA and change management principles.

Rachel is passionate about leading and coaching others to bring out their highest potential. She currently serves on the Council of the ISSA Hygieia Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the industry. Brutosky is certified in Situational Leadership II, and she has a bachelor’s degree from Temple University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from West Chester University

Todd Burgess is a member of ZS’ global Healthcare Ecosystems Practice, focusing on supporting key account teams to become trusted advisors to their most important health care organizations (HCO’s) customers. As a key account enablement expert in the life science industry, Todd’s focuses on developing the strategic alignment between manufacturers and key accounts. He started his career “carrying a bag” as a cardiovascular representative at Merck and accumulated over 20 years of experience in various commercial roles throughout the organization.

Previously serving as a key account manager (KAM), KAM commercial leader and global KAM program leader while at Merck, Todd has consulted at ZS in various realms, including business process transformation, talent development, KAM excellence initiatives, and value strategy development.

Dennis Chapman is a talented and seasoned executive with over 40 years of sales and account management experience. Dennis brings a wealth of expertise in the area’s prospect/pipeline management, sales coaching and leadership, customer loyalty/commitment assessments, and strategic account management (process, methodologies, skills, and tools/metrics). His metric-based, collaborative approach to working with clients has enabled organizations to experience significant and sustainable revenue results in the form of client retention, acquisition, and growth.

Dennis started The Chapman Group – a sales and account/relationship management effectiveness consulting firm that specializes in optimizing client revenues and relationships — in 1988. The Chapman Group currently works with organizations across a variety of industries, including, health care and pharmaceutical, specialty chemicals, business services, insurance, and finance, to develop more mutually beneficial relationships with their customers. The Chapman Group is a strategic partner of Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) and a Core 4 CSAM program provider.

Dennis is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Business, and before starting The Chapman Group he held sales and management positions with Xerox, ROLM/IBM, and other high-tech firms. He is a former panelist in the Johns Hopkins MBA Capstone Program and a past member of the SAMA Board of Directors.

Over the past 30 years, as the Founder/CEO of The Chapman Group, Dennis has established himself as a thought leader in the sales and account management community and has not only been nationally published on the topics of sales, sales leadership, customer feedback/experience management, strategic account management and sales performance metrics, but also speaks globally on these topics.

Carla Cherrier has worked in the animal health industry and specifically at IDEXX for 34 years in a variety of roles.   She has been a global development manager for corporate accounts for two years. Prior to taking on that role, she was a corporate account manager for almost nine years, which allowed her to use past experiences in helping others on the Corporate Accounts team. She also led a strategic accounts program for eight years before transitioning to Corporate Accounts. Originally from Wisconsin, she now lives outside of Raleigh, NC. She is still a big Green Bay Packers fan, though she has adopted the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team.   When she’s not at work, you can find her on a hiking trail, on the pickleball court, or snuggling her two granddaughters.

Speaker bio coming soon.

Juli’s journey with Congruity began from her deep-rooted passion for customer success, especially aligning product/service providers with their customers. She’s seen firsthand the substantial impact of that alignment on business engagement and revenue implemented through strongly executed advisory boards. Before joining Congruity, Juli served as Senior Vice President of Client Success at Beam Benefits, driving a remarkable growth in Beam's ARR from $50M to $130M. Her leadership in the voice of the customer strategy and as executive sponsor for Beam’s Customer Advisory Board was pivotal. Throughout her tenure in senior roles in the tech industry, Juli excelled in sales and operations, supporting internal and external customers. At Veritas, she spearheaded the growth strategy for $1B in ARR and orchestrated significant infrastructure enhancements by engaging strategic customers through advisory forums. Her tenure at Cisco encompassed diverse executive positions, in which she led global teams to support key partners and customers. Juli’s stewardship as an executive sponsor for the Global Partner Operations Advisory Board resulted in long-lasting productivity gains that are still in motion today.

Jeff is responsible for delivering the SNI classroom experience. This responsibility includes making sure that customized programs are relevant to participants and that simulations are challenging and have the right amounts of education, reality, and levity. Jeff acts as a live negotiations consultant during the day of facilitation, offering opportunities for program participants to tackle current issues that may lend themselves to an even deeper level of application of the principles.

Jeff has coached negotiation teams within organizations and has delivered high impact presentations from 45 minutes to three days long. His audience size has ranged from five executives around a boardroom table to 600 people in an auditorium. In addition to taking on the positions of educator and entertainer, Jeff has also played a significant part in selling and designing negotiations programs for SNI.

At ADP Total Source, SNI training implemented by Jeff had a major impact on reducing the number of days from hire to productivity for new district managers. Jeff also delivered “Listening for Negotiators,” a program that demonstrates the value of better listening skills in terms of increased efficiency, improved morale, and greater productivity.

Jeff has delivered customized programs for clients across many diverse sectors: financial services (Barclays, PricewaterhouseCoopers, JPMorgan Chase, RBC Centura, Allied Capital, Citigroup Private Bank); pharmaceutical (Sanofi-Aventis, Ortho Biotech, Bristol Myers Squibb); insurance (General Reinsurance, Benefitfocus, WebMD); consulting (Gartner Group, Cedar Management); telecommunications (Verizon Business, Comcast Cable, Cingular); medical devices (Toshiba Medical Systems, Siemens Medical Solutions, Suros Surgical Systems); and a host of others. Jeff has also worked closely with companies that provide other products and services, such as TEKsystems, Ecolab, and Corporate Express, and Anthony Robbins Platinum Partnership, an exclusive membership-only group personally coached by Tony Robbins.

Jeff has lived and worked extensively in Asia and has delivered programs on six continents and in multiple countries, including Canada, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, South Africa, Fiji, and Australia.

Before joining SNI in 2000, Jeff was an account manager for Tessco Technologies, the nation’s largest communications infrastructure supplier. He managed a portfolio of over 250 accounts, including Mitsubishi Electronics. In his role as corporate trainer, Jeff was responsible for educating new sales professionals and handled new hire training for Tessco, a company that had grown to $196 million in annual sales at the time of his leaving.

Jeff’s first career was working in Nepal for three years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. Assigned to the Nepal Bank Ltd., he used his status as an outside foreign advisor to successfully implement a microlending project targeting poor farmers and small business entrepreneurs to help them form borrowing co-ops. Jeff was able to overcome cultural and environmental obstacles to improve the lives of Nepalese farmers and small-business people by helping them gain access to the much-needed credit that was critical to the success of their businesses. After working with the Peace Corps, Jeff worked for an international non-profit agro forestry organization in Nepal, India, and Belize. In his role as the South Asia program director, he raised over $300,000 to initiate community-based projects and provided on-site technical training to developing world farmers.

Jeff is a member of the Mensa International Society and holds a B.Sc. in agricultural economics from Cornell University. Jeff lives with his wife and his two children in Fallston, Maryland.

Nick has worked at IDEXX, in the animal health industry since 2021 as Sr. Global Development Manager, Corporate and Strategic Accounts. Before joining IDEXX he worked in human health care in the realms of diagnostic imaging,(GE Healthcare and Bracco Diagnostics), wound care (ConvaTec and Derma Sciences), and chemical industry (Dow Chemical). He has learned that no matter the industry, sales and strategic account management skills are critical for success.

On a personal note, he has been married for 25 years to Vicki and has four children. They are also the proud parents of a 110-pound Old English sheepdog. You will quickly recognize Nick’s New York accent, as he was born and raised in Brooklyn. He has a strong passion to help others achieve success and truly believes we are better as a team than as individuals.

Dominique Côté brings 30 years of experience leading commercial teams in global pharmaceutical and biotech organizations. Her consultancy work is focused on strategic commercial excellence, executive coaching & leadership, KAM/ SAM roadmaps, process, and tools; and account-based marketing.

Before to starting her consultancy firm, Dominique served as a commercial executive in life sciences companies such as Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, leading global go-to-market transformations, SAM journeys, commercial excellence, and general management. She also led Global Marketing & Innovation for Big Pharma and biotech groups.

She is an accomplished international business leader, recognized as a chief architect of global account program journeys, who leads corporate changes and cultural shifts for customer-centric innovation and patient value. She is an advisor at Bain & Company and a Principal at The Summit Group for SAM training. Dominique is a panelist and keynote speaker in both Europe and the U.S. and a sought-after writer on diverse commercial areas, leadership, and account-based marketing who has been published in many well-known business journals, including as a regular writer in our Velocity magazine.

She brings together the marriage of science, business, and customer-centric approaches as her core focus with leaders and teams.

Her career has provided her with country and global/varied market experience and diversified cultural knowledge. She managed Cosawi teams in more than 36 countries, leading activities to optimize profitability and effectiveness of commercial strategies, as well as enabling deployment of new commercial and go-to-market business models as a global commercial leader.

Dominique has been on many global councils for commercial excellence, patient centricity, and diversity. She has been on the board of SAMA since 2011, as part of the WIB (Women in Bio) executive women group, among other roles.

Dominique is originally from Canada and lives between Montréal and Brussels, Belgium to stay close to her global clients. She speaks French and English.

Adrian is an international speaker, business strategist and trusted advisor for chief executives and sales leaders. He speaks on the subjects of key account management and strategic selling.

Adrian is the author of Heroes, Villains and the Thrill of Professional Selling: How to Direct a Winning Buying Experience, and of Human-to-Human Selling: How to Sell Real and Lasting Value in an Increasingly Digital and Fast-Paced World.

He is a certified speaking professional (CSP), a certified professional in business process management (P.BPM), and a certified competitive intelligence professional (CIP).

As President of management consulting firm Whetstone Inc., and Principal Partner of The Summit Group, he has worked with organizations such as SAP, John Deere, Siemens, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and AVI-SPL. He is also a leading faculty member at SAMA Academy.

His highly talented team has developed a reputation for leading organizations to innovative and practical solutions that enhance customer value and dramatically increase sales and profitability.

Ronald E. Davis is Executive Vice President, Global Head of Customer Management, with Zurich Commercial Insurance. He has more than 30 years of business experience dealing with many of the world’s largest multi-national companies. During this time he has had various leadership roles in Europe, Canada and the United States. For 2006-2007 he was selected to be a member of the David Rockefeller Fellows Program, which is associated with The Partnership for New York City Before joining Zurich in 2000, he worked for Arkwright/Factory Mutual Insurance Company for 19 years in various positions in Canada and France.

Ron is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA). And he is a member of the David Rockefeller Fellows Alumni Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ottawa’s Carleton University, as well as an MBA from Concordia University in Montreal.

Tom Derry is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Supply Management^® (ISM^®), with more than 30 years of experience in leadership and general management roles for public and private companies, and in the not-for profit sector. He has executed turn-arounds at the corporate and business-unit level through a variety of means, including acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring, and business process re-engineering.

As CEO of the Institute for Supply Management, Tom has a unique vantage point to observe major macroeconomic trends and the development of global supply chains through his daily contact with Fortune 500 chief procurement officers and chief supply chain officers, with government agencies and NGOs in the United States and abroad, and with leading academics. Tom has been interviewed on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and dozens of other business publications. Tom has represented ISM in meetings with the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the National Security Council, the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

At ISM, Tom has overseen an increase in revenues, a reduction in costs, the introduction of new revenue streams, and the launch of new product lines. As Chief Operating Officer of the Association for Financial Professionals, Tom oversaw strategy development and execution. Tom completed two cross-border acquisitions, which became for-profit subsidiaries of AFP. He oversaw all AFP staff in London, UK and Bethesda, MD.

As General Manager of the Business Intelligence unit of LexisNexis, team led a 40-person acquisition integration team, which completed the integration ahead of plan and under budget. He also executed the strategic divestiture of another LexisNexis unit, and implemented new technologies, including web-crawling bots, to re-engineer data collection and quality processes for LexisNexis’ business data unit.

Tom is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (B.S., Foreign Service).

Brian is CEO of CloseStrong, an AI technology firm that focuses on coaching deals at scale. Before founding CloseStrong, he was founder and CEO of Think! Inc., where he provided negotiation training and deal coaching in 47 countries over 20 years. His client list included Microsoft, Google, FedEx, Lucent, and Honeywell. He was also VP of National Account Sales for Marriott International and served on the SAMA Board as VP of Marketing. Brian has authored several B2B business books, including “B2B Street Fighting,” “Strategic Negotiation,” and “Negotiation Blueprinting for Buyers.” He also received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

After a remarkable 35-year career with Schneider Electric, Harvey Dunham serves as the Managing Director of Strategy & Marketing for the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA), a nonprofit professional association based in Chicago.

In the course of his time at Schneider Electric, Harvey started as an account manager then progressively became a district sales manager, a strategic account manager (SAM), a SAM leader, a Schneider country president (South Africa and Poland), and finally, a global solution VP who supported SAMs in developing solutions for their global strategic accounts around the world.

Thanks to his impressive and long career at SAMA and at Schneider Electric coupled with his military service, Harvey has several areas of expertise, including B2B sales, account management, channel strategy and management, negotiation, presentation skills, facilitation, training, coaching, and process improvement.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

- US Coast Guard 1978
-1978 Square D/Schneider Electric 1980-2015
- SAMA 2016-present

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

BS electrical engineering, Oregon State University, 1980

INTERESTS

strategic account management, golf, hunting, fishing, kayaking, hiking

Beth Eastland brings 35 years of leadership, strategy development, and operational experience in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals to her current role leading the U.S. Commercial Team in the East Region for Exact Sciences. Earlier, from 2018 through 2021, she led the development and deployment of a key account management strategy for the company from 2018-2021 as the national VP of Health Systems, building key capabilities to support sustainable growth for the diagnostics company. Her prior responsibilities spanned broad leadership and strategic roles, including sales, marketing, market access, strategy, and operations while at Merck for 26 years, and additional experience in mid-size and start-up companies. Beth has significant experience in operating model transformation, developing strategic customer collaborations in innovative partnerships, and navigating commercial transformational alliances and agreements using key account management principles.

As the Head of Strategic Account Management, Patrick is a leader with almost 20 years in U.S. commercial vaccines. Patrick has held various leadership positions in cross-functional commercial roles spanning, sales, product marketing, health system marketing, account management training, market access and strategic accounts. As the Head of Strategic Accounts, Patrick leads a team responsible for the development of strategic relationships within large health systems across the U.S. Patrick has a demonstrated capability in leading transformation specific to strategic account management as a customer-focused organizational strategy.  

Outside of professional work, Patrick enjoys living in Minnesota, spending time with his family, and taking in as much lake time as possible.

Chris is an expert in developing and executing growth plans, and in helping companies transform their go-to-market strategy to create value for customers and their customers. In his work, he draws on his over 20 years of extensive global experience in structuring sales, financing transactions, and driving revenue growth for companies. He has built an understanding of international business by closing on over $6 billion worth of transactions in more than 20 countries and managing teams on four continents. He started his career at the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, worked in New York as an investment banker, and held executive sales and finance roles at both start-up and Fortune 500 technology companies in Minneapolis. Chris’s education includes a B.Sc.E in civil engineering and M.Sc.E in environmental engineering from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada; an MBA in finance from Schulich School of Business, Toronto, Canada; and a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School. He was also part of the adjunct faculty at the University of Saint Thomas. Chris lives in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and is a council member at the Metropolitan Council for District 3 representing 17 cities in the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Mark has more than 25 years’ experience in client service across APAC, EMEA, North America and LATAM, this includes developing and operating global account management programs for multinational organizations. It is in the field of global account management that his post-graduate doctoral research is focused with a thesis entitled “Centering the Client Organization in Global Account Management (GAM) in Practice.”

Mark spent 28 years at Compass Group PLC in various leadership roles prior to joining ISS A/S in 2020. As the Chief Commercial Officer for Global Office, he leads a segment responsible for the delivery of integrated facilities management (IFM) solutions, building strategic partnerships with many of the world's leading organizations within the financial, professional services and technology industries.

As well as his Doctor of Business Administration at Edinburgh Napier University in 2022, Mark earned an MBA from the Edinburgh Napier University Business School in 2010. Mark is a chartered manager and fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. Mark lives in Scotland with his family.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Brad is Sanofi’s National Accounts Lead with nearly 25 yrs. in the US commercial vaccines business. For 20 years he has built and led teams in Field Sales, Account Management, Public Health, and National Accounts through expansions, product launches, and transformations. As the National Accounts Lead, Brad is responsible for influencing and building strategy while also guiding his team to establish sustainable, strategic relationships within segments ranging from National Health Systems, Wholesalers & Distributors, Group Purchasing Organizations, and other large buying groups across the country.

Brad is married with two teenage children and enjoys spending his free time in the mountains, the yoga studio, or listening to live music.

Can we improve our ability to forecast the future and manage risks to do better in business and life? Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Dan Gardner tackles these questions and more in his eye-opening and mind-expanding talks. Based on his bestselling books about psychology and decision making, Gardner’s talks draw on the latest research and his long experience in journalism and politics to challenge assumptions and find creative solutions.

A former journalist and national affairs commentator, Gardner’s work has won or been nominated for every major award in Canadian newspaper journalism, including the National Newspaper Award, the Michener Award, and the Canadian Association of Journalists Award.

Gardner is also the New York Times bestselling author of four books — Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear; Future Babble; Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, which was named one of the best books of 2015 by The Economist, Bloomberg, and Amazon; and, his most recent, How Big Things Get Done, co-written with Oxford University Professor Bent Flyvbjerg. His books have been published in 25 countries and 20 languages.

An honourary senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Gardner has spoken and consulted with organizations worldwide, including Google, Goldman Sachs, Siemens, Zurich Insurance, Khosla Ventures, and a variety of hedge funds and governments.

Originally from Spain, Miguel started his career in supply chain with General Electric Plastics. He later worked for Nalco (Ecolab), Kraft Foods, and since 2015 for DuPont, where he is now Chief Procurement Officer.​

Miguel has lived in Spain, the Netherlands, and the U.S. with his wife and two sons. He has a degree in business administration, a master degree from Universidad Camilo Jose Cela, and an MBA from ESERP Business School. He is also a NACD certified director. ​

• Member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Supply Management​
• Chair of the Institute for Supply Management Talent Management Committee​
• Vice President and member of the Board of Directors for the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce​
• Member of the Howard University Supply Chain Advisory Board​

He enjoys coaching, mentoring and speaking at universities and events. In his free time, Miguel likes to spend time with his family, travel and get to know other cultures. He is also a collector of antique books. ​

Frank’s interest is in seeing, identifying, creating, and seizing opportunities. “Anything is possible,” he likes to say. With 20 years of international experience in consulting, client development, and growing global accounts, he looks beyond proven business principles and sales techniques to improve personal and, subsequently, business growth. This is what the session “Be Here, Now” is all about. How do you show up? What are you focusing on? What is in your control? What is your mindset? Are you in the moment — and open to seeing, identifying or acting on the opportunities right in front of you?

Interested in finding something that works for you? Stop by my session and afterwards simply practice and repeat.

Craig Jones is a sales management veteran with invaluable marketplace experience in sales and consulting to the Fortune 500 corporate environment.

As Managing Director of Performance Methods, Inc., Craig uses his experience in sales, sales management, and sales coaching/consulting to help organizations win new business and grow existing relationships by institutionalizing best practices for their sales and customer engagement teams.

Craig’s client work has brought him into direct contact with various industries, including industrial manufacturing, information technology, life sciences, financial services, telecommunications, hospitality, building materials, and consumer products.

Before moving to PMI, Craig held various sales and sales management positions in enterprise technology and leadership development organizations such as VP sales, sales manager, strategic account manager, and sales representative.

Craig is credentialed through the International Coach Federation (ICF) as a professional certified coach and is a contributing member of SAMA, where he is part of the faculty to certify strategic account managers.

Craig graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

LinkedIn

Denise currently serves as Group Vice President, Life Sciences, leading Premier’s PINC AI Applied Sciences (PAS) team, which is the research and analytics division of Premier. She is responsible for developing strategic business relationships with life sciences companies and health systems and for expanding the utilization of PINC AI Applied Sciences’ solutions. Under Denise’s leadership, the PAS team was the recipient of the Biotech Week Boston Award for innovative use of technology-enabled health care solutions in digital medicine.

Prior to working at Premier, Denise retired from Merck after a successful 30-year career. During her time, Denise worked for MSD, an innovative, global health care leader that is committed to improving health and well-being around the world. She spent the last five years of her career at MSD as part of a division focused on managing all enterprise efforts with Merck’s top customers, as part of an executive leadership initiative to transform the company from being product- and geographically focused into being a leading customer-centric organization.

Denise graduated magna cum laude, with a degree in health science from Seton Hall University. She also obtained her master’s degree in exercise physiology/cardiac rehabilitation from East Stroudsburg University. Denise participated in the executive education program at the Harvard Business School of Harvard University and at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Denise has been involved in community service for the last 20 years. She has served on the board of SAMA for the last seven years and achieved her SAMA certification in 2016. Denise was recently appointed to join the board of trustees of CancerCare. She was recently recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of North Carolina in 2022 by Women We Admire and was recognized as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in BioTechnology in 2022.

As Chief Marketing Officer for Premier, Kaycee Kalpin is responsible for creating a bold brand and delivering memorable customer experiences that lead to growth for the company. Kalpin joined the company in 2013 and during her tenure, she has built an innovative, agile and strategic marketing team that differentiates and elevates Premier’s commercial presence. Kalpin and team were instrumental in the launch of Premier’s comprehensive technology and services brand, PINC AITM.

Before joining Premier, Kalpin spent several years in Washington, D.C., growing her health tech and marketing experience as an entrepreneurial lead with the American College of Cardiology. There, she led the development of a suite of digital apps that empower cardiovascular patients to take control of their health.

Kalpin is a digital health and marketing thought leader, certifying Premier’s marketing team in the modern principles of agile marketing. She serves as an advisor for HealthTech startups and a mentor for young professional women seeking to build their personal brands. In 2022, Kaycee was named a "Top 50 Women Leaders in Technology" by Women We Admire. Additionally, she is a member of the Young Leadership Council for PBS Charlotte, the Charlotte Chapter of the American Marketing Association and Professional Women in Healthcare. Kalpin was also selected to participate in the XXVIII class of the Leadership North Carolina program.

Kalpin is a graduate of Florida State University, with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and from American University with her Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Dan is Co-CEO at IMPAX, a global sales enablement company, and co-author of the best-selling sales book, Beyond Selling Value (Kaplan). In addition, Dan is the co-author of the book, Breaking the Rules — 111 Tips for Selling Value in the Era of Procurement. Dan has more than 35 years of experience in direct sales, sales leadership, and sales consulting and training.

Dan is a highly sought-after authority and speaker on a wide range of sales topics including selling value, strategic account management, presentation skills, and sales management. He has been a part of the faculty at SAMA and has also taught in the Executive Education program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business.

IMPAX has worked with thousands of sales professionals in the field and the classroom throughout North America and abroad. Some of the world’s leading sales organizations are clients.

Before joining IMPAX, Dan worked at IBM where, over his 10-plus year tenure, he held a number of sales and sales leadership positions.

Dan has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

When Dan isn’t working, he loves spending time with his wife Therese, three kids, and five grandkids. He also loves biking, hiking, skiing, and spending time at the cabin in northern Wisconsin.

Todd Lenhart is a sales executive with over 25 years of experience in sales, sales management, corporate leadership, strategic planning, negotiations, and strategy execution. He brings a broad business background to PMI with extensive executive involvement working in and consulting with large multinational corporations. His corporate experience in sales and as a cheif learning officer (CLO), coupled with his technical background as a CPA, provides a unique perspective on the challenges facing sales leadership today and the solutions that help leading companies maximize every aspect of the customer engagement life cycle.

Before joining PMI, Todd most recently served as President of Shapiro Negotiations Institute, a global training and consulting firm focused on the area of negotiation and influence. During his 13 years with SNI he worked with salespeople, buyers, and leaders in global Fortune 500 clients across a range of industries including financial services, healthcare, professional services, media and entertainment, energy, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, information technology, manufacturing, and telecommunications. In addition to partnering with companies to help drive results through their most important strategic relationships at SNI, Todd works on business development, marketing, product development, and strategic partnerships.

Before working with SNI, Todd was employed in multiple capacities with Allegis Group, the largest privately held staffing firm in the world. After starting out as a controller, he eventually took on roles as Vice President of Sales and as CLO with oversight for the training and development of 2,000+ sales and operations professionals. During his time at Allegis Group, the company grew annual revenue by over $3 billion. Todd also worked in the audit practice of Arthur Andersen, with a focus in the area of banking and finance. He draws on his roots in the financial world to drive measurement and results in every aspect of his training, coaching, and consulting activities.

Martyn Lewis is a recognized leader in transforming sales and marketing approaches based upon how markets actually buy. His beliefs were shaped over his two decades in corporate sales and marketing, ranging from front line sales to CEO of a multinational. In 1995 he started his own company, Market-Partners Inc., interacting with many clients and, most importantly, with their customers. He consults globally with businesses ranging from start-ups to industry giants, and his work has been used across 44 countries in 17 languages, impacting over 85,000 sales professionals. The results of his work and the research he led have now been published in the book How Customers Buy…& Why They Don’t. His book has been well received, with industry leaders saying it is a seminal work for businesses, changes the game, and brings much needed new thinking to the topics of sales and marketing. After starting his career in the UK and then moving to Canada, Martyn now resides in Sonoma County, California.

Danielle is an award-winning and results-oriented global leader with 10+ years in the tech industry. She has a proven record of success in envisioning, building and leading global strategic account programs, achieving industry-leading results in customer wallet share, profitability, and relationship equity. Today, Danielle is the global executive leading the Global Strategic Accounts Program at Pure Storage, a Silicon Valley-based data storage platform technology company (NYSE: PSTG).

As a CSAM graduate, Danielle is an advocate for the SAMA community and frequently serves in various roles, including SAMA’s Expert Council. She is a seasoned professional speaker with a passion for storytelling and idea pollination, and she has a key interest in helping organizations elevate client relationships and in championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech.

Danielle holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and in Spanish from the University of Portland and an MBA from the University of the Incarnate Word. She currently resides in San Diego with her husband and two young daughters. As an Oregon native, she loves to explore mountain landscapes and is an avid Ducks fan.

Meighan McNally is a seasoned marketing professional with over 8 years of experience in the veterinary health industry. Currently serving as the Partner Marketing Manager for Zoetis, on their Corporate and Specialty team, she specializes in driving strategic initiatives to foster growth and innovation within the industry.

Throughout her career, Meighan has demonstrated expertise in consultative marketing, having previously managed marketing efforts for a large veterinary consolidator, overseeing 115+ general practice and specialty hospitals. Additionally, she has played a pivotal role in B2B marketing for a veterinary telehealth startup, where she spearheaded the go-to-market strategy for their cloud-based software, complementing the consumer-facing app.

Transitioning to the pharmaceutical side of animal health with Zoetis, Meighan has spent over 2 years collaborating with C-suite executives to develop and execute strategic initiatives aimed at mutual growth. Her internal responsibilities also include crafting central messaging around products as solutions for industry challenges, as well as training and implementing these message strategies within the sales force.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Meighan resides in Connecticut with her husband Mike and their two beloved "perma-pups," Bailey and Jameson. When not working, she enjoys immersing herself in the enchanting world of Disney, recharging her pixie dust for the challenges ahead.

Ulrik Monberg, the CEO and Founder of ARPEDIO, is a visionary leader whose primary focus lies in championing account-based selling frameworks and technologies. His forward-thinking approach aligns seamlessly with the evolving landscape of B2B sales technologies. With over two decades of experience as a management consultant, Ulrik is committed to revolutionizing business strategies in a way that has left an enduring mark on the industry.

Ulrik’s strategic vision is not confined to theoretical concepts; rather, it is deeply rooted in practical implementation that drives tangible and meaningful change in B2B sales environments. What sets Ulrik apart is an unwavering dedication to crafting solutions that genuinely empower businesses, particularly in the realm of account-based selling. He emphasizes the seamless adoption of these solutions, recognizing that true effectiveness emerges from their integration into existing frameworks.

Ulrik’s philosophy is centered on creating an environment where innovation and practicality converge to create a lasting impact in the ever-evolving landscape of account-based selling. His commitment continues to redefine industry standards in B2B sales optimization and to reshape the account-based sales approach, fostering an atmosphere that inspires progress and meaningful change.

Pete is a Vice President at Holden Advisors and leads the company’s sales consulting practice. As a consultant and executive coach, he helps organizations gain clarity about the value they provide, offering sales and negotiation strategies to win more deals at higher prices.

He is responsible for improving clients’ overall customer selling strategies and value-based selling skills in organizations, building on best practices from negotiation strategy and psychology. Pete is a subject matter expert in sales and pricing alignment, focusing on the transition from “set price” to “get price.”

With 20+ years of experience in procurement, sales and pricing transformation, and deal coaching, Pete has helped clients grow and retain $100M+ of annual business.

Pete holds an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School and a B.A. in economics from Colby College. He is a former member of the U.S. National Rowing Team.

Ceynur Nak has 25+ years’ experience as a global professional in multinational businesses. Serving in 37 countries, Ceynur has played key roles in senior management positions covering sales, marketing, talent, and capability development. She has worked at Colgate-Palmolive Company, Coca-Cola, and 3M Company. Based at the global headquarters of both Colgate-Palmolive and 3M in the U.S., she coordinated numerous global initiatives.

Ceynur is a dynamic and creative expert in curriculum design, development and facilitation. Currently she teaches as an adjunct professor at Bologna Business School. She won a “You Can Make a Difference” award in key account management. She has led teams in key accounts, customer marketing, and learning & development. She is certified in coaching and in multiple commercial leadership programs.

She holds an MBA from Dominican University, Chicago, and a BS in chemical engineering from Istanbul Technical University. In addition to engaging in her professional business career, Ceynur captained a national champion volleyball team in Turkey to five gold medals.

Laura Oelkers is a Senior Strategic Account Manager at John Deere with 13 years of experience in agriculture equipment and technology marketing and sales. As a senior strategic account manager in government sales, Laura uses her passion for understanding customers’ needs and finding the solution for those needs as her driving principle. She harnesses this interest through the tools and techniques of value-focused engagement by both working closely with her government accounts across the states she covers and working closely with John Deere Dealer partners to help steer after-sales follow-up and support to ensure longterm profitable customer relationships. Her previous experiences at Deere enable her to engage in meaningful business partnerships with customers and dealers.

Laura’s roots in the agriculture industry are strong, given that she grew up on a row-crop farm in Indiana and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science degree in agribusiness management from Purdue University. After working at Deere for several years, she studied at the Thunderbird School of Global Management through Arizona State University to graduate with an executive master’s degree in global management in 2017.

Outside of work, Laura enjoys camping in the mountains with her family, volunteering at her church, and spending time attending and coaching her kids’ sporting events.

Mary Kate specializes in using 80/20 to develop and execute strategic growth platforms. She is an expert at segmentation, driving strategic customer sales, and operational excellence.

Prior to joining Strategex, Mary Kate was a Group President at Illinois Tool Works (ITW), working in the Food Equipment and Specialty Groups, and at Madison Industries in the Filtration Group. Within these roles, she led decentralized and global businesses that offered both manufactured goods and services.

Mary Kate developed a passion and strong expertise in 80/20 while at ITW, after over a decade of leadership within organizations utilizing lean business systems. Mary Kate held General Management leadership roles within high-growth businesses at Danaher, Regal Rexnord, and Alcoa.

Mary Kate is passionate about DEI—her leadership roles allowed her to cultivate healthy working environments where teams were fully engaged and comfortable bringing their full selves to work. She has served on the Women’s Leadership Councils at ITW, Regal-Rexnord, and Alcoa. In 2017, Mary Kate was an honoree of the Manufacturing Institute’s Step Ahead Awards recognizing Women in Manufacturing.

Mary Kate earned a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Affairs from Purdue University and an MBA from Loyola University.

When Mary Kate isn’t working, she and her husband volunteer at their kids’ school and church. They enjoy coaching and cheering the kids on at their many sporting events. The family resides outside of Milwaukee in Hartland, Wisconsin.

Tim Pollard is the founder and CEO of Oratium, a leading messaging consulting firm. He is a sought-after speaker and author of the acclaimed books The Compelling Communicator: Mastering the Art and Science of Exceptional Presentation Design and Mastering the Moment: Perfecting the Skills and Processes of Exceptional Presentation Delivery. Pollard draws insight from a long career in sales, marketing, and communications for companies such as Unilever, Barclays Bank, and the Corporate Executive Board.

Mike Powers is a Principal with ZS Associates and is one of the leaders of ZS’s business consulting practice, specializing in commercial strategy, operations, and technology. For over 15 years, Mike has partnered with life sciences companies to transform their commercial models, focusing on strategic account management and digital customer engagement. Mike holds an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.

Since she joined ZS in 2006, Namita has worked primarily in the life sciences industry. She leads ZS’ Healthcare Ecosystems Practice Area, helping companies design and implement organized customer and B2B strategies. She is also a member of ZS’ Healthcare Leadership Forum, helping to drive interconnections and partnerships in the complex and evolving health care ecosystem.

Namita is an expert in customer model strategy, design, and effectiveness. In the last decade, she has been involved in numerous customer model transformations, focusing on implementing innovations related to local health care deployments and KAM transformations. Namita co-authored eight of the 16 chapters in ZS’ book on KAM excellence in life sciences and codeveloped ZS’s offerings on First Line Manager Excellence and Sales Rep Customer Engagement Quality. She has been a visiting faculty at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern and at the Indian School of Business to teach sales manager excellence. She has conducted hundreds of qualitative customer research interviews, led several focus groups, and overseen dozens of observational field rides with sales and KAM personnel.e

Chris Pratt is a seasoned and highly skilled consulting professional with more than 30 years of experience in the sales strategy and sales competence development fields. He is currently the Vice President of Content and Delivery for The Summit Group. In this capacity, Chris has responsibility for the development and delivery of The Summit Group’s value generation, executive selling, marketing, management, and leadership/coaching training programs. He has developed and delivered customized sales skills training programs for major firms in a variety of industries. As a founding member of The Summit Group, Chris has delivered training programs in over 45 countries to a wide variety of firms including HP, Cisco Systems, Tetra Pak, Xerox, Ricoh North America, Ricoh Latin America, World Wide Technology, SC Johnson & Company, SBC/AT&T, Höganäs AB, Motorola, and Marriott International. In addition, he is certified in the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and in the DiSC assessment.

Before joining The Summit Group, Chris spent 18 years in a variety of sales, sales management, sales assessment, and sales training positions with AT&T.

Chris holds a bachelor’s of business administration in marketing from Ohio University. He is a member of the Executive Advisory Board to the Marketing Department at the University of Akron. He resides in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

David Pyle brings more than 35 years of sales, strategy, and professional development experience to his focus and passion growing the next generation of leaders. He founded Hystoric in 2023 to support, develop, and equip the young men and woman in today’s workforce with the leadership skills to tackle the complex challenges facing our world today.

David Pyle retired in 2023 as Senior Vice President of Enterprise & Mobility Sales for Cox Automotive. His team supported the largest automotive retailers, manufacturers, and mobility innovators in the United States and Europe.

Before leading Enterprise Sales, Pyle led Cox Automotive’s Client Services group. He has been with Cox since 1998, when he joined to launch Autotrader.com in the US. He held several leadership roles in his time there, including SVP of Dealer Sales, Vice President of Sales Operations, and Senior Director of Advertising Strategy.

For his personal passions, David is an avid outdoorsman who loves to scuba dive, surf, hike, ride, and hunt. He’s also involved with the growth, well-being, and protection of today’s youth and their parents. Pyle is a co-founder of The Beyond Experience, a board member of Johnson Ferry Christian Academy, a mentor for husbands and fathers through the Radical Mentoring Program, and head of the Hystoric Foundation.

Hajo Rapp is a global leader in sales and account management at TÜV SÜD AG, a 25,000-employee organization delivering testing, inspection, and certification services globally. Hajo serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors at SAMA in Chicago (U.S.), as a member of the Consulting Committee’s Sales Excellence Magazine published by Springer (Germany), and as visiting lecturer at Reutlingen University (Germany) in the university’s Master of Arts Program on Strategic Sales Management. Hajo was awarded the Top Seller designation (by Siemens) and was recognized for his success in developing and managing SAM programs (by SAMA) several times.

Before joining TÜV SÜD, Hajo was Head of the Account Management and Market Development Boards at Siemens (2007-2017) after a career a sales career at Siemens, having started as a sales rep for IT services (1996) and eventually managing one of Siemens’ largest global accounts across all units and regions (2002-2007).

Before embarkiing on his career in sales and account management, Hajo spent three years as a management consultant at Management Partner Stuttgart (in Germany).

Hajo lives with his wife in Munich (Germany). They have two children and like traveling and doing sports like skiing, hiking, jogging, biking and tennis. He loves (German) football and squash.

Mark Roberts is a senior-level sales and marketing leader with over 35 years of experience driving profitable sales growth in market-leading organizations. He has led sales and training at Timken, VMI, Gardner Denver, Mobility Works, and Frito-Lay. Mark is the author of Driving Explosive Growth, Voice of the Customer, a nosmoke and mirrors approach to profitable growth and Branding Backwards. He is a public speaker, sales trainer, consultant, and sales acceleration coach. Mark is also a certified Scaling Up coach helping companies scale revenue, profits and shareholder value.

In 2018, he received the Business Excellence Award from the National Sales and Marketing Association, and in 2019, The Highspot Sales Enablement Award. Sales Hacker Inc. also recognized him in the sales enablement category.

Mark is the founder of OTB Solutions, LLC, and the popular business development blog, www.nosmokeandmirrors.com, ranked #1 in Fixing Sales Problems. Today, he is the founder and president of OTB Sales, where he helps clients diagnose and improve sales effectiveness and hire and develop their sales talent to improve sales results. His practice helps train key account salespeople and helps them build strategic growth plans for key clients. His prescriptive data-driven approach to sales training and coaching he learned while attending Harvard, delivers the maximum ROI in the shortest amount of time.

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A thought leader with global experience in strategic account management, B2B sales, and marketing, James collaborates with leading companies to accelerate profitable growth, elevate teamwork, co-create value, transform go-to-market execution, and differentiate customer engagement.

He works with world-class companies such as 3M, Abbott, Cisco Systems, Cox Automotive, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Medtronic, and Ricoh, enabling them to reimagine and differentiate how they create value, engage, and grow with customers.

James’ strengths lie in customer-focused business transformation and sales, marketing, account management, and leadership talent development. He has taught at the University of St. Gallen and Switzerland’s Global Account Management Executive Program and is on the SAMA’s CSAM faculty.

James lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Matt is a Principal with ZS in our health care ecosystem practice with a focus on B2B marketing, value strategy, and partnerships in the life sciences space.  

Matt has expertise in commercial strategy; go-to-market models; brand marketing; and helping companies navigate the evolving health care ecosystem, including how to optimize effort against organized customers. Matt brings a unique blend of in-line pharma life sciences commercial experience as well as consulting work driving top-line impact for brands and clients. Matt has experience in helping companies optimize their commercial model to serve health systems including organized providers and payers. He has supported leading companies in their journey to assess the impact of health systems on the business, segment the audience, devise winning strategies, develop supporting operating models, and value proposition to enable success.  

Before joining ZS, Matt was a director with PwC Strategy& in the commercial strategy practice and spent 15 years in a variety of sales, marketing, and management roles with Bristol Myers Squibb, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and Medicines Direct Pharmaceuticals. Matt has experience advising clients in the mass market, specialty, oncology, immunology, and medical products spaces from strategy through implementation.  

Matt has an MBA in marketing from Villanova University and a B.A. in communications/pre-law from Montclair State University.

Throughout his international career, serving brands like Apple, Kodak, and Michelin, Pierre Schaeffer has successfully defined and executed new market development strategies in a variety of B2C or B2B high technology markets.

Ever since he joined Thales as Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Pierre has orchestrated the business impact of the global marketing and product function, with a special focus on enhancing customer value-based innovation and value selling. Since 2020, he has been instrumental in driving the transformation of the group’s account management practice, in support of customer satisfaction and Thales’ profitable growth ambitions.

Joe Schoener is the Head of Training & Development in the US for Nilfisk, Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of cleaning equipment that includes industrial vacuums, floorcare machines and high-pressure washers. Joe joined Nilfisk in 2015 after working 26 years for Hilti, Inc. and has worked in various senior leadership roles across all parts of the business. In 2019, he was asked to move into his current role, and he gladly accepted it because he has a passion for helping others through learning and development initiatives and activities.

Joe believes in practicing servant leadership and leading by example, and that the most critical and important part of any company is its people. Joe is certified in Situational Leadership II, and has a bachelor’s degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA.

Jacques Sciammas has held the roles of COO and CFO for several global corporations, where he was responsible for making executive buying decisions for over 20 years.

Drawing on his corporate executive experience, and representing the executive buyer’s perspective, he conducts interactive workshops and keynotes to sales teams on how to successfully engage and sell to the C-suite and build long-term C-level relationships. His corporate experience includes being Executive Vice President at Berkshire, Chief Financial Officer at Charles Schwab’s $2 billion Retail Division, Director of International Operations at Standard & Poor’s, and Director of Capital Programs at TWA.

All the roles entailed directing the company’s buying decisions and selection of vendor for large corporations. In addition to conducting over 400 workshops and keynotes around the globe since 2003, Jacques also serves as chairman of the CFO Council and is a regular speaker at the SAMA’s Annual Conference.

He received his B.A. from Bowdoin College and his executive MBA from Harvard University. 

In addition to family and friends, Jacques counts tennis, bicycling, impressionist art, film, and world cultures as his passions.

Session 114 — The 10K—By far the most important document that SAMs/GAMs never read before meeting with client executives

As Co-President of IMPAX Corporation, Mark Shonka unites powerful thought leadership and decades of high-level selling experience to launch the world’s leading sales organizations to the next level of selling success. Intensely results- and action-oriented, Mark does far more than merely spout ideas about how to improve sales; he details precisely what sales teams need to do to within their unique corporate structures and business cultures to achieve stellar sales success. His expertise is valued by organizations such as Microsoft, IBM, DHL, U.S. Bank, DuPont, and GE Healthcare. Mark is a highly sought-after speaker globally; has authored numerous articles by top selling publications; and co-authored, with Dan Kosch, Beyond Selling Value, a business best-seller that was named one of the top 40 books of the year by Business Book Review.

Mark’s sales acumen stays razor-sharp because he practices what he preaches every day — expertly selling to the complete business-to-business spectrum and leading a team of top sales professionals who do the same. Mark’s knowledge is founded on more than 25 years of experience in direct sales, sales management, and sales consulting and training. He is an authority on a range of sales topics, including selling value, strategic account selling, strategic account management, account planning, and sales leadership.

Mark has been associated with IMPAX Corporation since 1988 and has been a co-president since 1991. Before joining IMPAX, he had a successful sales career in the information systems industry working for IBM and Memorex-Telex. He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing/management from the College of St. Thomas and a master’s of business administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Mark is actively involved in the community, providing leadership in academic foundations, sports associations, and his faith community.

John Shulman is an internationally recognized expert on negotiation, sales effectiveness, and game-based learning. John has worked with some of the world’s largest purchasing organizations and has a deep understanding of how they are structured, how they think, and what they require to build collaborative partnerships with strategic suppliers. He has also worked with dozens of the world’s largest sales and account management organizations to develop and implement effective sales and negotiation strategies.

Through this work, John has developed realistic online simulations used by large organizations globally to upskill their strategic account managers and sales professionals. Iconic characters in the online simulations employ common purchasing tactics used to frustrate account managers and sales professionals. The simulations provide a safe space for account managers and sales professionals to build and practice their skills while they learn proven techniques for converting purchasing from adversaries into allies. The realistic simulations offer coaching insights and generate data analytics that diagnose team and organizational strengths and gaps to be addressed.

With a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School, John has worked with leaders in the field of negotiation. He has worked with the United Nations, the Harvard Program on Negotiation’s Middle East peace project, and numerous governments. John is also an award-winning author and filmmaker, and he played professional soccer in Asia.

John is the president of performance improvement firm Alignor and can be reached at jshulman@alignor.com.

Stephanie Sirt recently joined Schneider Electric to serve as a strategic account executive on Schneider Electric’s Global Strategic Accounts team for the energies and chemicals sector. Stephanie is responsible for leading the development and deployment of the global strategy to drive engagement with ExxonMobil related to next-generation automation, integrated power and process, digitalization, life cycle management, project efficiencies and early engagement, and lower carbon solutions. Stephanie is the guardian of the customer relationship, leading and coordinating the global Schneider team to provide comprehensive solutions that enable trackable business results to ExxonMobil.

Before taking on her current role, Stephanie had over 32 years in the oil and gas, energy, chemicals, and government industries. She has diverse experience ranging from project and construction management, to program management, to P&L responsibility, to executive leadership and sales leadership. She has served in leadership roles, including as vice president of a global EPC program and as vice president of MAC Projects.

Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in information technology and an Associate of Applied Science degree in engineering. She has served on the board of the Houston chapter of the Women’s Energy Network and volunteered for the Gulf Coast Chapter of the National Diversity Council. She was honored to be a finalist in 2019 for the ExxonMobil Power Play LNG award in the Rainmaker category. Her daughter is a chemical engineering major at the University of Houston, carrying on Stephanie’s passion for STEM.

Speaker bio coming soon.

Joe has enabled healthcare companies across the globe to adapt their access strategy and value communication to the ever-evolving healthcare ecosystem.

Joe is a principal and a leader in ZS’ value and access practice. He is a member of ZS’s ecosystem i-team, an internal task force focused on evaluating the changes in the U.S. health care ecosystem and developing innovative solutions to the issues that emerge.

Joe’s work is centered on helping pharmaceutical clients develop strategies to communicate innovative product value, set prices that balance financial return with patient access to medicine, and develop impactful programs and services directed at both payers and large provider organizations. Joe is also well-versed in global healthcare markets after having spent five years in ZS’ Tokyo office and conducted significant project work in the EU5, Canada, China, and South Korea during his tenure at ZS.

Prior to joining ZS, Joe worked as a computer engineer at a major computer hardware manufacturer.

Joe holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor’s from Georgetown University with a double major in political economy and Japanese linguistics.

As CEO of The Summit Group, Phil is a recognized thought leader on value creation and business relevance. He has worked with some of the world’s largest companies as a coach, mentor, consultant, and advisor to top leaders across a range of industries in over 45 countries. Phil has served on the Board of Directors for the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA), and he sits on the boards of several companies and nonprofits. He is also a co-founder of The International Journal of Sales Transformation, based in London.

Phil has written for, or been cited in, the Wall Street Journal, the National Account Management Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Inc., and Fast Company, as well as in several best-selling books, including Adversity Quotient and The Power of Purpose. He is currently involved in a research initiative related to character science for sales.

He is the co-author of the book Relevance: Matter More and is a contributing author to The Crisis of Disengagement: How Apathy, Complacency, and Selfishness Are Destroying Today’s Workplace.

His career includes key leadership positions in the telecommunications industry. Phil also teaches in various university and executive education programs and has master’s degrees in business administration and telecommunications science. He is currently working on his doctorate at Middlesex University in London.

Phil resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Santa Barbara, California.

Kerri Sutherland has held a human resource business partnership position at Axis Communications since 2017. She holds an MBA with a concentration in human resource management from the University of Texas A&M and is certified as a senior professional by the Society for Human Resource Management. She has more than a decade of successful experience in the field, with a primary focus on hiring, employee development, and employee engagement. Sutherland’s human resource journey began at various international tech companies, and she currently supports the Americas region at Axis by recruiting and retaining top talent while safeguarding the company’s culture. She also sits as the chair for the Foundation of Advancing Security Talent (FAST) and serves on the board of a local nonprofit humane society. She has facilitated countless training programs, an activity that advances her passion for seeing both individuals and businesses succeed in unified goals.

Sara Theis is KAM Program Manager at Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), a world leader in insulation, roofing and fiberglass composites and a SAMA corporate member since 2020.

Sara currently leads the operating model, capability development, and management systems of the KAM program for the OC Composites business, which is aimed at delivering differential value to key customers to drive organic growth.

She joined Owens Corning in 2016 as Senior Marketing Lead for Commercial Building Insulation, where she generated market demand by influencing architects and specifiers to use OC products, and then served as a strategy analyst evaluating various growth opportunities across three (3) business units before assuming her current role in 2020.

All told, Sara has over 20 years of experience in various sales, communications, strategy, and marketing roles across the packaging, automotive, and building products industries — on both on the client and the consultant sides.

She has served as an account manager twice in her career, first at Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI) co-creating custom packaging solutions for The Clorox Company, and later as a senior account executive at a marketing agency, where she won the firm’s “Rising Star” award for doubling revenues of a tier 1 automotive client over two consecutive years.

Sara holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and earned SAMA’s CSAM certification in 2022.

Heidi Tripp is an experienced security professional with a passion for fostering connections and delivering exceptional customer experiences. With over 10 years of experience in the security industry at Axis Communications, Heidi is responsible for customer initiatives and driving growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction and loyalty across the company’s most important accounts. She has seen firsthand the transformative power of staying close to the customer. She aims to find solutions to the customer’s biggest challenges by partnering with them and innovating together for a smarter, safer world.

Sheri launched the strategic account management program at Alnylam, a rapidly growing, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that was the first to discover and develop an entirely new class of medicines based on RNA interference (RNAi). Sheri specializes in organization-wide business strategy that engages decision-making stakeholders involved in the delivery of health care to improve experience, outcomes, and, ultimately, patient access to medicines.

Under Sheri’s leadership, SAM’s enterprise-enabling strategies create long-term value for manufacturers through effective partnerships with chief and director suite roles at organized customers (Integrated Delivery Networks and Health Systems), collaboration with stakeholders in the health care ecosystem, and execution with cross-functional teams.

Before working with Alnylam, Sheri spent two decades at the intersection of sales, advocacy, marketing, and medical affairs at life science and medical device companies such as Shire and Acadia, focusing on health system strategy for patient identification, delivery, and access.

Maria is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Marketing & Sales Practice and is located in Miami. Maria works with B2B and consumer companies in the United States, Latin America, and Europe to build advanced sales capabilities that drive above-market growth. Over the past ten years, Maria has led research on sales growth, go-to-market strategy, sales capability building, channel excellence, advanced analytics in sales, and commercial transformation. Maria is the co-author of Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World's Sales Leaders (salesgrowth.mckinsey.com), which distills the insights from hundreds of McKinsey engagements and interviews with hundreds of successful global sales leaders into a set of stories and practical ideas that drive above-market growth. She is also the author of multiple articles on sales management for business magazines including Harvard Business Review, European Business Review, and McKinsey Quarterly. She holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she received the Siebel Scholarship.

Hitendra Wadhwa is professor of practice at Columbia Business School and founder of the Mentora Institute. He teaches Columbia's most popular MBA leadership class on Personal Leadership & Success. He also teaches MBA and executive education programs on driving strategic impact and leading from the inside out, and has received the Executive-MBA Commitment to Excellence Award, the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence, the Lear Award for Service to Students, and the Columbia Marketing Association Award for the Most Dynamic and Engaging Professor.

Hitendra’s mission is to codify and teach scientific principles of success in life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in management science from MIT and a lifelong study of the world’s mystic traditions, Hitendra brings a mathematician’s rigor and a truth-seeker’s spirit to some of today’s most vexing questions about authenticity, success, leadership, human potential, and more. His widely acclaimed research and teaching on leadership have been covered by Inc., Forbes, Fortune, CNN, Psychology Today, BBC World Service, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal. His weekly webcast, Intersections, features acclaimed thought leaders and practitioners in the craft of leadership.

Hitendra’s Mentora Institute is at the forefront of creating a new model of leadership for the 21st century where executives achieve ever-growing Outer Impact through ever-deepening Inner Mastery. Through its digital learning platform, Mentora has created a pocket “flight simulator” for leadership that helps learners gain mastery in a wide range of leadership skills through MicroPracticeTM. His clients include Accenture, SAP, Pfizer, Tata Group, Ericsson, GE, Kraft Heinz, Siemens, a Big-4 Accounting Firm and Morgan Stanley.

In the past, Hitendra was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company and the CEO/founder of a Silicon Valley start-up, Paramark, which was twice recognized as a Top-100 Internet technology company by Technologic Partners/Venture Wire.

Education: BA (Honors in Mathematics), St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, 1988; MBA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992; PhD, 1996

To learn more about Hitendra, visit his website.

Max has spent over 30 years in various leadership roles spanning strategic account management, general management, sales excellence, and Six Sigma and is a sales and marketing man at heart. He works for Medtronic as Director of SAM and was previously at 3M.

Max is a passionate advocate of SAM, customer-centric thinking, and change leadership and is a member of SAMA’s Board of Directors. He led Global Commercial Operations for 3M’s SAM program, where he was instrumental in establishing 3M’s enterprise-wide strategic account organization.

Before focusing on SAM, Max led businesses at both an EMEA and a UK level across a variety of market sectors, aquiring extensive experience in the implementation of commercial transformation and sales excellence initiatives.

Max is married, with three children, and lives in Windsor, UK.

Ed consults with and speaks for corporations and associations across the globe; he has a client list that is a Who’s Who of Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of Fares to Friends, Creating Relational Capital, Business Relationships That Last, and his most recent book, the No.1 best-seller, The Relationship Engine. Ed was recently published in the Harvard Business Review. In addition, he is currently on the Executive Education faculty of Drexel’s LeBow College of Business and of Villanova University’s Human Resource Development master’s program.

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Grant launches business relationships with some of the world’s leading manufacturing companies. A former college All-American baseball pitcher, Grant took his competitiveness on the field and his natural relationship-building skills to AchieveNEXT, where he leads the company’s business development expansion by introducing and nurturing some of its most critical business relationships. His belief is that every relationship deserves intention, patience, and Relational GPS ®.

Brad Weintraub leads the Global Strategic Accounts Program (GSAP) at AVI-SPL. Brad grew the program through strategic alignment with top global and enterprise customers across all sectors and geographies. He works to build lasting relationships with GSAP customers to co-create value with them. He also has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications, AV, and UC industries. Previously, he founded an AV and software solutions company. It grew into one of the SCN Top 50 before it was acquired by an electrical and technology contractor.

Carrie is Cofounder and Head of CX at CloseStrong.ai. She leverages over 30 years of experience in sales and negotiation consulting to help enterprise sales organizations deliver better deal outcomes through AI-powered coaching. This enablement solution delivers customized data, insights, feedback, and guidance throughout the sales cycle. As current partner at Think! Inc., Carrie works with hundreds of clients globally to develop and implement sales and negotiation strategies.

Carrie is a member of SAMA and held a 10-year position on SAMA’s Board of Directors. Think! Inc is one of the learning partners that contribute content to SAMA’s certification program.

Chris has worked at bioMérieux for just over 30 years. He began his career in a sales role and then progressed to being the Industry Sales and Marketing manager (Food and Pharmaceuticals) and then the managing director of the UK subsidiary, where he was responsible for both the clinical and the industry divisions of the company.

In 2011, Chris moved into a global role, with the remit to build a worldwide programme for developing strategic account management within the Industry division. Over the last 10 years, Chris has continued to develop the program while ensuring that best practice is adopted around the world. He also manages four global strategic customers and has both developed and now delivers value-selling training for marketing and sales colleagues.

Mattias is a seasoned strategic account manager distinguished for his prowess in cultivating unwavering customer trust. With a steadfast dedication to progress, he has spent over three decades championing sustainable development in the forest industry.

Raised amid the enchanting islands outside of Stockholm, Mattias developed a profound interest in forestry and research early in life. His collaborations with esteemed institutions, including the University of Agriculture in Sweden and several others, have yielded numerous published papers. Mattias holds a patent for advancements in energy efficiency.

An accomplished author of the book Marry Your Customers, Mattias brings over a decade of executive leadership experience as the CEO of Corage Leadership AB. This organization is principally dedicated to leadership training, group development, and sales training, solidifying Mattias’ impact on multifaceted professional growth.

As a strategic account manager in one of the biggest corporations in the forest industry (Valmet), Mattias is SAM-responsible for two of Valmet’s major customer-corporations. Mattias continues to enhance both his reputation as a trusted advisor, and Valmet’s active involvement in projects aimed at replacing plastics with renewable and recyclable bio-resources positions the company at the forefront of sustainable innovation.

Beyond his role as a SAM, Mattias is a passionate forest owner, propelled by a deep commitment to biodiversity and sustainable practices. Mattias remains resolute in his commitment to propel customer performance forward. His illustrious career not only reflects a profound understanding of the industry but also underscores his genuine passion for contributing to positive change in the world.

Geoff Williams is interim President and CEO of the Strategic Accounts Management Association (SAMA) as of December 2023 and is responsible for all aspects of the SAMA organization and strategy, and for relationships with customers and partners of the SAMA knowledge exchange for the practice of global and strategic account management.

Most recently, Geoff retired after more than nine years as Vice President of Global Accounts for Danfoss, a $7B global leader in energy efficiency for the heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC) industry. Geoff led the strategy, execution, and development of Danfoss’s successful global strategic customer approach beginning in early 2014.

Prior to working for Danfoss, Geoff was with Schneider Electric (energy efficiency/industrial automation) for 20 years and was most recently responsible as Vice President for Schneider’s largest customer segment (> $600M) in the information technology industry. He was also employee No. 2 in 1988 in Bernard Quancard’s (the previous SAMA CEO’s) startup of the Global Accounts approach at Schneider, which is a permanent institution for Schneider Electric, and held several additional positions in the Global Accounts organization.

Geoff has also worked in international business for the last 40 years (traveling and working in more than 60 countries), work that included co-founding of Integrated Dynamics Engineering in Boston and being an international sales manager at Analogic, an international marketing manager at Modicon, and active for many years in the Columbia University Business School Global Account Initiative to identify and develop industry best practices for various global account management functions.

Geoff lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife and has two children and three grandchildren. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University in mechanical engineering and international business and has a certificate from the World Trade Institute in New York. Geoff served as a SAMA Board Member for 18 years, including two tenures as treasurer and one as chair. He has also been on the SAMA Executive Committee since 2004.

Richard Wiltshire has been part of LinkedIn’s growth story for the past 10 years as the platform has grown from 200M members to 900M+ globally. Richard currently leads the Key Accounts organization for LinkedIn Sales Solutions. His team partners with some of the largest organizations in the world to drive revenue growth through LinkedIn’s Deep Sales platform.

Prior to performing this role, Richard led Customer Success for North America, where he was accountable for value creation among LinkedIn’s customers. Before working at LinkedIn, Richard worked in management consulting at Accenture and in engineer roles at GlaxoSmithKline.

Richard is an active community advocate, currently serving on the Board of Directors of Friends of High Park Zoo, with past board appointments at CivicAction, Black Professionals in Tech Network, and the Indigenous Professional Association of Canada.

Richard has a Bachelor of Applied Science in engineering science from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.