Professional Summary
FFocus my attention where I can leverage my skill-sets. Invest my energy, experience, leadership and connections to assist bringing success to the company I work at and the business community of that industry.
During my professional career, I have worked within three (3) industries, which include consulting, software, and energy. In the last six (6) years, I have built the sales teams and exceeded sales goals for two (2) companies entering into the US solar market. I am presently the VP of Sales at RECOM and was Head of Business Development at Jinko Solar. In both companies RECOM and Jinko they had no presence in the US/North American market. I am experienced VP of sales and business development leader, team leader and team builder, planning executive and execution expert creating success for over twenty-two (22) years.
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
RECOM
VP Sales Americas
(June 2013 – Present)
• Sold over 320MWs from start date. The first 6 months focused on obtaining all certifications required to sell in U.S. market.
Jinko Solar – Head of Business Development North America
Panel Manufacture
(June 2011 – April 2013)
• Meet with Banks and Customers to build Jinko Solar’s relationships and sales.
- Banks and Financial Institutions combined equal over 90. oIndustry contacts over 4,770 send weekly blog question to gather industry intel.
CA Solar, LLC – VP Sales & Marketing
Renewable Energy Developer
(11-2008 – June 2011)
• Hired, motivated and trained 4 European and 6 U.S sales professionals.
Writer - San Francisco Examiner (Business Section)
http://www.examiner.com/internet-business-in-san-francisco/robert-benedict
Energy is Everything – PPT presentation for schools, governments, companies Author (10-2008—present)
• Write one to two weekly articles on the solar industry.
• Writing a novel on the solar industry.
• Have bi-monthly blog on solar.
• Through LinkedIn write weekly questions to approximately 5,400 solar professionals.
Soul-er for Solar – Los Angeles, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Ecuador CEO/President (6-2005 – 10-2008)
Built company to 32 person team including 7 sales representatives, 3 administration personnel, 2 project designers (preparing project plans and obtaining permitting), 1 government contract specialist, 1 engineer, 11 inside (part time) installers, a team of 7 subcontractors.
Gulf Pacific Management Consultants – El Dorado Hills, California SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT (2-2002 – 6-2005)
• When I took over as the Director the contract-approving ratio was 38%, the industry average was 34%.
• Acquired the best Analyst in the industry through personal contacts and relationships, and developed a training program to enhance their skills.
SLGG Management Consultants – Beverly Hills, California SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST (1-2000 – 2-2002)
• Management consultant; Analyst with 72% sales closing ration.
• Sold contracts from $140,000 to $520,000.
• Wrote programs for enhancing client weaknesses.
RedFlag, Inc. – Venice, California Chief Executive Officer (1-1993 – 12-1999)
• Built a 19 person software company that I sold source code to Intuit.
• Wrote the manual for the software “Business Analyst”.
• Developed Management Software “in the box software” based around management tools.
Anderson Consulting – San Francisco, California
Consultant for Corporate Functions Group
(6-1986 – 12-1992)
• Was among a 7-person team implementing management processes and financial programs in fortune 1000 companies.
• Became team leader after 26 months with company.
• Promoted to sales team after 36 months with company.
• Promoted to manager of a nine person sales team in 4th year.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE:
• Experience in selling and managing management consulting teams for 9+ years. Advising Presidents and CEO’s how to create increased profits through refined sales procedures and solving communication problems.
• Continually review trends within account categories, finding and pinpointing areas of improvement and implementing better systems to increase sales.
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION:
Graduate of the Advanced Executive Training Program MBA at Anderson School of Business, UCLA 1999
University of Michigan BBA Degree 1984
Solar courses relating to Finance, Development, Strategy, US Market, South American Markets, Distributed Solar, Utility Scale Solar, Conferences: Infocast, Platts, GTM, SPI, PV America, Bloomberg (BNEF), InterSolar, GSA development and REFF to name a few (some like SPI for 5 years along with local tradeshows when I was the CEO of Soul-er for Solar). Often speak, moderate or panelist at conferences.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
• Past Member, Board of Directors at the Southern CA Software Council; Chair – e-Business Committee
• Member, UCLA Anderson School of Business – Corporate Governance Program• Member, Microsoft Partner Program (13 years)