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Michael Blach 
Vice President | Maersk Deutschland GmbH
Michael Blach was appointed Head of Key Client Management, Centre Sales early 2008 and took up office on April 1st. He is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mr. Blach joined the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in 1984 as a management trainee and he has held various positions at the corporate head office in Copenhagen, Denmark as well as around the world.
After graduation, Mr. Blach worked 1 ½ years in North America. For the launch of the Maersk Line Transatlantic Service, he returned to the head office for a 4 year period. In 1991 he moved to South East Asia where he worked for 7 years. The initial Asian posting was to Thailand, thereafter Indonesia and lastly 2 years in Malaysia as Country Manager.
In 1998 Mr. Blach again returned to Europe to head up the Maersk Line/Logistics organisations in Poland. In 2002 he relocated to work for Maersk in Germany and a year later he took charge of the Maersk sales organisation in Central Europe. Immediately prior to his current position, Mr. Blach was on secondment to the head office to work within the streamLINE Strategy team.
Since the mid 90’ties Mr. Blach has supplemented his practical work experience with management courses at Insead, Columbia University and most recently at Harvard.
Born in Denmark, Mr. Blach is 47 years old and lives in Copenhagen with his wife Kristina and his two sons Kasper and Mathias.
Volkhard Bregulla
Global Managing Director - Corporate Accounts | HP GmbH
Volkhard Bregulla manages on a global base the business relationship with one of HP’s top global corporate customers within the discrete manufacturing industry vertical, a key industry segment of HP’s Enterprise Business Group. In this role, he leads a global as well as a regional and local account teams who develop and position industry specific and cross industry IT products and solutions to satisfy the business and technology requirements of the client. The customer solutions include and leverage the entire portfolio strength of HP’s hardware, software, services as well as a select set of strategic partners.
Since joining HP in 1985 from Siemens AG, Volkhard Bregulla has held a series of executive management positions in regional as well as global business units including multiple lines of business in the Consulting and Systems Integration organization of HP , responsibility for the telecommunication industry vertical and global services and technology R&D. Mr. Bregulla has extensive background in general management of international businesses and finance and has served in the Board of several of HP’s equity investments and as Chairman of the Board of an HP subsidiary.
Mr. Bregulla has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from and a business master’s degree in finance and quantitative methods from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. In his spare time, he enjoys family life with his wife and three children; his passions include motor biking and skiing.
Dennis Chapman
President/CEO | The Chapman Group
Dennis J. Chapman is founder and President of The Chapman Group, a sales consulting firm that specializes in creating world class sales organizations through the implementation of sales and account management processes, methodologies, best practices and metric–based software tools.
Dennis brings over 20 years of executive level experience in sales, marketing, and business management to his clients in helping them achieve their goals. He is a dynamic, enthusiastic speaker whose ideas and vision consistently inspire and motivate his audiences. Clients of The Chapman Group include many Fortune 500 companies as well as a diverse portfolio of mid-tier accounts.
The Chapman Group works closely with their clients in the areas of sales, sales process improvement, sales effectiveness, strategic account management, sales coaching, training, tools, strategy, and compensation, and is widely known for their Strategic Account Management program, SMARTS™, which builds and utilizes cross-functional teams to manage major strategic accounts. Dennis developed the SMARTS™ methodology through his many years of designing sales methodologies, processes and tools that produced significant, sustainable results for his clients, time and time again. The Chapman Group has been engaged by companies such as Dell Computer, Hercules Chemical, GE Water Technologies, GE-ITS Healthcare, Express Scripts, Specialty Minerals Chemicals, and many others. Before establishing The Chapman Group in 1988 Dennis’ career included sales and management positions with Xerox, ROLM/IBM, and as Vice President of Sales and Marketing in the high-tech reseller industry. Dennis has written on the topic of strategic account management for many years, with a recent article published in CRM Magazine, and speaks nationally to more than 50 sales teams a year. Dennis is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Business. More about Dennis and The Chapman Group.
Joe Coffey
Chief Commercial Officer | Gallus BioPharmaceuticals
Joe Coffey serves as Chief Commercial Officer for Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, responsible for sales, marketing, and overall client experience of a world-class biologic contract manufacturing site with over 26 years of exemplary regulatory and quality success within a flexible, entrepreneurial culture.
Mr. Coffey is accountable for driving sales and margin, through a global key account management team, developing and enhancing the Gallus brand by communicating the Gallus value proposition to all appropriate constituencies, continued development of key client executive relationships, and setting the commercial agenda and driving results in a B2B business model.
Joe is a proven commercial executive with a consistent record of exceeding goals and objectives, while driving organizational change. His experience includes business unit start-up, team reorganization, large team management, sales & margin achievement, strategic planning, executive-level business development, launching a major U.S. product line, worldwide product development, as well as development and deployment of a global sales force effectiveness strategy, with Asia-specific market experience.
Prior to his role at Gallus, Joe spent the prior 4 ½ years at Baxter Healthcare (BAX), where he led and developed a global executive-level sales team, stabilizing the business and subsequently delivering 4 consecutive years of record sales and pretax achievement. Prior to BAX, Joe spent 19 years at Abbott, Inc. (ABT), with increasing roles and responsibilities for sales, marketing, commercial operations and sales force effectiveness.
Always passionate about the “art and science” of strategic sales, Joe was elected to the Board of Directors for the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) in May 2011.
Joe received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dominique Cote
Senior Director, Operational Business Strategy
Europe, Africa , Middle East | Zoetis
Dominique Coté has been at Pfizer Pharmaceutical Emerging Markets Europe since April 2010. She is based in Brussels, Belgium and working with 36 European emerging markets where she leads activities to optimize profitability and effectiveness of Field force. She has a key role in enabling new business models like the retail business, implementing the SFA strategy and looking at resources allocation & deployment and targeting capabilities.She is also the lead for the Global EMBU regarding commercial training / L&D and KAM capabilities and spearheading these strategies for the 70 emerging markets. She comes from Canada where she has worked in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years, and joined Pfizer through the Pharmacia acquisition. She has a scientific and research background in genetic and molecular biology.
Dominique has held positions of increasing responsibilities in sales, marketing, medical education, and learning and development. She has acquired solid management background and competencies in Key Account Management ,new business model and leadership development. Dominique has an expertise in specialty oncology pharmaceutical business and marketing; an extensive background in learning & development and line management; and Global /varied markets experience and diversified culture knowledge. She comes from an innovative and successful affiliate operating in a large and complex market. Dominique sat on the Canadian Board for Pharmaceutical Education before leaving Canada and is on the Pfizer global council for learning and development as well as Pfizer KAM strategic group.
Barbara Desmond
Global Practice Leader | Cushman & Wakefield
With more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, Barbara Desmond has acquired a vast array of real estate skills in her role with Cushman & Wakefield. As Global Practice Leader, Account Management, Ms. Desmond supports Client Solutions Account Teams in delivering best-in-class services to clients. She assists the Account Teams with establishing a robust service and technology platform to collaboratively develop and implement innovative portfolio strategies that support the business and financial plans of client organizations—adding real, quantifiable value to real estate portfolios.
Ms. Desmond helps clients, through the Client Solutions platform, reposition real estate as a valuable asset within the corporation, one that enhances business strategies, reduces costs, increases operational efficiencies and aligns the real estate portfolio with overall corporate objectives. She counsels our teams on the selection and use of technology, process development and improvement, as well as the adoption of global Best Practices. She has a proven methodology of assessing client's existing practices and developing customized improvements for the implementation of transaction management, portfolio planning, benchmarking, risk assessment, policy and guideline governance.
Ms. Desmond has directed all phases of managing corporate clients in their outsourcing initiatives and strategic management of their portfolios through well-crafted roadmaps. She has represented PricewaterhouseCoopers, Investors Group, ING Insurance Canada, EDS, Ericsson, CMHC, FedEx, WPP (holding company for Ogilvy & Mather, Hill & Knowlton, Young & Rubicam, J. Walter Thompson) and TELUS Corporation.
In addition to her planning and account management skills, Ms. Desmond has extensive development and planning expertise, having managed many large-scale consolidations, including the operational and corporate objective alignment of developing several headquarter buildings in Canada for Hewlett Packard, Federal Express, Bell Sygma, ING Canada, and TELUS representing more than 1.5 million sf of new development.
Jim Ford
Vice President of Strategic Accounts | Nalco
Jim Ford has been with Nalco Company for 18 years. He started his career in field Sales, and has progressed into various roles in Sales and Sales Management, as well as Marketing, & Research Management throughout the organization. He has worked abroad in expatriate assignments in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, managing operating groups in Europe.
He is currently the Vice President of Strategic Accounts within the Light Industries of the Water & Process Services Division. Aside from managing the global team of Key Account Managers, Jim is a certified instructor for Think Inc.'s Strategic Negotiation Course, and has been implementing the course within Nalco for the past 18 months.
In addition to his duties at Nalco, Jim serves as a Director on the Board of the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA), where he has served for two years.
Jim is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, where he received a B.S. in Engineering in 1989. He served in the Army as an Airborne Ranger in the Infantry before joining Nalco.
He is based out of the company's headquarters in Naperville, IL, a western suburb of Chicago.
Stephanie Fuller 
Director of Global Business Development | Office Depot BSD
Stephanie Fuller is passionate about learning, teaching, building relationships and everything that is international! She manages to combine all her passions into her career as Director of Global Business Development at Office Depot -Business Solutions Division (Fortune #179, $15.5B/sales, 42,000 employees), where Stephanie is a connector aligning opportunities with people, resources and solutions in 48 countries, resulting in increased sales and deepening of strategic business relationships. She leads the Global Account Coalition (GAC) Team and is accountable for developing new profitable business and growing existing business by leveraging global relationships through Office Depot's vast network of 4,000+ account managers and support teams. Stephanie's experience in the international arena started from growing up in the Dominican Republic, studying International Business at the JFK Institute in the Netherlands and visiting and working in 80+ countries covering all seven continents (including Antarctica).
In addition to being a member of SAMA's Board of Directors since 1999, Stephanie also sits on the Board of the Canadian Aborginal & Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) and Athena International. Stephanie is also a speaker at the Globe Summit for Women Conferences and is recently involved in EAWC, the European American Women's Council. Stephanie gains immense international cultural and business know-how through her leadership and involvement in all these organizations. All of which enhances her ability to understand, communicate with and lead multi-cultural teams.
In her spare time, Stephanie volunteers with Robbins Research International (Anthony Robbins), Solheim Cup (Women's Golf), British School of Chicago and the International Vistors Center of Chicago and is the Chicago facilitator of LoBella. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from Indiana University Kelly School of Business, resides in Chicago, IL and can be reached at stephanie.fuller@officedepot.com or via phone at +1.312.608.2864.
John Gardner 
Senior VP - Global Strategic Accounts | Emerson Process Management
John is the Senior Vice President within EMERSON Process Management. He currently leads the Global Strategic Accounts Program, and was appointed to this position in December 2008. John has led the transformation of the Accounts Program from Key Account Selling into its current structure of The Global Strategic Accounts Program across the EMERSON Management Process Group. He sets the strategic direction and implementation agenda for the Program. In over 30 years with EMERSON, John has held many senior leadership roles in multiple Divisions of EMERSON Process Management which have included roles in Sales; Marketing; Technology; Operations and General Management with postings in N Am and Asia. John has extensively traveled globally thru-out his career. John first joined EMERSON in April 1981, at the XOMOX Division in Cincinnati, OH, where he was the Founder and General Manager, XOMOX Special Products Group.
Prior to EMERSON, John worked with the US Department of Energy, Allegheny Power Corp. and WVU-Engr. Research. John is a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science Degree-[1975] and a Masters of Science Degree-[1976] in Mechanical Engineering.
John is a current member of ISA; ASME; ISPE and SAMA. He acts as the executive Sponsor for multiple Strategic Accounts on behalf of EMERSON. John has joined the Board of Directors of SAMA- Strategic Account Management Association in April 2011. He has authored / co-authored over 40 published reports and articles. He was Host and Sponsor of two Symposiums on Valve Technology for Coal Conversion Processes (Gasification & Liquefaction); past Executive Sponsor and Board Member of the Emerson Global Users Exchange (1998-2004); and a Member of the Distinguished Alumni Academy of the College of engineering, West Virginia University.
Rosemary Heneghan 
Director, International Sales & Operations, Worldwide | IBM
Rosemary joined IBM Canada in 1976 and held several sales, financial and management positions over the next 20 years, with a primary focus on the Public Sector.
In 1995, as part of IBM’s new worldwide Industry organization, she was appointed General Manager for the Education and Technical Computing marketplace in Canada. In 1997, she moved to Atlanta to become the Worldwide Solution Executive for the Education Industry. In this role, she was responsible for setting IBM’s short-term and long-term segment and solution strategy for the Education Industry and ensuring the solutions IBM brought to market met the current and future needs of the worldwide K-12 and Higher Education marketplace.
In September 1998, Rosemary moved back to Canada and took on responsibility for International Sales and Operations for the Americas. In May 2000, she expanded this role to take on worldwide responsibility for International Sales and Operations. In this position, she is responsible for leading a global team who work with IBM’s worldwide sales organizations and the major multinational customers around the world, helping them successfully rollout projects, generating over $8B in revenue. She is also responsible for ensuring consistent execution of IBM’s Global Coverage Transformation Strategy, our three-tiered worldwide sales coverage model.
Rosemary is on the Board of Governors of York University, the second largest University in Ontario and the third largest in Canada. She also represents IBM on the Global Forum, a working group made up of senior representatives of major global corporations (ABB, ING, Xerox, Nokia, D&B etc.) who are focused on improving Global Customer Management. She is a past Board member of the York Technology Association in Toronto and The Learning Partnership and a past Technology Advisory Committee member of the Western Governor’s University in Colorado.
Rosemary has a B.A. from Ryerson University and a M.B.A. from York University which she completed on a part-time basis in 1986. In 1994 she completed the IBM Harvard Client Executive program.
Past SAMA Chairperson of the Board, 2006 - 2008
Cameron Hyde 
SVP, Global Account Operations | Xerox
Cameron Hyde is senior vice president of Xerox Global Accounts Operations, named to this position in January 2009. Hyde is responsible for this organization, a division of Xerox Global Services. GAO provides enhanced worldwide focus and support to Xerox’s premiere global accounts. Hyde also serves as a corporate vice president.
Hyde joined Xerox in 1975 as a sales representative in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since then he has held a wide variety of sales, general management and marketing positions in Canada and the United States.
Hyde was president of North American Partners Group, including agent, reseller and dealer channels from 2007 through 2008. From 2003 until 2007 Hyde was senior vice president and general manger, Xerox North American Agent Operations and the North American Dealer Channel. He was president and CEO of Xerox Canada Ltd. from 2000 to 2003.
Prior to 2003 Hyde held positions including vice president, Xerox Business Services; vice president and general manager of both Xerox British Columbia and Greater Toronto Area customer business units in Canada; and vice president, global accounts, Industrial Business Operations in New York.
Hyde earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1973 and 1975. He has an executive MBA from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Hyde is a current board member of the Strategic Accounts Management Association, the Rochester Business Alliance, the Business Council of New York State and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. He is the past chair of the National Quality Institute of Canada (2002-2007). He is the Xerox Champion for the National Black Employee Association.
Chris Jensen
Engineering & Manufacturing, Sr. Vice President & Americas Industry Head | DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation
Chris Jensen has been with DHL/DHL Danzas since 1976 in various operations and sales management roles. Chris quickly moved up the sales ladder as a Director of Corporate Customers for Baxter and Caterpillar before AEI became a part of Danzas. He then helped pioneer the Multinational Customer business unit as Senior Director of Multinational Customers for the Precision Manufacturing Sector. In 2003, he again helped in the creation of GCS (Global Customer Solutions) leading the Engineering & Manufacturing group.
Chris is currently the Sr. Vice President & Americas Industry Head for Engineering & Manufacturing, managing 22 customers which include Caterpillar, John Deere, 3M, Boeing, Halliburton, Emerson, and General Electric .
Denise Lodrige-Kover 
Vice President- Global Strategic Account Management | Hilton Worldwide
Denise Lodrige-Kover designed and developed the Hilton Worldwide Strategic Account Management (SAM) program, and oversees its operation today. She and her team are responsible for developing long term business-to-business relationships throughout a SAM account’s enterprise, creating executive engagement, delivering enterprise-wide solutions to meet customers’ business objectives, and achieving the highest customer loyalty to Hilton Worldwide across all market segments. The SAM team serves as the guardian of the global strategic relationship and identifies opportunities between companies on many business levels to make and save money for both organizations. In 2010, Denise was given responsibility for integrating Hilton’s SAM Program on a global basis. Managed assets under Denise’s leadership exceed one billion USD.
Prior to deploying 100% effort against SAM, Denise also oversaw the Business Travel Sales organization in The Americas. She has also served as Vice President, National Sales, overseeing the entire National Sales operation, including business travel, group, and leisure. Thirty years with Hilton, she has served in numerous roles, managing three (3) of Hilton’s key national sales offices and holding several Director of Sales & Marketing positions at Hilton hotels.
Denise serves on the Board of Directors for Strategic Account Management Association and throughout her career has served on numerous boards, councils, and committees for key industry associations.
Jean-Philippe Machon
Executive Vice President, Distributors & Installers Market Sector | NEXANS
Jean-Philippe Machon started his career in 1978 with Nortel Canada as Product Line Manager. Then he held different positions in financial control before becoming Financial Controller of the Nortel Telecom Cable division. He joined the Thomson Group in 1985 as Chief Financial officer of the Thomson S.A metallurgy branch which became Alcatel Copper. He was appointed in 1989 Managing Director of Euromold NV located in Belgium and became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel Interface SA. Subsequently he was responsible for the Energy and Telecoms Accessories Business Group.
In 2000, after the spinoff of Alcatel Cable activities and the creation of Nexans, he was appointed Country Product Line Manager of Industrial Applications cables for Nexans France. He moved to the head of the Group Marketing Department in 2004 and became in 2007 Sales & Marketing Vice President for Europe. Since June 2011, he has been appointed as Executive Vice President Europe for Distributors & Installers. He is a member of the Nexans Group Executive Committee. Holding the French and Canadian citizenship, Jean-Philippe Machon graduated as mechanical engineer from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon.
He has a MBA degree in finance from the Lyon Management Business School and a MBA in international Marketing from HEC Montréal
Bernard Quancard 
President & CEO | SAMA
Bernard started his career in 1969 with The Boston Consulting Group in the Boston and Paris offices. He joined Telemecanique (Schneider Electric Group) in 1975 as Vice President, Corporate Strategy and became VP/General Manager of the Switch Gear division in 1978 and of the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) division in 1988. In 1994, he joined the management board of AEG Schneider Automation (Schneider Electric Group) as Executive VP, Worldwide Sales and Marketing.
Bernard moved to Chicago in 1997 for Square D/Schneider Electric as Senior VP/General Manager of Schneider Global Business Development (SGBD), the entity managing global strategic accounts (GSAs) for Schneider Electric worldwide. That year, SGBD was managing 24 GSAs, driving $180 million of consolidated sales. By 2001, the entity was managing 74 GSAs with over a billion dollars of consolidated sales. The compounded growth of Schneider Electric sales at GSAs was twice the average growth rate of the total company. Strategic Account Management at Schneider Electric was recognized by the organization and its competitors as a major competitive advantage. "Bernard's wealth of knowledge, experience and engaging style will be a true asset to SAMA and under his leadership we look forward to a bright future," states Rosemary Heneghan, Chairperson of the Board.
Retired from Schneider Electric since March 2005, Bernard is a permanent Chicago resident and also a native of France. Bernard holds a BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Paris and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Hajo Rapp 
SVP Key Account Management and Vertical Markets| Siemens
Born February 19, 1962 in Germany, Dr. Hajo Rapp graduated in business sciences from the Hohenheim University in Stuttgart, Germany, after which he obtained a doctoral degree in business ethics from the University of Vienna in Austria.
Dr. Rapp started his career in management consultancy in 1994 where he worked for three years for Management Partner GmbH in Stuttgart. Then he moved on to Siemens Nixdorf to become a sales representative for IT Services, where he gained initial experiences in Key Account Management as a member of the global key account team.
In 1998 Dr. Rapp took over his first leadership position in a Key Account team to drive business concentrating on European activities. From 2002 to 2007 Hajo managed one of Siemens' largest global customers covering the company portfolio in Industry, Energy, Healthcare as well as IT and Communications technologies.
In June 2007 he took up an appointment as Senior Vice President and Head of "Account Management & Market Development" within Corporate Development at Siemens in Munich, Germany. Today he leads a team of specialists driving the global Key Account Management approach within Siemens. Besides his engagement at SAMA, Dr. Rapp is regularly invited to speak at different universities all over the globe.
Hajo lives in Munich with his wife and two children. He is passionate about soccer, jogging, skiing, biking and squash; he is an avid reader and takes a keen interest in languages and cultures.
Michael Stevens 
Senior Partner | PMI
Michael Stevens joined Performance Methods, Inc. as a Senior Partner in early 2007, bringing more than three decades of Fortune 100 high-technology sales, marketing, business management, international and P&L experience. Michael spent a total of 35 years with 3M in the globally competitive area of data storage with increasing responsibility management positions both in the US and Japan. From 1996-1999 he was with a 3M spin-off company, Imation Corp., where he was General Manager for Optical Storage, and then General Manager for Enterprise Storage.
He rejoined 3M in 1999 in Austin, Texas, where he spent 8 years in the electronics industry. In this capacity, he held executive business management, business development and global strategic account management positions, dealing primarily with both strategy development and sales execution of leading technologies in the electronic components area.
Michael's last responsibilities at 3M were to structure and initiate a customer-centric approach to 3M Electronics' largest global customers – a new go-to-market (customer-focused) strategy for the company. This new initiative was acknowledged within 3M and also outside the company as a "best practice" for launching a Global Strategic Account Management (SAM) program.
He has spoken on many occasions to audiences on this KAM/SAM subject, including the University of Texas Graduate School of Business, Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) annual meetings and the 2006 Pan-European Conference. Recognizing his passion, experience and willingness to share and contribute best practice knowledge of strategic account management, Michael was elected to the Board of Directors of SAMA in 2006, where he continues today to help guide and influence this topical subject of strategic customer focus and effective customer engagement of value.
Michael grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgia State University in Atlanta. holding degrees in management and marketing. His graduate work was done at Georgia State University and also the Executive Advanced Management Program at Stanford.
Michael and his wife, Cindy, reside in Leesburg, Virginia with their many rescued senior Golden Retrievers.
Dr. Kaj Storbacka 
Founder and chairman | Vectia Ltd.
Dr. Storbacka is one of the global forerunners in the field of developing customer oriented business models. He has thirty years of experience as a strategy consultant to major European and global companies – in finance, media, travel, retail, utility, manufacturing and telecommunications. Dr. Storbacka is a frequent speaker at internal seminars for major global corporations, at Executive MBA programs and leading management development institutions in Europe, Asia and the US.
He has previously held professor chairs at Hanken School of Economics in Finland and at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands. In 1994, he founded Vectia Ltd., a management consultancy focusing on customer oriented strategy, solution business development and customer experience management. He is now on the board of Talent Vectia Ltd., the largest consulting firm in Finland and, since 2004, on the board of the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA).
Dr. Storbacka has published over sixty books and academic articles. His books Designing Markets: Are you Market Driven or Market Driving (with Dr. Suvi Nenonen), and Customer Relationship Management – Creating Competitive Advantage through Win-Win Relationship Strategies (with Dr. Jarmo R. Lehtinen) have been awarded as the best business books in Finland in 2010 and 1997. His academic research has been published in journals such as Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, and Market Theory.
Phil Styrlund 
CEO | The Summit Group
As CEO of The Summit Group, Phil is a recognized thought leader on Business Value Transformation as part of the go-to-market strategies of some of the world's premiere organizations including Cisco Systems, HP, Siemens, Marriott, Xerox, Lockheed, Tetra Pak, P&G, SC Johnson, Kellogg's, and the U.S. Federal Government. In addition to his keynote presentations and engaging programs, Phil serves as coach, mentor, consultant, and advisor to top leaders across a range of industries.
Phil has written for, or has been cited in, articles in leading publications that include: The Wall Street Journal, The National Account Management Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Inc., Fast Company, as well as in several best-selling books including Adversity Quotient and The Power of Purpose.
His career includes key leadership positions with US West and ADC Telecommunications in Minneapolis. Phil teaches in various University and Executive Education programs with a Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Telecommunications Science.
Phil resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
John Summers 
VP & GM, Life Sciences | Johnson Controls, Inc.
John Summers is the executive owner of the Global Workplace Solutions Life Sciences organization. He is responsible globally for the strategy and operational management of the business unit operating in 23 countries and consisting of 3,500 employees.
John has over 18 years of experience in the real estate, facilities and energy markets having held advancing leadership responsibilities with the Entergy and Siemens organizations before joining Johnson Controls in 1999.
John has a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and has completed executive programs at Northwestern, NYU and the University of Michigan. John is currently on the Board of Directors for SAMA , SOAR and WCCA and former Board of Governor for NAREIT in addition to being an active member of CoreNet and ISPE.
Gary Summy 
Director of Sales Development | Trane Commercial Systems
Gary has spent his life in selling, managing, and developing sales professionals. He began his career as a sales professional with Reliance Electric Company (now Rockwell Automation). His success in both sales and customer presentations led him to become Manager of Sales Training and Recruiting for all divisions of Reliance in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
After nearly 15 years with Reliance, Gary accepted a position outside of the industrial world as an internal consultant for a major regional bank in Cleveland. The scope of this assignment took him throughout the bank, its affiliates, and its customers, delivering consulting services on all aspects of sales development. Sales frequently increased as much as 50% following Gary’s interventions.
In 1989, Gary returned to line sales management and the more classical industrial manufacturing and distribution markets of his earlier years. A series of successful sales and sales management positions with Matco Tools, Meier Transmission, and Pioneer Standard Electronics have provided Gary with a vast array of experience in Sales Growth and Sales Force Development. Some of the key areas of focus and success during this time included developing recruiting processes, territory development, incentive programs, and the design and implementation of a Strategic Business Partner Program.
Gary used this wealth of experience to create in his own company, Outside the Cube. The company, dedicated to non-traditional thinking, sales growth, sales force development, and establishing Strategic Business Partners throughout the Supply Chain, delivered innovative thinking and direction to customer driven organizations. As a result of consulting work done for Motorola University, Gary became Director: Performance Development - Sales and Marketing, responsible for identification and delivery of learning solutions to all Motorola sales people worldwide. As a hands-on practitioner, Gary consults and engages regularly with Key Account Teams on areas of strategic planning and tactical execution of those plans. Considered a Thought Leader both inside and outside of Motorola, Gary was selected as the Sales Trainer of the Year by Sales and Marketing Management Magazine for 2001-2002 and was a finalist for the American Business STEVIE Award as Sales Manager of the year, 2004.
Gary and his wife, Laurie, live in Mentor, Ohio with their two children, Kyle Stephanie and Gregory Ryan. The whole family is active in school, church, sports, and civic affairs in the community.
Allen Tuthill 
SVP, Strategic Sales & Bus. Dev. | Assurant Solutions
Allen has been with Assurant for 20 years. During his tenure, he has held a variety of positions, progressing through the sales organization, sales management, as well as providing leadership and oversight for several businesses within the organization. Currently, Allen serves as Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing. In this capacity, he has responsibility for the company’s Global Client Management strategy and process; strategic marketing and communications, sales development, training, rewards and recognition, and sales operations. Through these initiatives, Allen endeavors to improve enterprise sales execution and client coordination to collaborate with our clients in growing their business.
During a six-year hiatus from Assurant, Allen was engaged in the mortgage banking industry. The majority of this period was spent with EquiCredit Corporation, which became a subsidiary of Bank of America, via acquisition. At EquiCredit, he developed a mortgage banking and acquisition business, and eventually became Executive Vice President of that operation.
Allen also serves on the Assurant Solutions’ Strategic Leadership Team, Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Strategic Account Management Association; and is a Board member of the National Collegiate Sales Competition at Kennesaw State University.
Allen has been married to his wife, Kim, for 23 years; and has 2 children, Elizabeth-19 and Parker 15.
Carrie Welles 
Vice President, Global Customer Management | Think! Inc.
Carrie is a seasoned sales executive with a majority of her career centered on the Strategic/Global Account Management profession. Her role at Think! Inc. includes business development, workshop facilitation, and managing strategic customer relationships.
Carrie also manages her own consultancy focused on assisting organizations start, or jump-start, their Strategic Account Management program. Her experience includes VP, New Business Development with a privately held start-up company that provides eCare solutions for Fortune 500 companies through an offshore operational model in India.
Prior to that, Carrie held a 15-year career at Marriott focused on National, Global and Strategic Account Management. She contributed to the creation and implementation of Marriott’s first Strategic Account Management model and strategy, in addition to managing the global complex business relationship between Marriott and their largest accounts.
Carrie has been a member of Strategic Account Management Association since 1993 and has been on the Board of Directors since 1999. Carrie also serves on the Board of Directors for The Professional Society of Sales & Marketing Trainers, as well as the Northern Illinois University Sales Advisory Board. She is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the Aspen Institute / University of Maryland and holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado. Carrie resides in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
Geoff Williams 
VP Global Enterprise Customers | Schneider Electric-SGBD
Geoff Williams has been working for SGBD - Schneider Electric for almost 9 years and, most recently, as Director of Global Strategic Accounts for Microelectronics Customers.
Prior to this assignment, Geoff was a project leader based in Paris working on Schneider’s Change Management effort to move from a product-based company to a customer-oriented approach. Geoff has also participated for the last 2 years in the Columbia University Business School Global Account Initiative to identify and develop industry best practices for various Global account Management functions. Prior to working for Schneider Electric, Geoff co-founded Integrated Dynamics Engineering, Inc. in the Boston area to develop advanced control systems for the semiconductor industry.
Geoff spent 7 years at Analogic Corporation as International Sales Manager developing business and setting up operations and distribution in over 40 countries. A recent Velocity™ article titled the “Global Business Citizen” sums up his feelings about global business.
Geoff lives in Raleigh N.C. with his wife, 2 children, spending spare time cooking, Cub Scouts, soccer, basketball, daughter’s violin and other family activities.
Past SAMA Treasurer of the Board 2006 – 2007
Current SAMA Chairperson of the Board
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Featured Event
May 20 – 23, 2013 | 2013 SAMA Annual Conference
This year's theme – Bringing Mutual Measured Strategic Value – is directly tied to bringing growth and profitability to your customer and becoming a trusted advisor. To bring growth and profitability to your company, you must first bring them to your strategic customers. But the question of how to strategically impact your strategic customers' metrics with your value solutions still remains.
