Lacrosse University

Founder & CEO at Let's Talk Interactive, Inc.

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

Let's Talk Interactive, Inc.

Founder & CEO

SCOPE OF WORK: Alliance & Channel Partner Development/Cultivation  -  Revenue & Pipeline Development  -  Small Business Partnership Management

Management of Bank of America Merchant Services across all channels following successful leadership in managing small business partnerships and strategic initiatives.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
-  Oversaw all bank partnerships, cultivated relationships and delivered periodic presentations to keep partners up to date and satisfied with affiliation.
-  Tracked sales performance, identifying opportunities for improvement and recommending action plans.
-  As Strategy Manager, managed small business partnerships and developed strategies that integrated new products and services which generated additional revenue for that market.
-  Created and led implementation of Win-Back Offer; completing pilot with a 1% close rate – the most successful Win-Back Offer attempted by the organization.

Bank of America Merchant Services

Vice President, Small Business Partnership   -   Vice President, Strategy Management

SCOPE OF WORK: Surpassed Annual Goals & Accelerated New Sales Growth  -  Directed Launch of Contactless Reader Technology Model ─ Adopted by Starbucks

As the VP, Regional Sales Manager, I directed regional sales and marketing activities, encompassing 23 consumer markets (230+ banking centers). I accelerated new sales growth—consistently exceeding quotas—by developing new go-to-market strategies and value propositions to close new business in high-growth markets. I provided transparency in data analytics by implementing daily “stacked rankings” for account executives to track individual performance. I collaborated with enterprise teams of R&D, Product Development & Marketing to strategize new product offerings and delivered key insights on marketing trends and banking center alignments.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
-  Managed 18-member sales team, overseeing recruitment, training, mentoring and budget.
-  Developed sales/growth plan that included extensive coaching of account executives.
-  Catapulted region to achieved 138% of its goal, surpassing 100% (first time in history), reaching #1 ranking. Consequently, named to Platinum Club, the company’s highest honor.
-  Increased sales 43% YOY by creating sales playbook and teaching SPIN & Richardson Sales Techniques to sales organization.
-  Directed launch of Contactless Reader Technology Model that was adopted by Starbucks—directing sales, delivery and configuration while collaborating with IT team. Project was a successful 6-month pilot test of 15 site locations and 150 associates.
-  Piloted Clover Tablet POS System immediately following purchase by the organization. Led sales team to initially deploy 50 Clover stations for development review. Clover is now the #1 selling tablet-based POS system.

Vice President, Regional Sales Manager ⇉ Delivered $500M+ in Annual Volume

SCOPE OF WORK: $30M Signed Volume  -  Achieved 100% Of Goals Every Year  -  Platinum Award Winner  -  Managed Team of 8 Small Business Sales Specialists

I was recruited to manage relationships with 10 banking centers based on previous quantifiable success in sales performance. I continuously achieved 100% of my sales goals from year-to- year, executing a high transparency in the winning sales process.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
-  Took Central NJ territory from last-place ranking (among 237) to # 3 in only 18 months.
-  Won 4th Quarter 2007 and 4th Quarter 2008 Platinum Awards as #1 National Revenue Producer 2007 and #3 in 2008.
-  Executed 122% of sales goal (criteria: revenue, activation, approval), winning Platinum Club Award given to top 20 performers nationwide with a minimum of 110% of goal.
-  Recipient of Heavy Hitter Award in 2009 for reaching #1 in the nation among 493 AEs.
-  Maintained an average activation rate of 96% versus company average of 70%.
-  Exceeded personal goal of $30M signed volume, by winning such clients as As Seen on TV & NJ Transit System.

Account Executive  -  Team Lead  ⇉ Delivered $30M in Sales Revenue

SCOPE OF WORK: Achieved 200%+ of Quota  -  Recognition: "Salesmen of the Year" 2004 & 2005

Led digital phone service and peripheral products sales to new home communities. Developed relationships with sales agents and obtained exclusive builder agreements in 100+ subdivision communities; and coordinated project sales & logistics.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
-  Selected to launch a pilot program of digital phone service sales within the region; later rolled out across entire sales channel.
-  Received National Idea Award for pioneering sales flow process; later adopted as best practices company-wide.

PREVIOUS EXECUTIVE CAREER POSITIONS:
CEO, Let’s Talk Interactive  -  PRESIDENT, CEO Capital Currency  -  PRESIDENT, CEO Universal Paging

Arthur Cooksey