Sameer Dande

had taken a Sabbatical to manage terminally ill Parents, used this time to be a Consultant to a Group of Investors Interested in setting up a Greenfield Distribution business in India for Premium & Luxury Home and Office Furniture. Beyond & More Pvt. Limited brings to India leading furniture, lighting, flooring & acoustic panel brands from Europe & America in India. The company represents brands like, JMM, Bolzan, BAMAX, Acerbis, Fantoni Sovet, Tacchini & Arthur Holm, to name a few. The company has a display center at Mumbai and has plans to set up franchisee in other Cities. Consultant – Sales & Product Management (Option to join full time as Director of Sales at the end of 1 year with 10% sweat equity) • Responsible for overall sales operations for India along with selection of location, design and construction of display centers. • Recruitment and selection of Manpower, Training and development. • Managing relationships with Key Customers & Architects. • Managing relationship with European Partners, representing the brands at local & International exhibitions. • Preparing Sales & Marketing Plans made with Principle Manufacturers.

Greenlam Industries Limited in Asia’s largest Manufacturer of High Pressure Laminates. Greenlam also manufactures Decorative Laminates, Decorative Veneer, Real Wood Flooring & Tubular Particle Board Door Sets. Vice President, Sales – West India Markets Managed Sales & Distribution for the Laminates & Allied Products Vertical across 9 branches covering Western & Central India States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. • Designed Pricing, Trade Schemes, Distribution Management, Planning and executing BLT activities. • Planned SKU level Stock at 3 Warehouses of the Company at Pune, Indore & Bhiwandi. • Managed relationships with Architects, Interior Decorators & Contractors. • Managed Distributor Relationships & Secondary Sales. • Conducted Network Rationalization – Network of 75 distributors and 3600 retailers. • Managed on the Job Training & Development of Sales Team with Saturday Present Back sessions. • Manage a Sale, Commercial & Warehouse manpower of 106 persons and Turnover of 180 Cr. across all customer segments like Direct projects, Trade & OEM’s. Key Achievements • Achieved 15 average YoY growths from FY13-16. • Initiated key accounts management program & set up a Specifications & Projects team. This was replicated at all locations pan India. • Reduced Days of Sales Outstanding from 45 days to 31 days. • Helped Design & Managed implementation of one of the most high growth Sales Promotion schemes during Greenlam’s NSC Debut in FY14. A 80 days sales drive resulted in a 90% sales top line growth in line with expectations of the company Management leading to the NSC Debut.

Steelcase is the world’s largest Modular Office furniture manufacturer with annual turnover in excess of 3 billion US. Its India Operations are one of the most successful and consistently preformed operations in Asia Pacific. Associate Director, Sales • Managed B2B Sales of Premium Office Furniture Portfolio of Steelcase Inc.& Steelcase Asia Pacific in the West India Markets. Had to deliver a committed top line and margin for West India. • Set up Regional operations at Pune and Ahmedabad, in addition to existing Mumbai operations. • Recruited core team including regional managers and managed their training & development. • Developed Account Strategies for Growing business from existing accounts and acquired several Indian Companies & MNC’s as new accounts. • Managed Large Office Furniture Projects. • Analyze competition offering and provide key insights to Asia Pacific Marketing for Product Management. Key Achievements • Grew business from a mere USD 0.7 Million to USD 8.5 Million in 3 years with added operations at Pune & Ahmedabad. • Acknowledged for winning single largest order for a ultra-premium Product outside US from Jindal Steel, worth USD 1.8 Million. • Won prestigious contracts from Indian Companies who had never used imported office furniture like HDFC Limited, IDFC Bank, JSW Group, Kalpataru Group, SBI to name a few. Besides acquired several competition Key Accounts like Deutsche Bank, Citibank & Star TV.

Featherlite is a leading Indian Office & Retail Furniture Manufacturer & Importer with annual turnover in excess of 200 Cr. cross Office Furniture, Retail Fixtures, Home Furniture. Vice President, Sales – West & North India Markets • Managed B2B Sales & Retails Sales of Office Furniture & Retail Fixture Portfolio of Featherlite in the West & North India Markets. Had to deliver a committed top line and margin. • Set up Franchisee run showrooms and sales operations at Delhi, Jaipur, Pune, in addition to existing operations at Mumbai. • Recruited franchisee team including sales managers and managed their training & development. • Augmented Featherlite’s own sales team as the company was largely owner driven till my joining. • Developed Account Strategies for Growing business from existing accounts and acquired several Indian Companies & MNC’s as new accounts. • Managed Large Office Furniture Projects. • Managed upkeep of Showrooms at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune & Mumbai. • Analyze competition offering and provide key insights in product development to the Managing Director and Production Directors. • Was a part of the Key Leadership team set up to run the company in its attempt to transform from an owner driven to a professionally run organization. Key Achievements • Grew business from a mere INR.5 Cr to 25 Cr over 3 years by acquiring several IT & Manufacturing company contracts. • Helped develop new 50mm sliding Panel based System and Desking System, both helped the company win significant contracts. • Won prestigious contracts from Sintel India for 5 Cr in FY 10 and Passport Seva Kendra for 3.5 Cr in FY 09.

Reliance Retail intending to set up a separate business to trade in all equipments required to set up and office. I was heading the office furniture business. Prepared a detailed business plan to set up stores trading in office furniture. Identified principle suppliers (national & International) across 3 price ranges, reliance retail was to be a national level distributor to these companies for manufacturing of office furniture. Worked on designs required for future launch of Private Label Products. Did set a trading business to test dealerships and business model. Managed Corporate Direct. Sales of Rs5.5 Cr within 4 months.

1)Heading the National Accounts SBU. 2)Identifying and appointing distributors for Export Markets. 3)Nurturing and improving relationship with National Accounts and increasing revenues. 4)Identifying and developing new National Accounts. 5)Developing new products and services for National accounts.

Joined as Assistant Manager Sales, was promoted twice in 4 years to become Regional Manager Sales (Western Region) in 2002. Significant Accomplishments at RPG Successfully implemented LT Cables Outsourcing strategy for RPG Cables ad achieved Rs.10cr. sales volume in the first year. Developed several “Zero Working capital” schemes for sales of products to Channel Network in 2003-04.