William C. Cobbs' Resume (Last updated January 16th 2009)

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William C. Cobbs
Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331 USA

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SUMMARY
Highly effective business leader with over twenty five years experience in the fortune 500 arena. Accomplished, results-driven professional with a proven track record of building dynamic sales and marketing organizations. In addition I also have extensive experience turning around struggling organizations during times of crisis and transition. Praised and acknowledged by Executives and board members for stabilizing operations, elevating morale, and effectively growing stagnant business operations. Acknowledged for inspiring the respect and trust of others through open and honest communication.


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WORK EXPERIENCE

SurfRay A/S
President and CEO

01/01/2008 - Present
Saddle Brook, NJ
Responsible for building a single integrated Search Software company from Mondosoft and Surfray. In 2008 created first positive P & L for the US based search business.

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Performance Dynamics
President

1/1/04 - Present
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Owner and founder of Performance Dynamics. The company provides executive coaching and development for employees that have been identified by their employer as high potential executive candidates. We work one on one with candidates to identify areas where additional development will facilitate early success in the executive role.

Over 25 years of expertise in leadership modeling and execution. Performance Dynamics is developing a history of working with senior executives to develop high performance leadership teams. In 2005 we worked with over 35 executives to help them improve and refine their leadership skills.
  • During 2005 23 of those executives were promoted to the VP level.
  • In 2006 in addition to working directly with over 40 executives we also supported Director level development for a major staff augmentation firm

We provide objective evaluation in leadership development and identification.

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IKON Office Solutions Inc.
Vice President/GM

3/1/02 - 12/31/03
New York, New York
Responsible for New York/New Jersey Marketplace. Effectively turned around a business that had been depressed by the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Operational responsibility for Sales, Service, Marketing and Administration. Responsible for managing three offices in New York and three offices in New Jersey. Managed ten direct reports with a total labor force of over 750 employees. The NewYork/New Jersey Marketplace represents approximate 8 percent of the total business opportunity for IKON Corp. In 2003 we achieved 15 % year over year revenue growth. We further reduced our SG &A expense by 3 points. In addition to my normal responsibilities I also served on the Corporate Diversity Council for 18 months.

Accomplishments:
Reduced sales turnover by 50%
Launched leadership development process
Increased profitability by 11% or 1.5 million dollars

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Xerox Professional Services
Vice President/GM

6/1/94 - 2/28/02
Washington DC
Operational experience in building businesses in the US, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. From 1994 until December of 2001 grew the operating unit from 6 people to over 300 on three continents. Responsible for branding our service offerings and developing a worldwide marketing strategy.
Sales revenues were grown from less than one million dollars in 1994 to over 125 million dollars in 2000.
  • Revenue growth of 700% in 1995
  • Revenue growth of 350% in 1996
  • Revenue growth of 200% in 1997
  • Revenue growth of 100% in 1998
  • Revenue growth of 25% in 1999
  • Revenue growth of 21% in 2000
Average gross Profit 31% annually adjusted for currency valuation.
Turnover averaged less than 12% annually
Responsible for the consulting and systems integration business for the US, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. Over a seven year period this business grew from a core group of 19 employees generating less than $1,000,000 to an organizational with worlwide responsibility and annual revenues in excess of $150,000,000 with three hundred employees.

  • Worked with the State of Michigan to develop electronic record retention standards for state agencies. The project established the methodology that departments would use in implementing document management and imaging technologies. The results thus far have been successful projects at the Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of Transportation, the Lottery Commission, the Department of Natural Resources, the Family Independence Agency, and Community Mental Health. The adoption of a common project methodology enabled the state to significantly control the cost of solution implementation.

  • Directed the implementation of the casino licensing system with the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Prior to the state authorizing casino based gaming for the city of Detroit there was no central state licensing authority. The project required that system design, development and deployment occur while the agency was under development. The system has successfully managed the licensing process for three temporary casinos in Detroit. The Detroit based casinos are currently generating in excess of a million dollars a day per casino.



  • Worked with a major building products manufacturer to develop a document management system to support a streamlined accounts payable process. The project reduced the turnaround time on accounts payable so that the client was able to capture negotiated discounts for prompt payment. Annual savings were determined to be greater than 2 million dollars. The client continues to seek XPS involvement in developing a document management strategy to support their implementation of SAP.

  • Developed and launched a document management product targeted at the legal market. The product was one of the first based on client/server architectures. The product was a result of inquiries received from several of the big three automotive manufacturers looking for opportunities to control sky rocketing legal costs.

  • Led the development and deployment of a Land Records Management and Cashiering system for the Suffolk County Clerks Office in New York State. When fully deployed the system is expected to significantly improve the operational efficiency of the Clerks Office.

  • Worked with a major retailer to develop a set of standards for Document Management, Workflow, and Imaging to support an Enterprise concept. Implemented a successful project in the client's International Import section, which will ultimately save the client millions of dollars by supporting the Integrated Supply Chain model. As a result of the success of the first project the client has identified seven other project areas that they would like to prioritize for deployment. The first area will be human resources to streamline the benefits administration process.

  • Directed a document reengineering effort with the State of New York department of Tax and Finance. As a result of the reengineering effort the single business tax form was streamlined and simplified. On time filing compliance rose from 64% to 93%.

  • Directed a document reengineering effort with the Internal Revenue service focused specifically on the childcare credit form and tax notices. As a result major improvements were implemented in the review and administration of these forms.


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Data General Corporation
Product Executive

4/1/93 - 5/31/94
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Developed market demand for Data General's RAID disk and tape subsystems. Achieved competitive installations in ITT Automotive, Federal Mogul, HCIA, and Eaton Corp. These accounts represented Data General's first success in tier 1 accounts. Achieve 148% of business objective.


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Epcom Corporation
Vice President Sales and Marketing

2/1/92 - 3/31/93
Troy, Michigan
Responsible for identifying and developing new markets for professional services and Imaging solutions. Segmented the marketing efforts by vertical markets and concentrated on enhancing and developing sales force skills in the designated markets. Developed and implemented first internal sales training program. Structured a sales compensation program that rewarded higher margin engagements based upon business results. Results of these initiatives were an overall increase in revenue of 20% and a 9% increase in the gross profit margin

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Sun Microsystems
District Manager

6/1/88 - 11/30/91
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Responsibilities included staffing both sales and service organizations to support the Ann Arbor sales office. The office consistently exceeded their sales plan every year. The entire sales team went to Presidents Club in 1989 and 1990.


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Xerox Corp
Region Sales Operations Manager

1/1/88 - 5/30/88
Chicago, Ill.
Worked with the Districts in the Central Region to achieve Region High Volume product plan. Developed marketing plans to drive high volume product placements.


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Xerox Corp.
Region Sales Operations Manager

1/1/87 - 12/31/87
Chicago, Ill.
Responsible for the achievement of the Regional plan through the development of market strategies. Supported the direct sales force while transitioning the product to alternate delivery channels. Assisted in the development of the dealership channels while the Region delivered its best performance ever. In 1987 the Region was number two in the country in memorywriter performance.


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Xerox Corp.
Region Sales Operations Manager

1/1/86 - 12/31/86
Chicago, Ill
Responsible for 6085 and personal computers. Achieved plan.


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Xerox Corp
Major Account Sales Manager

1/1/84 - 12/31/85
Cinn, Ohio
Responsible for a team of 12 Major Account executives. Met and exceeded sales objectives in all product areas. Achieved Presidents Club both of the years he was in the assignment and 9 of my 12 major account reps achieved Presidents Club both years in assignment.





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Xerox Corp
Major Account Mamnager

1/1/81 - 12/31/83
Detroit, Michigan
Managed Chrysler Corporation, Volkswagen of America, General Dynamics, and Campbell-Ewald. Increased Chrysler market share by 250% in first year delivering over 3 million dollars in incremental revenue. Finished 1982 # 1 in the Region and in the top 5 in the country in 1983. Performance consistently exceeded 200% of the annualized plan. Presidents Club achieved for 1982 and 1983.


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Xerox Corp
Marketing Associate

4/6/80 - 12/31/80
Detroit
Support Major Account sales

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SKILLS
Change Management
Business Growth
Leadership Modeling
Experience in turning around or eliminating under performing business operations
Experience in evaluation of acquisition targets
Sales Leadership/Rainmaker

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EDUCATION

University of Michigan
BA in Broadcast Journalism

9/73 - 5/76
Ann Arbor, Michigan

3.2 Grade Point Average

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United States Navy BOOST Program

09/01/1072 - 08/01/73

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Boy Scouts of America
Former Chairman of Board of Directors and President of 100 Black Men Of Greater Detroit
Former Board member of the University of Detroit


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AWARDS AND HONORS
14 Xerox Presidents Clubs
1 Xerox Chairman's Award
1 IKON Golden Circle Award

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