Mark Blessington

Picture
Mark is a highly experienced sales and marketing consultant with a proven track record. He has served many of the world's largest corporations, including:
  • Healthcare: Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Baxter, Amgen, Takeda, Quest Diagnostics, Sanofi, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hollister
  • Financial Services: Wells Fargo, American Express, PNC, US Bank, Allstate, Nationwide, Freddie Mac, AIG, Prudential, Aon, Mutual of Omaha, BlueCross BlueShield
  • Other: GE, AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, R. R. Donnelley & Sons, Elsevier, Avaya, EMC, Knoll, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Kellog's, Stanley Black & Decker, Avis Budget Group, Tenneco, Schreiber Foods
Prior to founding Mark Blessington Consulting, Mark was a consultant at Sibson Consulting. He was a board member and sales effectiveness practice leader for most of his 17-year tenure there. Some notable accomplishments include: 
  • Book: Sales Reengineering From the Outside In, Engaging Customers with a New Approach to Sales, Marketing, and Service. Coauthored with Bill O’Connell. McGraw Hill, 1995
  • Published over 20 articles on sales force effectiveness, and featured on the cover of two trade magazines
  • Often quoted in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and frequent speaker at numerous national podiums
Prior to joining Sibson, Mark was at The MAC Group (now Capgemini), Rust-Oleum, Advertising Posters, and CCC Information Services.

Education
  • Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, MBA in Marketing
  • Northwestern University, Kellogg PhD program in Organization Behavior
  • University of Maryland, BS in Psychology
  • Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Undergraduate Psychology major
Link
To find out more about Mark and the additional services he offers, go to: www.markblessington.com

Karl Hellman

Picture
Karl Hellman is a new breed of consultant who combines fascinating real life marketing stories with timeless, ageless, principles of marketing. Karl engages his audience with a soft charm and wit. Before listeners know it, they have identified the 3 most important things they need to focus on to improve their skills and performance.  Karl has consulted with international "best-in-class" companies such as: 
  • Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble
  • JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Wachovia, CapitalOne, SunTrust, PNC
  • AT&T, Sprint, Telefonica, CenturyLink, HCL
  • Duke Energy, Georgia Power, ADP
He has been a "consultant's consultant" to leading academic such as Phillip Kotler, Lou Stern, Bob Calder, Frank Lynn, and others.

Karl is the founder and president of Resultrek, an international marketing consulting firm. Some notable accomplishments include:
  • Books: Death of a Salesforce (with Dr. Wesley Johnston, forthcoming in 2013); The Customer Learning Curve (with Ardis Burst, The American Marketing Association and Cengage Publishing, 2004)
  • Articles:  Strategy Driven Promotions (Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing); Linking Customer Satisfaction to Profitability (Marketing Management);Integrating Marketing and Sales (series of 4 editorials, American Marketing Association—Marketing Matters); Product Management (series of 4 articles, Association of Product Managers and Marketers)
Prior to founding Resultrek, Karl was a principal at the MAC Group (now Capgemini), where he specialized in strategy and marketing consulting.
Education:
  • Georgia State University, PhD from J. Mack School of Business, dissertation on key account management
  • Northwestern University, MS in Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences
  • Beloit College , BA in Economics (Phi Beta Kappa)
Link
To find out more about Karl and the services he offers, go to: www.resultrek.com

Kevin O'Connell

Picture
Kevin O’Connell is a sales compensation and effectiveness expert with more than two decades of experience helping organizations to improve business performance. He counsels clients on aligning business strategy, sales and marketing effectiveness, and human capital programs to realize their profitable growth goals. He helps business leaders and sales management eliminate barriers to growth, in areas such as:
  • Approach to market and sales strategy (e.g., segmentation and sales approach)
  • Organizational effectiveness and design (e.g., structure and roles)
  • Management processes (e.g., compensation design, goal setting, and performance management.)
He has consulted for major organizations in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, financial services, technology, and business services sectors.

Prior to founding Accelerate Consulting Group, Mr. O’Connell worked at Sibson & Company, a leading human capital consulting firm, for 15 years as a senior leader in the firm’s sales effectiveness practice. Mr. O’Connell also held several human resource positions at RCA, designing and implementing HR programs for sales managers, field sales, and other customer-facing positions.

Mr. O’Connell has conducted lectures and seminars on sales effectiveness and sales compensation for the American Management Association, Synygy Annual Conference, and other industry conferences. He has also written articles for multiple business publications.

Education:
  • Pace University, MBA (with honors)
  • King’s College, BS (with honors)
Link
To find out more about Kevin and the services he offers, go to: www.accelerateconsultinggroup.com