Bruce D. Blair2101 Valley Road

Oceanside, CA 92056714.932.2092, brucedblair2101@yahoo.com

Summary:

High-energy sales and service professional with distinct operating, strategic and analytic skills coupled with a proven record of directing sales, customer service and operations teams. Strong participative team leader with the ability to plan, organize and manage complex programs. Innovative sales and service programs focused on serving the customer to grow volume, revenue and margin. Excellent team builder, coach and trainer with exceptional customer service skills. Full profit-and-loss experience with the ability to develop and translate corporate strategies into departmental objectives.

Abilities & Experience:

Managed large internal and external sales and service call centers; phone, chat, email and mail Led multiple on and off-shore call center BPO project teams – sales, customer service and retention Developed innovative “Surprise and Delight” customer service strategies to drive customer behavior Partnered with high profile profit and non-profit organizations developing creative affinity programs Executed data driven pricing strategies to continuously grow sales, revenue and margin Developed intervention strategies to manage customer behavior at critical points; up sell/cross sell Excellent analytical skills including budgeting, trend analysis and forecasting

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER and FREEDOM NEWSPAPER GROUP - Santa Ana, CA 06/07 – 04/16

12/11 – 4/16 Vice President of Circulation Sales and ServiceResponsible for household penetration through the strategic growth and maintenance of the Register brand in Orange, Riverside and LA Counties. Directed sales, customer service and CRM teams including customer affinity and loyalty programs. Responsible for providing extraordinary customer service through all internal and external call centers. Utilized customer segmentation strategies to establish dynamic price points to grow sales and LTV. Developed call center intervention programs for “high scoring” and “at risk” customers to increase sales, retention and profitability.

Five years continuous growth in new/renewal revenue using price and customer segmentation strategies

Established customer service “Surprise & Delight” campaigns to increase the customer experience using rewards and premiums secured through affinity programs

Developed affinity programs with California Angles, So Cal Auto Club (AAA), Orange County Diocese and OC Department of Education resulting in across-the-board improvements in customer sales and retention

Integrated up-sell and cross-sell strategies throughout customer service building revenue and volume Grew revenue and customer retention through launch of the Register Rewards program providing +40K

readers with ongoing access to sporting events, entertainment venues and special product offerings. Led BPO initiative and relocated customer service in-bound call center operations to Nogales Mexico

reducing costs by 40% annually Introduced Music Program to Orange County schools generating $700K in revenue providing music

classrooms with $300K in new instruments and equipment.

06/07 – 12/11 Director of Circulation Sales

Responsible for the profitable acquisition of new customers using innovative sales and retention strategies. Utilized segmentation analysis to identify key demographic and geographic market segments desirable to advertisers. Managed multiple sales channels including in-bound/out-bound call centers, direct response, event marketing and partnership programs.

Grew Direct Response sales by 100% through consumer profiling and data mining

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Increased Sunday Home Delivery volumes by 7% over four years through affinity programs with Auto Club, OC Department of Education and other community organizations

Developed Laptop program to Orange County Diocese and FivePoint Communities (home builder) generating $620K in revenue which delivered 1,700 laptops to area schools

Replaced in-house Register TV Book with third-party TV Weekly reducing production expense by $800K while increasing revenue by $234K

Planned and launched innovative Sunday subscription program targeting the young families with children market segment. Grew Sunday circulation by 25K units in 4-months

Developed a high energy, in-house coupon program, attended by more than 9K community members. Program had a 50% close rate with an average sale of 2.5 subscriptions per account

24 HOUR FITNESS – Corporate Offices, Carlsbad, CA – Member Services Director 01/06 – 03/07

Responsible for member services and inbound and outbound call center activities, training/coaching, retention strategies, member correspondence (web/USPS) and financial services. Full P&L responsibility with $20M revenue. Managed multiple BPO strategies including on-shore and near-shore sites plus maintaining a core employee based quality, training and subject matter experts program. 24 Hour Fitness has total revenues in excess of $1B and 3M members.

THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE – San Diego, CA - Customer Relations/Sales Manager 09/92 – 12/05

Customer Relations/Sales Manager

Managed large customer service call center responsible for providing extraordinary customer service through the development of subscriber sales, service and retention programs. Management responsibilities included $1.9M annual budget, capacity planning, forecasting, scheduling and the ongoing training and development of management and staff. Department processed approximately 1M inbound calls and 2M transactions annually. Introduced "Press Pass" subscriber loyalty program. Press Pass gained national attention within the industry and was the subject of an NAA study.

GENERAL MONITORS – El Toro, CA – Customer Service Manager 04/87 – 08/92

General Monitors is a world leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of sophisticated electronic safety equipment. Responsibilities included product training for customer and agent networks, factory and field service repair, sales order and invoice processing. TRICO INDUSTRIES – Gardena, CA – International Customer Service Manager 03/84 – 04/87

TRICO is a NYSE listed manufacturer of surface and subsurface petroleum production systems. The department was responsible for $18 million in 1985, 20% of Trico's total sales.

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences, Business Administration (Marketing)California State University Long Beach, 1984

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