CV

1. 23 Aberfeldie Way Mobile: 0400 168 448
Caroline Springs E-mail: l.ayles@bigpond.com
Victoria 3023
Linda Maree Ayles
Personal
Australian
Information
Married
DOB: 7 December 1970
Current Victorian Driver’s Licence & Passport
Education 2005 Swinburne University Melbourne, Vic
Masters in Business Administration (MBA)
 Currently completing
1995 – 1996 Deakin University Geelong, Vic
Bachelor of Commerce / Marketing & Management
 Awarded Advanced Standing for completion of Diploma Studies at Gordon,
Geelong
 Offered to undertake Honours in Commerce
 Awarded membership of the Golden Key National Honour Society for High
Academic Achievement
1994 Gordon Institute Geelong, Vic
Associate Diploma of Business (Marketing)
1993 Gordon Institute Geelong, Vic
Advanced Certificate in Sales Management
1988 St Ann’s College Warrnambool, Vic
Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE)
2008 Aarumba Technologies Sydney, NSW
Post Educational Goldmine / New Database Development Program
Training
(Courses completed 2003 Success Technologies Melbourne, Vic
since 1996) Time Track Short Course Seminar
2000 E-Commerce Workshop Melbourne, Vic
Macromedia Short Course
1999 Australian Industry Group Melbourne, Vic
E-Commerce Workshop
1999 Gordon Institute Geelong, Vic
Advanced Exporting
1999 Carpet Institute Melbourne, Vic
Carpet Testing Regulation Course
1998 Austrade Melbourne, Vic
LinkWest – Middle East Program

2. Professional The Laminex Group Melbourne, Vic
Experience
TLG is the leading marketer, distributor and manufacturer of decorative surfaces
throughout Australia and New Zealand. They produce a complete and varied range
for both residential and commercial spaces through their brands Formica, Laminex
and Essa Stone. Kitchen, bathroom and interior solutions are available in an
evolving range of styles, tones and textures with limited warranties starting at 7
years.
Jan 11 – Current Domestic Trade Manager
Key responsibilities:
 100% account management activity across all Laminex, Formica, Essa Stone
and a variety of other product ranges.
 Organic growth within an existing customer base comprising approx. 230
domestic cabinet makers and including half a dozen small builders.
 Assigned territory is north to north west corridor.
 A minimum of 8 calls is required per day four days a week, not including
merchandising calls or calls where the customer is not available. Friday is
observed as a purely administration / office bound day.
 Daily record of calls logged into a company database in Lotus Notes to capture
and track sales progress. CAPT calls are communicated to the sales team each
week, with non-compliance highlighted in red and followed up with a weekly
assessment on a Friday.
 A recent price increase implemented at the start of September now means that
any future pricing negotiations are to be signed off by management before
changes are made to any ongoing orders placed. The new pricing structure is
completely different to the previous system and has posed many challenges in
relation to its introduction. As a result, new Pricing Authority Requests must be
submitted in writing prior to any changes in price relating to bulk orders, large
projects currently being negotiated, etc.
 A weekly call cycle plan is submitted to management.
 I am responsible for the allocation of all merchandising to my customer base for
each new product range launch, with occasional assistance provided by the
Merchandising team and only with management’s approval.
 New merchandise requests made by my customers must be submitted to
management for approval, with a business case forecasting potential revenue to
justify the additional marketing expense.
 Maintenance and development of a monthly pipeline targeting new business
opportunities with existing customers; lost business and new product
introductions.
 100% compliance to all health and safety requirements, including logging of
monthly Safety Observations. Non-compliance incurs a written warning if initial
verbal warning is not adhered to.
 Monthly completion of a vehicle maintenance roster, including the auditing of a
member of staff’s vehicle to ensure compliance with a list of company rules and
regulations relating to the safety and cleanliness of the fleet.
Personal achievements:
 Within the first 3 months I exceeded my monthly budget by just over 12%
and YTD budget by 7%.
 I have successfully introduced the new wardrobe flat pack system with a
current conversion rate of 82% take up following the initial launch in
September (98% of my customers attended compared to an average
attendance rate of 70%).
 I have achieved substantial growth of our metaline splashback range
targeting stone and glass customers and exceeded budget requirements
across other componentry products, including Essa Stone and vinyl doors.
 With a strategy of logging my Safety Observations and vehicle maintenance
roster I have achieved 100% compliance since my commencement in
January.

3. Bestlink Appliances International Pty Ltd Melbourne, Vic
The company is a national importer of quality appliances from Italy and China under the
ELFA brand. With a warehouse of over 2,000sqm and based in the modern
Campbellfield Business Park, Bestlink Appliances provide a total quality solution across
kitchen, bathroom, laundry and general home appliance requirements. Their
comprehensive and high quality range includes cook tops, ovens, range hoods,
dishwashers, microwaves, fridges, freezers, sinks, mixers, vanities, baths, shower bases,
screens, washers, dryers and a full range of air-conditioners for the commercial and retail
channels.
Jul 08 – Dec 10 Commercial Sales Manager
Key responsibilities:
 Reporting directly to the Managing Director, I commenced the role without an
existing customer base. Bestlink Appliances had a strong retail channel;
however their aim was to build a new commercial channel. I was therefore
employed for the strategic development and growth of this new segment with an
initial budget of $1.2m for the first 12 months.
 100% new business development activity focused on establishing high-end
strategic business relationships with key decision makers, targeting the building
and construction segment by presenting the entire range to Project Managers of
small to medium builders; Purchasing Managers of larger developers; architects
and interior designers.
 Development of strategic relationships with the HIA, MBA and a variety of other
businesses who support the building industry, in order to build my contact base
and to source new prospect lists.
 I utilised a pull through strategy via the retail segment. By pulling new builders
through Bestlink’s existing retail partners, I simultaneously grew commercial and
retail channels. I achieved this by essentially giving new clients a choice of using
their existing preferred retailer, I then had the opportunity to open new retail
accounts with retailers that Bestlink would not have otherwise been able to
penetrate (not for lack of trying in the past) i.e. Bunning’s and Tradelink.
 Based on my successes with Bunning’s, I implemented an aggressive strategy
to pull new customers through Hardings, Reece, Bowens, Danks and Dahlsens.
 Development and implementation of a new MIS (market intelligence system) to
generate new leads and increase improve new business development
opportunities.
 Introduction of structured commercial business, product, and account plans to
build unprompted brand awareness for the commercial market.
 PR management including corporate and public speaking engagements.
Production of all communications collateral, website, events and sponsorships
to maximise customer impact.
 Developed and managed the new website on behalf of retail and commercial
based on my extensive experience in this field. I also worked with the web
designer to build a CMS (content management system) to maintain, update and
add content via a comprehensive back end database which also served as a
new business development tool via a commercial project query page.
Personal achievements:
 Within the first 6 months I hit an average monthly revenue of $100k.
 Within the first 4 months, I had successfully achieved 12mth commitments for
several new commercial contracts with small to medium builders, cabinet
makers and OEM’s, including Jayco Caravans for the installation of the 28 litre
stainless steel microwave branded “Sphere” into every new caravan, mobile
home and cabin across their range of over 10,000 products p/a. As their largest
new customer Jayco was worth approx. $600k in annual revenue.
 I aggressively targeted Jayco over an 18mth period and successfully achieved
significant organic growth with the addition of a range of sinks, taps and mini
washing machines with revenue totalling $1.2m p/a. Before I left I was
negotiating a new tender with Jayco for a full range of kitchen appliance
packages (kitchen, bathroom and laundry) to supply their park cabin segment,
worth an estimated further $1.5m in revenue.
 I had built a pipeline of potential new business worth approx. $2m within my first
12mths. My sales conversion rate was 1 in 15 door to door cold calls.

4. Pacific Brands Melbourne, Vic
A publicly listed company with a market value of $1.4 billion. A top 100 ASX importer and
exporter of many Australian icon brands including Bonds, Berlei, Holeproof, Rio, Everlast,
King Gee, Stubbies, Slazenger, Dunlop, Malvern Star, Sheridan, Sleepmaker, Tontine,
Clarks, Candy, Grosby and Sachi with over 7,000 employees.
Jan 05 – Jun 08 National Sales & Marketing Manager Holeproof
Key responsibilities:
 Promotion within PacBrands from Sporting Goods after 18mths to the
flagship Underwear & Hoisery business unit.
 Annual revenue directly impacting this role was approx. $160 million; marketing
spend of approx. $8 million.
 Development and deployment of marketing plans for the Holeproof portfolio,
including the integration of a new brand communication strategy to drive sales
and brand loyalty.
 Consumer advertising and communications with targeted BTL and ABL
activities.
 Planned brand growth around iconic products to increase market share,
unprompted brand awareness and share of floor
 Alignment and formalisation of the sales and marketing planning process.
 Management of strategic brand plans across the divisional socks and
underwear portfolio, including Holeproof, Rio, Antz Pantz, Love Kylie and
Slazenger to achieve both short and long term sales and profit objectives.
 Sub brand portfolio management of Holeproof Explorer, Underdaks, No
Knickers, Hunks and Hero’s.
 Trade marketing and key account management including Myer, David Jones,
Big W, Kmart and Target.
 Targeted growth of the profitable SME’s.
 Drive retailer support of key styles to grow icon product base.
 Improve merchandising and presentation of the brands at point of sale, focusing
on higher returns across WUW, MUW & sock categories.
 Market research – briefing, implementation and deployment of findings.
Extensive and effective use of brand association tracking, attitudinal and
perception consumer research across the Holeproof brand and product portfolio
to drive improved range planning processes.
 Brand investment management with a focus on building brand equity and
margin growth. Advertising and promotions budget management.
 Monthly reports on marketing expenditure and the results in terms of impact on
market share, sales growth, net profit margin and ROI investment.
Personal achievements
 Successful launch of Holeproof Grow Socks realising sales volume growth of
over 132% for this category into mass merchant and grocery channels.
 Successful launch and re-branding of Holeproof Nothing, a consolidation of five
lines of sheer, seamless women’s underwear, achieving a 26% and 33%
increase in EBIT respectively with DJ’s and Myers and 16% in the mass
merchant channel with Kmart.
 Conducted regular gap analyses to identify key areas of focus and established
one page business plan format for new icon ideas to support a new Product
Development KPI of 30% + sales per month.
 Development and implementation of structured retail account business plans to
improve alignment of the Holeproof marketing strategy with the key retailers –
fostering a new slogan “partnering with our customers”.
 Developed product of the month initiative with the National Sales Manager and
currently also driving the development of new ‘front of store’ PDQ concepts
using Kmart as the platform to undertake in Big W and Woolies.

5. The Boeing Company Melbourne, Vic
Market value of $55 billion. The world’s largest producer of commercial and military
aircraft, with over 135,000 employees worldwide. The Australian business predominantly
manufactures large metal to metal bonded and composite structures, with estimated
revenue of approximately $400 million and 4,000 employees.
Jun 2000 – Aug 2005 National Marketing Manager
Key responsibilities:
 National and global sales & marketing, corporate communications and public
relations in support of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), to consistently
position Boeing, Hawker de Havilland as a Tier 1 supplier of complex metal and
composite components to the major aerospace manufacturers. A
comprehensive understanding of R&D, design and manufacturing processes in
the development of the marketing proposition and core product portfolio was
integral to the success of the Business Development team in winning new multi-
million dollar project bids.
 Development and implementation of comprehensive product and segment
marketing plans to drive the acquisition of new business. Formulation of KPIs to
measure company performance against the forecasts of implemented sales and
marketing plans.
 Implementation of a focused CRM program to effectively manage customer
attrition.
 Formulation of corporate and SBU strategic brand direction.
 Worked with the GM Aero-structures Repair & Overhaul Service (AROS) to
develop the first customer loyalty ‘component exchange’ airline program for the
777 Thrust Reversers. The work scope was broadly focused on aerostructures,
including flight control surfaces and interiors components.
 Management and submission of new bid proposals and development of
preferred supplier agreement process across commercial and military programs.
 Management and the development and implementation of new corporate
identity standards across Australian operations.
 Developed and implemented a new Market Intelligence System for the
collection and dissemination of information encompassing customer/competitor
and industry data across all aircraft primes & aero structures suppliers for future
opportunity development.
 Planning and execution of media relations, advertising and promotional strategy,
encompassing creative writing, planning and direction of media agencies,
including television and print media. Web management and new site
development, launching new corporate and subsidiary internet sites in 2003/04.
 Media relations and responsibility for optimizing corporate reputation locally and
internationally in support of SLT objectives; working across all stakeholder
constituencies, including media, customers, suppliers, industry, government,
academia, analysts, employees and shareholders.
 Internal and external exhibitions and functions, including the Singapore Airshow,
Farnborough Airshow U.K., Paris Airshow, and the Australian International
Airshow.
Personal Achievements:
 Development and implementation of the first strategic marketing plan for the
Aero-structures Repair & Overhaul Service (AROS) business unit in 2002 within
the MRO industry, specifically targeting airlines in the Asia Pacific Region.
Successful implementation of sales and marketing directives increased annual
sales revenue by 42% in 2003 and 66% in 2004.
 Recommended and presented a solid business case for The Boeing Company’s
th
first 75 anniversary art exhibition in Australia. The exhibition was held at the
Melbourne Aerospace Museum in 2002. The highly successful event targeted
local and overseas aircraft enthusiasts and was attended by a number of
prestigious VIP’s including members of the State & Federal Government.
 Developed a new CRM database to manage and assess customer attrition.
 Recommended, developed and managed the successful induction of Boeing,
Hawker de Havilland into the 2005 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

6. Brinton’s Carpets Geelong, Vic
1998 – 2000 National Product Manager
Key responsibilities:
 Promotion within Brintons after just over 12mths to the newly created role of
National Product Manager.
 Developed, managed and expanded existing commercial and domestic product
portfolio.
 New product design and development, whilst overseeing the retail focused
division of the sales team.
 Strategic channel management of key national retail accounts including Carpet
Choice and Carpet Court. Focused marketing effort on increasing retail
distribution channels.
 Managed the commercialisation of new product ranges, including planning and
development of strategic industry launches.
 Formulation and execution of product marketing platforms for all existing
bespoke ranges and custom lines.
 Development and implementation of targeted media and promotional plans.
 Briefing and control of external media and PR agencies.
 Managed the export logistics across existing markets i.e. New Zealand, Pacific
Rim, U.K., U.S.A, and developed opportunities to penetrate new markets using
competitive trend analysis.
 Expense budget impact of new product ranges, advertising and promotional
strategies; BCG matrix assessment of contribution margin, sales revenue by
state, by top 100 customers.
 Sales forecasting for new ranges and preparation of monthly reports by segment
by sales area
 Monthly report on measurement of implemented product strategies; and
forecasting square metre sales based on sales rate and current stock inventory.
 Organisation and management of national and international trade shows /
exhibitions and internal site tours.
Personal Achievements:
 Developed and implemented the Brinton’s Secondary Branding program for
Carpet Choice and Carpet Court retail chains increasing sales revenue by 17%.
 Analysis of the commercial and domestic woven carpet industry identified an
opportunity to introduce a new and improved Bespoke Rug Program, increasing
total inventory movement by 25.2%.
 Initiated and managed a new international commercial and domestic market
research program, highlighting an opportunity to diversify the commercial
agency network in the Asia Pacific Rim and increased market share by 12%.
 Developed Brinton’s first Marketing and Product Bulletin for internal and external
distribution.
 Recommended and produced Brinton’s Pty Ltd first Corporate Testimonial.
Brinton’s Carpets Geelong, Vic
1997 – 1998 Marketing Administrator
Key Responsibilities:
 Extensive export / shipping experience
 Customer service
 Managed sales and marketing budgets
 Sales and marketing promotions
 New product research and product launch planning
 Direct sales
 Managed annual inter-state Sales Conferences
 Strategic product and market planning framework development
 Improve competitive strategies
 Introduction of improved pricing/margin formulas
 New contract / bid formulation and negotiation
 Project management

7.  Dealer recruiting/relations
 Presentations/public speaking
 Technical service management
 Managed client and supplier database
 Monitoring and analysis of reports generated by the Sales Team
 Preparation of monthly merchandiser reports and commission statements
 Credit control
 Merchandising
 New software installation/training
Personal Achievements:
 Breaking into the Middle East resulting in a contract worth over $1.2m
 Complete redesign of database for sampling program and initiation of new
system for Project Development
1994 – 1997 Undertook variety of part time retail positions whilst studying full time (Sales Cert,
Ass Dip and BCom)
1989 – 1994 Following completion of VCE in 1988, I worked as a Retail Assistant for Gateway
Jewellers in Warrnambool and after 18 months was promoted to Store Manager. I
was relocated to Geelong to open and manage their new jewellery store, where I
stayed until my decision to return to full time study in 1994.
Interests and Cardio karate, kickboxing, power walking, volleyball, swimming, circuit gym, playing
hobbies pool, poker and chess
References Available upon request