Company: Exhibitgroup/Giltspur, Roselle, IL
Company Description: Exhibitgroup/Giltspur is a global face-to-face marketing company that provides exhibit, event, retail, and integrated marketing solutions. Full service capabilities include design, fabrication, installation & dismantle, online ordering and e-services, and program management. EG is also focused on providing marketing services that deepen customer loyalty to its clients' brands.
Nomination Category: Sales Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: National Sales Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Exhibitgroup/Giltspur National Sales Team

1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Exhibitgroup/Giltspur is an experiential marketing agency that provides
exhibit, event, and integrated marketing solutions for major corporations.
From peak sales of $426m in 2000, EG sales declined to $153m in 2006, a
compounded annual growth rate of -15.7%. During this same period, key drivers
of the exhibitions and events industry grew 3.8-4.6%. From 2002-2006, major
competitors delivered 12-15% sales growth while Exhibitgroup/Giltspur declined
at 12% per annum. EG had lost business across all regions, vertical sectors
and account sizes. In late 2006, EG hired a new executive team led by John
Jastrem as CEO and Bill Doolittle as EVP, Chief Sales Officer, to lead a
turnaround.

Upon their appointments, the Executives formed a Sales Leadership Team to stem
the decline and to demonstrate the company's new client centric culture at
Exhibitgroup/Giltspur. The Sales Leadership Team embarked on a personal
calling and meeting campaign to every one of the company's top 100 clients
(representing over 75% of U.S. sales).

The management and Sales Leadership team moved quickly to empower the Sales
and Account Teams with greater decision-making authority to overcome business
barriers that had turned customers away. Sales people were given greater
latitude to respond to customer requests and customer service staff could make
sensible decisions without having to endure bureaucratic layers.

Internal communications emphasized "Speedy EG", with quick response teams
established to capitalize on client and prospect opportunities. For example,
when told by a prospect that EG had declined to respond to an RFP invitation
issued two weeks earlier, the Chief Sales Officer overruled the initial
decision and promised a full response within 48 hours. A sales team mobilized
and responded with full exhibit design and proposal, downloaded to tablet PCs
to share with the client. EG won this business and a subsequent RFP on this
multi-million dollar account.

The sales team also introduced new, consultative selling tools such as
competitive audits to benchmark client and prospect performance and provide
proactive recommendations to improve how companies engaged attendees pre-, at-
and post- event.

The Sales Leadership Team undertook global conference calls to share best
practices, recognize new wins and discuss new, innovative solutions. The team
also focused on collecting and sharing client testimonials to highlight the
major changes in the culture and organization.

The Sales team's focus on client needs generated record results:
• After a precipitous $30m sales decline from 2005 to 2006, and a 15.7%
compounded annual decline since 2000, Exhibitgroup/Giltspur grew sales to
$172.7m in 2007 and $193.2m in 2008, a growth rate of over 12% per annum.
• New logo sales grew to $20.7m in 2008 versus $6.0m in 2006, a tripling
in over two years. As importantly, sales productivity per representative
increased from $275,000 in 2006 to over $1.4m in 2008.
• EG's Germany division achieved record sales in 2008 of $22.9m.
• The company's egRetail division doubled sales from 2007 to over $9m.
• Finally, existing client sales grew, mainly from major clients
purchasing more of the company's new creative and measurement services, and
client shrinkage declined to 25% of prior year levels.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.e-g.com

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Bill Doolittle
Executive Vice President, Chief Sales Officer

Bill is responsible for growing new sales and continuing client care at EG. He
has directed top-performing sales and service teams at companies such as PHH
Arval, Kinko's, Bombardier Aerospace, and most recently, DayJet Corporation in
Florida. Bill has experience working with Fortune 500 clients and sales teams
in the automotive, retail, aviation and aerospace industries. He is an award-
winning sales executive with a track record of structuring and implementing
successful alliances, joint ventures and business relationships throughout the
US, Great Britain, Canada, and Europe.