Branden Cote

Leading teams across North America & Greater China in the formation & implementation of strategic sales & marketing on regional & market levels. Responsibilities included long-term strategy development, pricing, product profitability, portfolio management, & sales planning. Achieving the best performance of all regions.

• Increased market share in North America (NA) by 39% (11.1% to 15.5%), and sales in China by 45%.
• Created strategies to increase sales forecast from 2021-2029 by 22% in NA & GRC over previous plan.
• Co-developed the AMG Growth Strategy 2030, the long-term corporate strategy incorporating all business units globally, which will be the vision and strategic blueprint for all company activities.
• Led AMG production localization strategy project in China to determine which products should and should not be localized in China, resulting in drastically superior EBIT with 16,000 less units.
• Improved sales planning accuracy in NA and China from 8.9% & 10.0% down to 4.5% & 3.8%.
• Achieved first place in the Market of the Year Awards in 2018 and 2019.
• Reduced stagnant inventory and increased sales by updating sales planning process and KPI system.
• Implemented interdepartmental employee development program with job-shadowing blueprint, to increase cross-functional collaboration & career advancement resulting in measurably enriched culture.

Responsible for the brand management and product strategy of AMG, the high performance sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz, including the execution of sales and marketing strategies in the United States.

• Increased AMG unit sales by 45% CAGR from 2013 to 2016 through various original strategies.
• Analyzed the AMG car allocation process; designed and implemented a new process to more efficiently meet dealer and customer demand and improve dealer satisfaction, leading to 20% sales increase.
• Oversaw a three-year project to improve AMG’s brand positioning. This project included coordinating various departments and regions to create a new showroom and retail experience, state-of-the-art digital training and sales tools, vehicle margin management, marketing plans, allocation/distribution procedures, dealership trainings and certifications, and sales targets.
• Created AMG Performance Studio package leading to an option revenue increase of 15%.
• U.S. project lead for an international AMG training and customer driving event held at The Thermal Club with over 900 participants over two-weeks. Largest event ever for AMG in the USA.

Responsible for the operational efficiency of the organization. Functioning as an internal consultant by recognizing areas for improvement across the dealer group and implementing successful enhancement strategies. Working on special projects at every level of the organization from enterprise to individual.

• Increased Audi gross profit per vehicle by 340% while simultaneously surpassing the business plan unit sales by 132%, resulting in a corporate profitability record.
• Improved operational efficiency by reducing the average time from closing a warranty repair order to Audi claim payment by 7.2 days, thereby increasing operating cash flow by $200,000.
• Created new marketing strategy that increased gross profit per lead by 55%.
• Executed a system migration that resulted in a 12% reduction in used vehicle marketing expense, while increasing new and used vehicle online exposure and decreasing time to market by 30%.
• Generated accurate multi-year forecasting models by month and product mix.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction Index by 110 points to become highest in market & sustained position.
• Increased the average sales per Porsche consultant by 20% per month.
• Chosen to serve as one of only five dealer representatives on Audi’s National Dealer Marketing Council to help direct national marketing strategy including creative, placement, pricing, and product mix.

Managed, created, and optimized training and development programs within the company. Achieved departmental goals by establishing a collaborative work environment within the management team. Drove improvement in training curriculum and informative communications for both the sales and service staff, and managers using effective skills in technical writing and communications.

• Increased closing ratios by 4.3 percentage points and net profit per vehicle by 40% through ongoing education of sales staff across all stores.
• Maximized skills of current and potential managers from all departments within the company by teaching a six-month long comprehensive training program in the Management Candidate School.
• Designed, implemented, and ensured effectiveness of management, sales, & service training curriculum for the sales & service staffs of the company encompassing five locations throughout PA and NJ.
• Expertly conducted product launch trainings, new hire courses, management courses, and weekly training classes covering customer care, phone skills, computer systems, technological advances, leadership, department management, influence, and the art of persuasion.

Directed and increased efficiency in daily functions of the Audi Conshohocken showroom. Provided strategic direction in the creation and execution of business plans to achieve both company and individual staff business goals. Forecast monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales and gross profit figures.

• Positioned the Audi Conshohocken showroom to be the #1 Audi dealer in new vehicle sales in Pennsylvania and consistently top five in our region during my two years of tenure.
• Coached and developed sales staff members resulting in a 22% increase in the average monthly vehicle sales for the entire staff, and an overall closing percentage increase of 5 percentage points.
• Increased F&I gross profit by more than 100% within first three months and by 500% in twelve months.