Mike Wendel

About Mike Wendel

My journey as both an entrepreneurial-thinker and expert in retail came while I was still in college and became a franchise owner of College Pro Painters. While I struggled the first year, by year three, I had more revenue than I knew what to do with. My passion for business and sales started then and has only grown since.After earning a bachelor’s in business at the University of Buffalo, The State University of New York, I joined Black & Decker, focused on building and maintaining sales throughout the Southeastern United States. This experience honed my ability to nurture customer relationships and developed my expertise with customer service, merchandising, and managing people, and enhanced my skills as an action-oriented, goal-driven leader who maximizes opportunities. After progressive responsibilities with Emerson, I joined Rain Bird Corporation in 2005—which has been a perfect fit with my inclination toward entrepreneurship. At Rain Bird, I have advanced from territorial sales to national sales before being appointed to be the Director of the Consumer Products Business Unit in 2020. In this role, I lead a team of talented Rain Bird employees in sales, marketing, operations, quality, manufacturing, engineering, and customer service—all of us working together, focused on the global retail channel and end-user consumer. In addition to my undergraduate degree, I hold a MBA from the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University.A high-integrity company, Rain Bird has, for nearly 100 years, innovated ways to conserve water and provide a healthy environment for generations to come. With the commitment to the Intelligent Use of WaterTM, Rain Bird sustains life’s essentials and protect its simple pleasures for us all.

Experience

1. Director of the Consumer Products and Ecommerce Business Units

   Rain Bird Corporation

   Jul 2020 — Present

Education

• University at Buffalo School of Management, The State University of New York

  BA with minors in Finance, Human Resource Management and Marketing

  1994 — 1998

• Mercer University - Stetson School of Business and Economics

  MBA with concentration in Finance and Marketing

  2005 — 2007

Skills

• Business Development
• Pricing Strategy
• Marketing
• P&L Responsibility
• Market Planning
• Cold Calling Experience
• Cost Reduction
• Quality Improvement
• Account Management
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Marketing Strategy
• Strategic Planning
• Product Management
• Competitive Analysis
• Product Development
• Multi Tasking
• Sales Process
• Delivering Results
• Analytics
• Pricing
• Leadership Accountability
• Product Launch
• Entrepreneurship
• Management
• Sales Prospecting
• Product Marketing
• Key Account Management
• Merchandising
• Team Synergy
• Sales Management
• Forecasting
• Cold Calling
• Logistics
• New Business Development
• P&L Management