Executives
Cash, Cost, GrowthExamples—not limited to:
- Strategic marketing and sales planning
- Maximizing profits
- Organizational alignment
- CRM and AI integration
Our team has the experience to help manufacturers, distributors and converters find, win and keep profitable revenue.
“I help small and mid-sized companies sell more by focusing on the right customers, putting marketing to work, and equipping salespeople with the plans, messages and tools to grow the business—from market strategy to the next account action.”
Our difference is that we don’t just teach—we become an extension of your company.
Generating opportunities; not leads.
NEW HERE? · 1-MIN GUIDED TOURSee how to use this site in 60 seconds.Pick your role, check your challenges, and see the help that fits.What’s getting in the way of profitable growth?
Check the statements that sound like your business. Examples—not limited to.
0 problems selectedA discussion list—not a score. Selections stay when you switch views.
Nothing is emailed by checking a box. Review your selected list in the contact section and choose whether to include it in your email draft.
Different roles. Connected priorities.
Management
Goal SettingExamples—not limited to:
- Creating metrics that matter
- Accountability
- Sales enablement that customers value
- Driving intentional best practices to achieve metrics
Sales Representatives
Consistent Top PerformanceExamples—not limited to:
- Embracing best-practice behaviors for consistent top performance
- Signal vs. noise: eliminate distractions and increase win rates
- Zero-based territory solutions
- Understand how to beat the competition
DISTRIBUTORS & CONVERTERSIndustrial products.
Industrial products.
Commercial purpose.
The materials, supplies and converted components your customers work with.
Converted & engineered components
Die-cut gaskets · adhesive-backed pads · release liners · shielding materials · stamped parts
Adhesives, tapes & technical materials
Adhesive systems · technical tapes · protective films · sheet materials · bonded assemblies
01 / SOUND FAMILIAR?
Working hard.
Not getting enough
from it?
Quotes, customer requests, supplier promotions and follow-up can fill the day. The question is whether that work is growing the right accounts and improving the business.
01“We’re busy, but growth and profit aren’t where we want them.”
02“We have good customers, but we’re not getting enough of their business.”
03“We carry strong products, but marketing isn’t giving customers a clear reason to choose us.”
04“We have opportunities and ideas, but not enough time to turn them into action.”
Let’s decide what deserves more attention,
what deserves less, and what to do next.
what deserves less, and what to do next.
02 / HOW I HELP
Clearer priorities.
Useful marketing.
Better follow-through.
I help make the decisions
and get the practical work done.
01STRATEGIC MARKETING
Decide where to focus.
Choose the customers, applications and product lines most worth pursuing. Clarify why customers should choose you—and what deserves less attention.
THE WORK
Market research · positioning · customer/product priorities · territory and channel strategy
A clear priority list, value messages and an action plan.
02TACTICAL MARKETING
Put marketing to work.
Turn a priority into something useful: a focused campaign, stronger product content, a supplier promotion, a launch or a practical seller toolkit. Website additions and digital tools that find customers and preserve your customer face time.
THE WORK
Application campaigns · email · website additions · customer-finding digital tools · catalog content · launches · trade shows · seller tools
Usable campaign materials, content or seller tools—with a clear audience and next action.
03SALES & CHANNEL EXECUTION
Help the team follow through.
Connect sales, marketing, customer service and suppliers around the same priorities. Give people clear ownership, useful account actions and a practical review rhythm.
THE WORK
Account expansion · supplier joint plans · seller coaching · qualification · follow-up · leadership
Named actions and owners, an account/follow-up plan and a manageable review rhythm.
Some companies need clearer direction.
Others need help getting the work done.I can help with either—or connect the two.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
Optional Commercial Fit CheckThree short steps. Specific work and useful tools. No email gate.
03 / PRACTICAL SALES TOOLS
A better plan.
A better message.
A better next move.
Know which accounts deserve attention, who to reach, what to say, and how to move the opportunity forward. I help build and put those tools to work.
8 tool groups to explore. Customized work products—not a software subscription.
Make the growth choice, then connect it to what people actually do.
- Commercial situation assessment
- Review the business outcome, current customer/product mix, capacity and constraints.
- Growth options & trade-offs
- Compare strategic choices, resource decisions and opportunities not to pursue.
- Market/application priority scorecard
- Segment markets and applications using capability fit, evidence and the buying route.
- Ideal customer, buyer & Voice-of-Customer briefs
- Clarify who needs the offer, who decides and which assumptions need customer validation.
- Product-to-value & route-to-market maps
- Connect the portfolio to customer value and direct/distributor/rep routes.
- Strategy-to-action alignment matrix
- Link executive goals, quarterly sales/marketing work, owners and next actions.
- Executive scorecard & first 90-day plan
- Define baselines, decisions, measurement periods and a practical leadership review.
A priority list only earns its place if it changes resource choices and field actions.
Launch or redesign a territory around the accounts worth serving.
- Account/application opportunity universe
- Build a relevant universe, not an indiscriminate list of companies in a region.
- Account tiers, priorities & exclusions
- Choose where sellers spend time using fit, potential, access and support capacity.
- Territory/channel coverage & ownership map
- Assign direct, distributor and representative roles, including existing obligations.
- Account-entry & activation batches
- Prepare the reason to engage and pace the work to the team’s capacity.
- 30–60–90 territory plan & scorecard
- Define owners, milestones and evidence for reviewing or rebuilding priorities.
Zero-base means reassess focus. It does not mean abandon current customers.
Give an existing or target account a specific, credible pursuit plan.
- Ranked target/expansion register
- Record fit evidence, access, unknowns, barriers and a next action.
- One-page account/application opportunity brief
- Translate an account fact into a testable customer/application hypothesis.
- Buyer, stakeholder, specifier & access map
- Find users, engineering, operations, procurement and commercial decision roles.
- Line-card-to-application & account-expansion maps
- Connect product strengths with relevant uses and additional account/site opportunities.
- Value proposition & discovery questions
- Explain why the application matters, then validate need rather than assume it.
- Account-entry, sample & qualification plan
- Agree customer proof, next actions and stop/go criteria before expanding the pursuit.
An account hypothesis is a starting point for discovery—not a claim about a customer’s internal problems.
Reach the right person with a useful reason to respond.
- Outreach diagnostic & right-contact/message scorecard
- Review lists, contact functions, credibility, useful offers and response handling.
- Relevance & relationship/warmth register
- Separate researched cold contacts from real referrals, prior interactions and account relationships.
- Account-specific call, email & voicemail briefs
- Connect a verified observation, problem hypothesis, credibility and a small next step.
- Useful pre-call content & objection handling
- Equip the seller with relevant questions, proof and respectful response options.
- Follow-up sequence & coaching/pilot scorecard
- Track attempts, actual conversations, customer-agreed next steps and learning separately.
- Legitimate introduction/referral paths
- Use real relationships and appropriate permission; never manufacture warmth.
- Small, useful first-offer screens
- Opportunity Fit Check; One-Page Account/Application Map; Quote-Readiness Check; Territory Priority Screen; Application Value Translation; Supplier/Distributor Joint-Plan Starter; Warm-Entry Audit.
Better research makes a cold call more relevant. A genuine connection is what supports warm access.
Turn positioning into usable campaigns, content and selling tools.
- Plain-English product & buyer guides
- Explain what products do, when they matter and which customers need them.
- Application selling, value & comparison guides
- Connect benefits, trade-offs, discovery questions and evidence that supports the claims.
- Seller/partner presentations & approved case-story formats
- Build usable sales tools, objection-handling checklists and consistent customer stories.
- Application campaigns & account-focused email
- Define the audience, message, customer action and seller response plan.
- Website, catalog & e-commerce product content
- Make the product range understandable through customer uses—not just specifications.
- Sample/demo, product-launch & trade-show plans
- Specify what to show, who evaluates it and what follow-up happens next.
- Partner promotions, training & sales toolkits
- Give sellers and suppliers a shared message and practical next account action.
- Interactive-selector content brief
- Define useful questions, decision logic, outputs and human-review handoffs.
Strategic positioning and segmentation connect to the practical assets. Specialist design, media buying and software integrations are separately scoped.
Replace disconnected supplier tasks with coordinated account growth.
- Partner selection & onboarding scorecard
- Review market reach, technical support, coverage, conflicts and activation requirements.
- Coverage & route-to-market map
- Clarify direct, one-step/two-step distribution and representative roles.
- Supplier–distributor joint business plan
- Agree priority accounts/applications, training, promotion and owner commitments.
- Partner performance & point-of-sale reporting pack
- Define useful POS inputs, a scorecard and a shared business-review agenda.
- Commercial program recommendations
- Connect pricing, terms, discounts, rebates and promotional priorities to management decisions.
- Joint review agenda & corrective actions
- Keep accountable commitments, customer learning and next actions visible.
The outcome is coordinated growth—not simply more supplier-driven work for the team.
Protect value and make the next commercial decision clear.
- Quote/order win-loss analysis
- Compare conversion by account, product, order size and known loss reason.
- Pricing & cost-to-serve issue map
- Separate volume, setup/tooling, freight, support and order-complexity economics.
- Discount/exception rules & pricing/service tests
- Define approvals, hypotheses, baselines, owners and review dates—not assumed savings.
- Qualified RFQ/quote intake & readiness check
- Capture customer/name/type, client-defined potential threshold, new/current project status, part/item number, product/application, target price if available, annual volume, three-year/project-horizon run rate where relevant, prints/models status and comments. Capture sourcing context only if relevant—not as a sourcing-country filter.
- Quote comparison & open-issue log
- Keep assumptions, technical unknowns, tooling, labor and packaging visible.
- Opportunity stage/gates & sample/trial milestones
- Specify the evidence needed from discovery through qualification, quote and award.
- Pipeline/forecast pack & action-owner-due-date log
- Track next actions, blockers, value basis and forecast category.
- Sales-to-technical/operations/supplier handoff
- Agree the requirements and responsibilities needed to accept and advance a project.
Potential, forecast, future contracts and booked sales are different. Detailed quote intake is not required for an initial website inquiry.
Keep the business, expand useful applications and improve execution.
- Customer retention & account-expansion plans
- Review account risk and additional application, site and product opportunities.
- Account and supplier/partner review templates
- Keep wallet-share hypotheses, current progress and next actions visible.
- Supplier–distributor joint business plan
- Align account-expansion priorities, supplier training and campaigns, named commitments and a partner growth scorecard.
- Win/loss feedback & weekly/monthly action logs
- Feed customer decisions and field learning back to commercial priorities.
- Team/partner coaching & enablement plan
- Build application selling, account planning and practical review habits.
- Pilot scorecard & leadership dashboard
- Measure qualified progress, bookings and client-supplied margin inputs—not just activity counts.
- 30–60–90 execution roadmap & executive readout
- Review owners, dependencies, completed actions, risks and next-period decisions.
- Fractional sales & marketing leadership
- Scope ongoing coordination, coaching and execution ownership when the business needs it.
Review the quality and outcome of the work, not just how much of it happened.
Templates are illustrative working formats, not client results, approved technical specifications or a complete engagement. Select a focused project; you do not need every tool.
04 / A FOCUSED PLACE TO BEGIN
Let’s find where your
effort can pay off more.
We start with the outcome you want and what is getting in the way. That may call for a focused sales and marketing review—or a specific campaign or execution project if you already know the priority.
Discuss a focused projectFOCUSED SALES & MARKETING REVIEW
What useful work looks like.
- Customers and applications to pursue—and those to deprioritize.
- Clear messages about why a customer should choose you.
- A practical campaign, content package or seller toolkit.
- Named actions, ownership and a 90-day plan where appropriate.
Scope is agreed around your need. No fixed package or growth guarantee.
ABOUT TIM O’NEIL / 29 YEARS OF RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Experience that connects the P&L to the next customer conversation.
P&L RESPONSIBILITYSALES & MARKETING LEADERSHIPDIRECT FIELD SELLING
I bring 29 years of relevant experience across industrial sales, strategic and tactical marketing, and commercial leadership. I’ve held full P&L responsibility, led sales and marketing at the director level, developed channel partners, and worked directly with customers as a sales representative. My work has centered on developing the people, practices and tools that support best-in-class performance—not simply generating more activity.
That range matters because I understand the business from more than one seat. I know the pressure executives face to manage cash, cost and profitable growth. I understand a manager’s responsibility to turn goals into meaningful metrics, clear ownership and consistent execution. And I know what a salesperson needs when facing a customer: a relevant reason to engage, a credible value message and a useful next action.
Read the full biography
My experience spans the industrial value chain—from material and product manufacturers to OEMs, converters, distributors, manufacturer representatives and end users. I’ve worked where products are positioned, where applications are developed, where channels are built and where buying decisions are made. That perspective helps me connect what a business can supply with what its customers actually need—and identify where a stronger commercial approach can make the difference.
Strategic and tactical marketing have been central throughout my career. I’ve helped determine which markets, customers and applications deserve attention, then connected those choices to product positioning, channel programs, application campaigns, launches, website and catalog content, training and practical sales tools. I believe a strategy earns its value when people can use it—and marketing earns its value when it helps customers understand, choose and act.
My product background includes adhesives, tapes, films, converted and die-cut components, engineered materials, industrial supplies, packaging and manufactured parts. I understand why technical capability alone does not win the business. Its value has to be clear to the customer, supported by the right evidence and carried through discovery, qualification, quoting and follow-up.
Today, I bring that experience to small and mid-sized industrial distributors and converters that want more profitable growth from the effort they already invest. I help connect market strategy with the next account action: focus on the right customers, generate opportunities—not just leads—equip sellers with useful plans and messages, and build the follow-through needed to find, win and keep profitable revenue. Website additions and digital tools can support that work while preserving valuable customer face time.
I’ve been responsible for the business, led the team and made the customer call. That is the perspective I bring to helping your business work smarter.
EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN
Manufacturing and distribution experience.
Prior employment and supplier/channel/customer relationships—not current consulting clients or endorsements.
Manufacturers
Distributors
Logos identify the companies referenced in this experience. All trademarks belong to their respective owners; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.
SUPPORTING APPLICATION RESOURCES
Technical depth.
Commercial purpose.
Also working with manufacturers, converters or industrial buyers? The same connection supports application, supplier and commercialization decisions.
Explore the audience viewsEngineer’s Toolkit — Bonding
Application requirements and qualification questions.
Formulator Toolkit & Recipe Designer
Ingredient roles and supplier-development questions.
Metal Part Fit Check
Component requirements, process shortlists and quote readiness.
Converting & manufacturing readiness
Construction, supply format and production handoff questions.
Opens the existing toolkit site; select the relevant tool there. Resources organize requirements—not approved formulations, validated equivalents or engineering sign-off.
GET HELP · START A CONVERSATION
Where should your effort
pay off more?
Tell me what you want to improve and what keeps getting in the way. We’ll discuss whether clearer priorities, practical execution, or both would help.
No assessment required. No registration. Problem checklist optional.
toneil36@gmail.comGET HELP · NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
A focused conversation. No forced commitment.
Tell Tim what you want to improve. Send your question to toneil36@gmail.com—no customer login or email app required.
FOCUSED SUPPORT · PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE
Find your next commercial move.
FOCUSED SUPPORT
Industrial-distributor sales growth
Apex helps industrial distributors filter accounts by application fit, build credible customer conversations and advance clear commercial decisions.
Explore the workFOCUSED SUPPORTCommercial growth for converters
Connect converting capabilities to customer applications, prepare better discovery and qualify the path from RFQ and sample through production readiness.
Explore the workFOCUSED SUPPORTFractional sales leadership
Hands-on fractional sales and marketing leadership: focus commercial priorities, build practical tools and run the next account and operating decisions.
Explore the work