Pelco consolidates sales operations, lays off 17
By L. Samuel Pfeifle
Updated Wed July 1, 2009
CLOVIS, Calif.--Pelco officials announced in May that it has consolidated all of its global sales operations. Effective immediately, Cliff Holtz, Pelco senior vice president of Americas, will manage sales for the Pelco Global Sales Operations.
“In an effort to better serve our global customer base, we are consolidating all of Pelco's sales operations functions into a single Global Sales Operations team,” said Pelco president and CEO Dean Meyer, in a statement. “This consolidation of functions will allow Pelco to streamline processes and eliminate duplication of efforts which will result in better response times and improved customer service throughout our entire sales operations group.”
In an interview with Security Systems News earlier this year, Meyer said he believed Pelco's global operations gave the company an advantage over competitors who were focused exclusively in the United States or North America.
“You can play differently if you have a global reach,” he said. “Not all markets are being impacted the same way. Others still have fairly good growth, even though that's slowed down. We're trying to be prudent with where the best opportunities are. Everyone's trying to figure out how to get through this. It's a war.”
The Pelco Global Sales Operations Department, led by John Roman, director of global sales operations will now report directly to Holtz. And, according to a statement, even with a priority on minimizing staff reduction, these actions do come with some reductions in the areas of Americas Sales Operations, Strategic Accounts, and Global Sales Operations: the elimination of 17 sales positions.
In early June, IndigoVision announced it had hired former Pelco EMEA sales director Ivo Drent as its own senior VP of EMEA sales.
“We will do our utmost to support those affected employees with extended notice, severance pay, outplacement, and counseling services,” Meyer said in the statement. “As we go through these difficult changes, I appreciate the support and understanding of the entire company and the energy and effort of our Global Sales Operations team while they continue to build on Pelco's reputation as the global industry leader in customer service.”
These efforts are part of a continuing streamlining of operations effected since the acquisition of Pelco by Schneider Electric in 2007. Pelco's private jet and 19 “non-factory” staff at Pelco headquarters here were eliminated in December, and the size of the Orangeburg, N.Y., Pelco facility has been reduced.
Comments