Paul Finley started Fins Marketing in 2004 after previous stints with Motorola, Brenntag, and Telcordia Technologies. Fins Marketing mission is to use Finley's sales and marketing expertise to enhance other Businesses and/or Individuals while building company value.
Fields of Expertise
Paul Finley is an expert in consultative selling and marketing. He has the ability to help individuals and organizations break their selling process down into manageable steps which lead to higher sales and a faster sales cycle. Finley is also able to help design the marketing materials or “step movers” that organizations use to speed up the sales process. This depth of expertise is the reason why he's highly sought by organizations to deliver results in designing, improving and sustaining sales and marketing performance.
What differentiates Finley from others?
The hallmarks of Finley are insight, integrity, follow through, and a down-to-earth, common sense approach to business, all blended with a gift for language and a good sense of humor. Perhaps more importantly, Finley helps clients learn how to apply consultative selling and marketing principles and skill sets to truly sustain uncommon results, not only for themselves but for their clients. Whether he is working with a CEO, vice president, manager, sales or marketing team, or another consultant, Finley manages to help them raise their performance to higher levels and create a disciplined culture that maniacally focuses on delivering business results for clients.
Background
Paul Finley has been in sales since the age of 9. His late father John, a lifelong salesman himself, helped him set up a door-to-door paperback book selling business. "Both Dad and my mother Martha were voracious readers. Dad had the vision to turn those piles of paperback books into an educational experience for me. We loaded up my red wagon with books, set the price for each at .25, agreed I could by others books for .10, and I was on my way. Day one taught me you can have too much inventory as I bought more books than I sold. Day two taught me salesman hear no far more than they hear yes and brought me to the point of quitting. Looking back I know value my consultant as Dad always turned my lemons into lemonade. By summer's end I had the best baseball card collection on the block, and probably the proudest parents."
After graduating from Murray State University with a degree in Marketing Finley learned how tough getting a sales job could be. "We lived in Owensboro Kentucky and sales jobs were scarce. After a month of searching I finally hooked up with Combined Insurance Company selling door-to-door accident insurance. During my two years with Combined I learned the value of a positive attitude, proper training, intuitiveness, and performance based pay. I became a manager after three months (at 22) and received my highest compliment to date when after an enormously successful week my Dad said "Son, you are better at sales than I ever hoped to be." Three months later Dad died of a massive heart attack."
After two years with Motorola and 10 years with PB&S Chemical (now Brentag) Finley took over as Director of Business Development with Mesa Solutions in Huntsville Alabama. After one year Mesa was purchased by Telcordia Technologies and Finley was promoted to VP of Sales and Marketing. "My promotion at Telcordia opened my eyes to the importance of having a clear vision and the need for a solid tactical plan to accomplish that vision. It also helped me understand how marketing (brochures, web sites, trade shows, publicity) sets the stage for successful sales." During his two years as VP Finley led a team that took a "from scratch" telecommunications mapping beta product to a multi-million dollar business. Before leaving due to a management change in 2001 Finley's team had obtained 24 customers, thousands of "engineering seats," and partnered with the Telcordia services team for a "multi-million dollar backlog."
Finley's last position before starting Fins Marketing was a two-year stint as Director of Business Development with Advanced Optical Systems, Inc (AOS) in Huntsville. While at AOS Finley was brought into the world of Congressional Plus Ups, SBIR proposals, corporate teaming, Government Contracting with NASA, and channel development with assorted Military operations.
While there Finley was part of a team that accomplished:
- A complete redesign of the company Web site
- Development and design of company, product, and services brochures
- Winner of The 2002 Family Friendly Award on both the County and State level
- Winner of The Prestigious 2002 National Roland Tibbett's SBIR Company of the Year Award
- Winner of The 2003 Huntsville Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year Award
- Awarded GSA Certification in 2003
"My time at AOS gave me a clear vision as to what I wanted to be able to do with Fins Marketing. I realized many organizations needed sales and marketing support but were unable (or unwilling) to bring them in on a full time basis. They needed a experienced marketer who understood both the strategic and tactical requirements of successful sales and marketing. Thus, the outline for a mutually beneficial contracting relationship was born."
Paul and his family live in Madison Alabama. His wife Julie is Assistant Principal at Bob Jones High School in Madison.
Julie recently completed her doctorate from the University of Louisville. Paul and Julie have three boys, Tyler (age 14), Tanner (age 11), and Kyle (age 8).
