Our Business Advisory Consultants
Many owners, C.E.O.s, presidents, and other senior executives believe they do. Others have a few ideas but don’t know how to put them to work. Either way, our team of highly experienced business professionals can help meet your growth challenges in ways designed specifically for your company. For more than 25 years in the Northfield, IL, area, Productive Strategies has helped clients of all sizes, industries, ambitions, and capabilities achieve aggressive growth objectives and sustain them affordably and without disruption of day-to-day operations. And we can do the same for you.
At Productive Strategies, you work only with experienced, senior-level executives. We come from a variety of backgrounds: manufacturing, technology, creative, publishing, training, sales, marketing, organization development, professional services, and account management. But we all have one thing in common: extensive business experience that reduces the time to get things done and increases the quality of the results.
Our Business Consulting Team
A sought-after speaker, Krone has addressed many industry and professional groups, including the American Marketing Association, TEMSCON 2018 (an international engineering conference hosted by Northwestern University), the North American Recycling Institute, the Kellogg Alumni Entrepreneur Conference, the Chicago Coalition of Women’s Initiatives, the Commercial Development Association, and the Polyurethane Manufacturers Association. Among Krone’s popular, proprietary presentations are “Using Sales Representatives to Help You Market at Higher Levels,” “The Five Levels of Marketing,” “Increasing Referrals,” and “Collective Marketing Programs for Trade Groups.”
A graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in psychology, Krone holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Chicago Chapter of The Entrepreneurship Institute, the Illinois Council of Feed My Starving Children, and the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, Winnetka.
Before entering executive search, Hazlett had a successful 16-year career in corporate marketing and advertising agency management, working with some of the country’s leading consumer products companies, including The Quaker Oats Company, Procter and Gamble, Miles Laboratories, Ford Motor Company, and Sara Lee. He holds an M.B.A. in marketing and international business from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in American Studies from Amherst College. In addition, Hazlett served three years of active duty as an officer in the United States Navy. He is actively involved in charitable and civic affairs. Currently, he serves on the executive committee of the board of the Youth Job Center and the Advisory Council of the Northlight Theatre.
At Brady Corporation, a global leader in safety, identification, and compliance, McDermott led the workplace safety division as marketing director and a member of the turn-around leadership that reversed nearly a decade of sales erosion. The team’s approach employed sound brand architecture, sales and sales process management training in the expanding contractor and manufacturer segments, and technical safety content for web, digital, social, and print media.
At W.W. Grainger, a premier industrial supplies and equipment provider, he served with distinction for more than eleven years in separate leadership positions in customer segments, strategic marketing, and go-to-market operations. McDermott led product and pricing planning and programs to synchronize transportation, distribution, and other operations areas with maintenance and repair products. Over six years, he also aligned marketing and sales campaigns and processes that supported annual sales growth in safety solutions and service programs to $1.1 billion from $560 million. He has also served as a senior manager in the commercial and industrial business division at NICOR, one of the largest natural gas energy distribution companies in the U.S.
McDermott holds a master’s degree in business administration from Keller Graduate School of Management and a bachelor of science degree in operations management from Drexel University. He is certified as a Qualified Safety Sales Professional and has completed OSHA-30 General Industry training.
John coaches the Greater Chicago Dragon Boat Club racing team and does his best to keep up with his wife of 30 years, Kathy, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most kilometers continuously paddled in relay in 24 hours. He and Kathy are the parents of twin adult children, whom they readily admit they’ve never been able to keep up with.
At the Dartnell Corporation, a business and training publisher producing newsletters, books, and videos, Pemberton was vice president and publisher. Dartnell served businesses ranging from entrepreneurial ventures to Fortune 500 corporations. End-users were sales and customer service representatives, managers, owners, and executives. Pemberton was group editor, professional division at Whittle Communications, a custom publisher of magazines and other highly targeted communications. He is co-author of the book 60 Years on the Edge of Change: The Digital Check Story.
Working with middle-market owners, C.E.O.s, and presidents has given Pemberton a valuable understanding of leadership and business growth issues that entrepreneurs face. He played leadership roles at the Edward Lowe Foundation in creating the PeerSpectives Roundtable System for middle-market business owners and the “50 Companies to Watch” recognition program for states. He also directed the Entrepreneurship Scorecard national research initiative.
Pemberton holds an M.B.A. in marketing from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a B.S. in English and English Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana.
Tom Rossi
Manager
Outbound Call Center.
Kim Montel
Supervisor
Outbound Call Center.
Dale Krone
Corporate Secretary
Dale Krone oversees the firm’s finances, including billing and receivables. A graduate of DePauw University and holder of a master’s degree from Duke University, she also serves as a writer and editor.
Meet our team today and schedule a consultation by calling (847) 446-0008.