Merge 2.0

Bill MacDonald is a serial entrepreneur. What he learned from launching four successful companies became his springboard to help other CEOs grow revenue. PleinAire encompasses his desire to give back to the noblest profession in the worldsales. MacDonald founded PleinAire Strategies in 2011, a boutique, revenue-growth consultancy to help sales leaders transform B2B sales activity into sustainable revenue growth. Using his MERGE process, clients benefit from fresh thinking on old ways of B2B selling. MacDonald launched three leading organizations in executive compensation and benefits, notably Compensation Resources Group, Inc. (CRG), Merrill Lynch Executive Compensation Group, and Retirement Capital Group, Inc. (RCG). By 1999, CRG grew to 190 professionals, managed billions of dollars in assets, and maintained nine offices nationwide. Ready for new challenges, MacDonald sold CRG to Clark Consulting, a NYSE firm. He launched RCG in 2003, creating another market leader in the field. Currently, he serves as a managing partner of Executive Benefits Group and as a board member of DigitalChalk, a leading provider of online learning management systems. With thirty-plus years of experience in closing tens of millions of dollars in deals, MacDonald learned hard-won lessons. In his first book, MERGE: Simplify the Complex Sale, he lays out his sales process to decode complex sales. With MERGE 2.0, he shares insights on how prospects buy today and offers new to close more deals. He also wrote Retain Key Executives, a compendium on the recruit-retain-reward challenge, published by CCH. MacDonald serves on the Board of Visitors at the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University; a long-time member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), hes now a member in the World Presidents Organization, the Chief Executive Organization. He has spoken before many industry forums such as the YPO, Forbes CEO Conference, Conference Board and World-at-Work; he is a contributor to Million Dollar Round Table and Top of the Table. Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year and California Veteran of the Year in times past, he is also a graduate of Northeastern University and The Presidents Program on Leadership (PPL) at the Harvard Business School. Bill lives in Indian Wells, CA with Eileen, his wife. In the summer, they head to their beloved home on the rocky coast of Maine. Together, they raised two natural-born entrepreneurs, Natalie and Bill Jr., and now enjoy keeping up with five whip smart and talented grandchildren.