Corporate culture has increasingly influenced the way executives think about and conduct business. At Lexmark, for example, the firm has forged a Customers for Life credo, and the only way for the philosophy to take hold is if all members of the team buy into the concept. Otherwise, it becomes a tagline that may look good on paper but doesn’t resonate within Lexmark’s offices.
Clark Bugg has certainly championed the cause during his 22 years with Lexmark. The director of North America channel sales isn’t parroting the company line; customer service means as much to him as it does any member on staff.
“After 22 years, I’m still passionate about working alongside our partners and being a leader with solid business acumen that our partners enjoy working with each and every year,” said Bugg, a 2021 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “As a leader, I love empowering teams to win. It’s rewarding to get to know your partners and how your mutual success positively impacted careers and families. A big part of my job is to help create an environment of enthusiasm that teams get excited to sell Lexmark.”
That enthusiasm came into full focus during the mid-2000s when Bugg took on his first management role in heading an inside sales team at Lexmark. The talent-laden unit included numerous individuals who have since moved into high-leverage roles within the manufacturer. Backed by these impact players, Bugg garnered the confidence to develop creative ways to grow new business.
This experience spurred the firm’s earliest copier dealer partners, and many of the relationships became the basis of the Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) Program. “This experience allowed me the opportunity to be an early pioneer of our copier business while working and hiring many of the top performers who helped take our channel business to the next level,” Bugg noted.
Strategies, he points out, cannot be executed without great people. The field team is the face of Lexmark, and with Bugg at the helm, he is tasked with maintaining a culture built on mutual respect and transparency. Bugg incorporates partner and customer feedback and insight into constant improvement.
Passion for Winning
Of the many individuals who have helped shape his career, Chief Revenue Officer Brock Saladin and his passion for winning have helped fuel Bugg’s competitive nature. Saladin is a champion of channel collaboration and working alongside Lexmark’s partners to capture new business, according to Bugg, and was a critical advocate in the early days of the copier dealer program.
“Brock is transparent in his communication and empowers me to find creative ways to grow with our partners,” Bugg noted. “His humble-but-hungry approach to leadership influences how I lead my team and interact with our partners.”
Despite the challenges offered by the pandemic, Bugg and his team continued to grow business while educating and training partners on A4 opportunities in the hybrid work environment. As 2021 rolls into the second half, Bugg will continue to trumpet A4 technology, positioning Lexmark as a leader of the movement, arming partners with the tools and technology—from cloud print management to cloud fleet management—to future-proof print and develop new business.
What is Bugg’s formula for improvement? “Understanding device performance in the context of where it sits physically, how it is used, and the business process it supports is incredibly important as we work to turn data into true informed insight,” he said. “This informed insight is passed to our R&D teams. Having in-house development at Lexmark allows us to be very agile so we can cycle faster than our competitors.”
Bugg and his wife of 21 years, Beth, have two teenage sons who keep them on the go with football, basketball and lacrosse. When they’re not at sporting events, the Buggs enjoy traveling. This summer, they visited Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
