Founder & C.E.O. ChannelNet
Paula Tompkins is a strategic visionary with a deep understanding of marketing and technology. Her 30-plus-year career encompasses the full spectrum of marketing, from direct mail and call centers to multi-channel and omnichannel experiences. She is an authority on leveraging digital touch points to drive store traffic. An inventor, Tompkins holds two U.S. patents for ChannelNet’s SiteBuilderTM software technology.
She started her career as a commercial banker in 1974 with a stint on Wall Street at the Bank of New York. Abandoning Wall Street in 1975, she went on to break gender barriers at both 3M and General Electric (GE) industrial sales divisions as a sales engineer. At GE, she sold computer components to Silicon Valley companies.
One of her customers, a start-up, recruited her to assist with developing a personal computer, an early “luggable.” She then moved on to another start-up, Altus Corporation, where she was responsible for creating an interactive electronic advertising medium for airline passengers.
In 1985, she founded The SoftAd Group, which was renamed ChannelNet in 2004. She has led the company’s creation of thousands of multichannel marketing and sales solutions for corporate America. Over time, the solutions have evolved from 5” and 3” diskettes and early iterations of multimedia to CDROM and client/server technology, the Internet, and tablets and other mobile devices.
Her technology-based sales, marketing and service company works in the finance, automotive and home improvement industries. Some of her customers are Fiserv, BMW Financial Services, Hyundai Motor Finance, Ally Financial, Inc., RouteOne, Toyota Financial Services Corporation, Harley Davidson, Ford Motor Company, JM Family Enterprises, Porsche Financial Services, Subaru, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volkswagen Credit, Lexus, Audi Financial Services, Kia Motor Finance, General Motors, Hunter Douglas and Benjamin Moore & Co.
The Marshall University alumna actively works to promote the school’s programs. She served on the university’s foundation board of directors for 12 years.
In 2014, Marshall University’s Yeager Leadership Institute presented Tompkins with the second annual William E. Willis Leadership Award for her exemplary leadership in three areas — learning, guidance and honor.
She has appeared on television on Tom Peters’ “Thriving on Chaos” and PBS’ “The Nightly Business Report,” and she has been on National Public Radio’s “Money Talks.” Tompkins also has been featured in numerous online and print publications, including American Banker, Automotive News, Auto Finance News, F&I Showroom, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Time, The Washington Post, Business Week, the New York Post, CIO, Advertising Age, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Crain’s Business Detroit, J.D. Power and Associates publications and Esquire.
Paula Tompkins is the chief executive officer and founder of ChannelNet, LLC. She is also a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
Also renowned in the international business arena, Tompkins has been the focus of articles in a number of periodicals around the world, including La Tribune, Australian Ad News, Computer Sweden, Markedsføring and Japanese Newsweek.
Tompkins has lectured at Columbia University’s School of Business, the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Stanford University and Marshall University.
Born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, Tompkins holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Marshall University. Her main residence is in the Silicon Valley area.
Technology Innovations
1981: Launched an early “luggable” personal computer called the Actrix, one of the world’s first true portable computers
1983: Created Skytray, an interactive electronic advertising medium targeted to airline passengers
2010: Received patent for a modifiable sales and marketing software platform
2012: Received patent for data driven software personalization technologies
Digital Innovations
1986: Launched the first digital marketing campaigns in the world for BMW, General Motors, Chemical Bank and Ford
1993: Created the first enterprise-class, interactive selling software product, SalesExcelerator
1995: Launched Ford.com
1996: Launched world’s first dealer websites for 5,000 Ford dealers
2006: Developed the world’s first personal microsites for BMW
