Randy Stone

RANDY STONE Born Charles Randolph Stone July 30, 1958 – June 24, 2015 Father | Grandfather | Brother | Son | Songwriter | Singer | Entrepreneur | Grammarian | Consummate Sales Professional | Coach and Mentor | and a Pretty Cool Guy Randy Stone, a 56 year-old Indianapolis native, father, grandfather and brother, entrepreneur and international businessman, was murdered June 24, 2015 during a robbery at his home in Santiago, Dominican Republic where he had been living since 2010. Second son of Henry A. Stone (deceased) and Jacqueline K. Stone (deceased), Randy is survived by his daughters Natasha (Gerardo) Cuchcatla and Jennifer Stone (Anthony Gaspar), Indianapolis; his granddaughter Vanessa Cuchcatla and grandson Logan Cuchcatla; his sisters Becky Stone and Heidi (James) Thompson of Indianapolis. He is pre-deceased by his parents, his brother Scott and his grandson Benjamin Cuchcatla. Randy was graduated from John Marshall High School and studied political science at Indiana University. Friendly and competitive, Randy enjoyed playing games such as darts, bowling, Scrabble and particularly the game of Risk. Randy was gregarious and enjoyed discussing politics of the day, history and a wide range of topics. He enjoyed a well-turned phrase, loved the English language and appreciated when proper grammar was employed. He took pride in his work, crafting each report with care and attention to detail. Entrepreneurial as a pre-teen, he would sell his lawn mowing services to Painted Hills homeowners and policed the Painted Hills lake for trash and debris. He even sold Rainbow vacuums door-to-door. His father supported his entrepreneurial side and helped him get set up one summer in Lawrence with an ice cream truck. Randy dubbed it the Rock Bottom Ice Cream truck. It was the seventies and he could often be heard playing Santana over the loudspeakers. A prolific songwriter, he began singing and playing acoustic guitar in high school. Later, while a student at Indiana University, Randy played several Bloomington venues as a member of the Stone Powers Buchanan Band. Randy was a seasoned research and business intelligence professional for more than three decades. His first position after college as a researcher with Walker Information changed the course of his life. He fell in love with the stories that accurate data collection told about people and dedicated the rest of his life to excelling in his field. Randy was intuitive, insightful and capable of presenting complex ideas and concepts into a written report that was meaningful to a wide, diverse audience. He was extremely adaptable and culturally fluid and demonstrated leadership through personal actions and follow-through. In addition to being personable, he maintained a positive attitude with a healthy sense of humor. He treated all people with the dignity and respect they deserved. He would also say that he accepted responsibility and proudly placed the bull's-eye on his chest while embracing accountability. Randy was a gifted sales professional and coach. During a 2-week sales training he performed in the Czech Republic, he followed the Xerox principles of sales i.e. price is not usually the main objection; need, quality and urgency are first. He firmly believed that being a sales professional means being "an assistant buyer." He served as President and founder of DataVision International, Inc., a position he held for nearly 18 years. His market research practice focused on business-to-business (B2B) market segmentation studies, brand awareness and positioning, customer satisfaction measurement, and strategic planning. He also engaged in high level research-based B2B lead generation programs. In 2005, he created a market research division for Mobius Vendor Partners, a business process design, management and performance improvement company that acquired DataVision International and served as its Executive VP, Strategic Research Services. In March 2009, Randy co-founded Global MarketVoice, a business and public policy intelligence firm in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. The company provides strategic market research, business-to-business lead generation programs, contact center management services, public opinion polling and more to assist clients in developing and implementing plans of action. In 2011 he expanded his services and became an independent in-country market research analyst for Euromonitor International, a global research company with a presence in 80 countries throughout the world. Although primarily engaged in assignments related to the Dominican Republic, he was also involved with projects encompassing other countries in the region, including Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Mexico plus Canada and the Republic of Korea. He was an asset to any organization where he worked. Randy enjoyed living in Santiago, his little bit of paradise. He loved getting to know the local people and learning to speak Spanish. He still played his guitar and sang in some of the local venues. We have included under the Multimedia section a song written in Spanish La Manera De (The Way) (Lyrics posted to the guestbook). He loved life. Most of all, he loved his two daughters, Natasha and Jennifer.