Foodservice Customer Account Specialist - Chicago, IL

General Mills, Inc.•Chicago, IL

55d•$70,100 - $105,200

About The Position

Our Midwest Sales Team is seeking a tenacious and adaptable Customer Account Specialist (CAS) to accelerate General Mills' sales at foodservice operators in the great state of Illinois! As a CAS you will drive new sales and sustain existing business at foodservice operators in the Lodging, Commercial Restaurant, K-12, Colleges & Universities, and Healthcare channels in the suburbs of Chicago! In this role, you will: Sell a broad portfolio of front-of-house and back-of-house products, including: Frozen Baked Goods, Flour, Mixes, Single-Serve and Bulk Cereals and Yogurt, Snacks, Frozen Meals Develop mutually beneficial partnerships with foodservice operators across channels: Lodging, Commercial Restaurants, Caterers, Colleges & Universities, Healthcare, K-12 Execute in-person sales calls with foodservice operators and distributor sales representatives Provide expertise to your customers regarding our products (features, benefits, versatility), competitors, and broader industry knowledge. Demonstrate product knowledge to customers through at-home and on-site sample preparation across all product platforms Collaborate closely with the Account Executives (Distributor Managers) and CAS peers with a "Winning as One" mindset Leverage Salesforce and other internal data sources to strategically identify new sales opportunities, plan sales activities and record results Support critical distributor and industry events, i.e. Industry Expos, Distributor Food Shows, Distributor Sales Meetings, etc.

Requirements

High School Diploma
Proficient with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Strong interpersonal, communication and problem skills
Demonstrated ability to collaborate and win as part of a team
Self-motivated, able to maintain workload from remote office
Valid driver's license with a good driving record

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's or Associate's Degree
Problem solving skills
Experience selling to or working within Lodging and Commercial Restaurant operators in Chicagoland Market
Previous work experience in sales and/or foodservice
Spanish proficiency

Responsibilities

Sustain existing business and drive new, incremental sales
Sell General Mills foodservice products to foodservice customers in our focus channels across territory
Leverage resources such as Salesforce, Firefly, customer purchase data, Yelp, customer websites and social media, etc. to properly inform yourself about customers' operations and prepare for sales calls accordingly
Leverage a broad portfolio of marketing and trade resources to overcome customer objections and close sales
Partner with distributor sales teams and distributor sales representatives to educate them about our products, empowering them to sell on your behalf to their customers
Collaborate with the GMI Region'sâ¯Account Executives to effectively create operator demand for new items through distributors (GFS Kenosha, Sysco Chicago, USF Chicago, Performance Chicago)
Collaborate with CAS (sales team) peers to provide efficient customer account coverage and Account Executive support
Leverage analytics (i.e. Salesforce, Firefly, Excel-based reporting) combined with local expertise to identify new sales opportunities
Leverage networking, local publications, social media, boots-on-the-ground research to develop local expertise about the greater Chicagoland area
Analyze data available from multiple sources including Salesforce, Firefly, Excel-based reports and local expertise to identify new customer targets, core void and lost business opportunities at existing customers
Develop and execute a strategic call pattern that maximizes your in-person and virtual sales call coverage (minimum of 16-20 operator sales calls per week to sell approximately 750 - 1000cs of incremental volume per month)
Demonstrate product knowledge to operators through at-home and on-site sample preparation across all product platforms
Support critical distributor and industry events, i.e. Industry Expos, Distributor Food Shows, Distributor Sales Meetings, etc.