Foodservice Customer Account Specialist - Chicago, IL

Customer Account Specialist (Cas) - Midwest Sales Team

Our Midwest Sales Team is seeking a tenacious and adaptable Customer Account Specialist (CAS) to accelerate General Mills' sales at foodservice operators in 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, and Frozen Meals.

Develop mutually beneficial partnerships with foodservice operators across channels.

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.

Key Accountabilities:

• 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's 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.

Other Accountabilities:

• 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).
• Support critical distributor and industry events, i.e. Industry Expos, Distributor Food Shows, Distributor Sales Meetings, etc.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 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.

Additional Considerations:

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S.
• General Mills will not sponsor applicants for a U.S. work visa.
• International relocation or international remote working arrangements (outside of the US) will not be considered.
• Salary Range: $70100.00 - $105200.00 / Annually.

General Mills offers a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. Benefits may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors.