Customer Account Specialist - Memphis, TN & Jackson, MS - General Mills

OVERVIEW

As a Customer Account Specialist (CAS) you will drive incremental volume growth and sustain existing volume by owning relationships with operators and selling company product lines across our K12, Colleges & Universities, Healthcare, Commercial, and other Non-Commercial channels. The Mid-South Region team is looking for a CAS for the Memphis, TN-Jackson, MS area.

You will work closely with the Account Executives (Distributor Managers) and communicate regularly with CAS peers while providing expertise to your customers regarding our products, competitors, and other industry knowledge. You will also leverage sales tools and analyze internal reporting to strategically plan daily activities to identify new business opportunities. You will support critical distributor and industry events (i.e. Food Shows, Distributor Sales Meetings, etc.).

Strong candidates will demonstrate an entrepreneurial and curious mindset to learn their business and cultivate opportunities in their territory. Candidates will need to be assertive and jump in quickly, showing a bias for action and have a strong sense of ownership and accountability for both their territory and performance. 

In this role you will get to be both an individual contributor and an integral part of a larger Region team. You will develop a solid foundation for your selling skills as a CAS, which include: relationship building, internal and external communication skills, closing the sale, data analysis and more.

This role is located in either Memphis, TN or Jackson, MS.  The candidate will support Account Executives (AEs) in Memphis, TN, Jackson, MS and occasionally the Florida panhandle. Because this position is a customer facing role, travel and overnight travel are essential parts of the role. The overnight travel is estimated at 60% but can vary from week to week. Travel can be anywhere within the delivery footprint of our distributor base.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Sustain and drive incremental volume

• Identify and sell General Mills foodservice products to key operators across territory to grow volume of Region  
• Collaborate with the Region's Account Executives to create pull through demand for core gaps and innovation 
• Work closely with distributors to train their sales team on our products, build relationships and obtain leads

Leverage Analytics and tools (i.e. Salesforce, Firefly) to identify and close on new opportunities

• Develop strategic geographic call patterns to maximize call coverage (12 – 15 consultative calls per week to sell in 25+ additional slots to operators per month) 
• Leverage General Mills data sources and best practices to identify and close operator opportunities (product and promotion) 
• Update sales activities in Sales Force in a timely manner and exceed quarterly call and confirmed SKUs sold goals

Other Accountabilities

• Place & activate new items through strong operator engagement
• Support critical distributor and industry events

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• High School Diploma
• Strong interpersonal & communication skills
• Win as a team (team player)
• Self-motivated with ability to maintain workload from remote office and field
• Valid driver's license with a good driving record
• Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. General Mills will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 2+ years of industry experience/sales experience
• Problem solving skills
• Solid analytic and computer skills.