Foodservice Customer Account Specialist - Memphis, TN Metro Area

General Mills Operations, LLC; Memphis (TN); On-site; USD 71,000 - 107,000; Full time

Job summary

General Mills is seeking a Customer Account Specialist to cover Mississippi, West Tennessee, and nearby areas. You will drive incremental sales of a broad portfolio to diverse segments including K-12, Colleges & Universities, Healthcare, and more.

Build strong relationships with distributors, conduct field sales calls, and use Salesforce for planning. Expect about 30% travel with on-site work, and contribute to events and training to grow the business.

Qualifications

• 2+ years sales experience.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Self-motivated with ability to maintain workload from remote office.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Responsibilities

• Sustain existing business and drive new, incremental sales volume.
• Identify and sell General Mills foodservice products to key operators across territory to grow volume.
• Collaborate with Account Executives to drive pull-through demand and growth.
• Partner with distributor sales teams to educate and train customers on products.
• Leverage Salesforce and data to plan daily activities and identify opportunities.
• Close sales by overcoming objections with marketing resources and product knowledge.
• Develop a strategic call pattern to maximize sales calls (16–20/week).
• Attend distributor and industry events and maintain Salesforce updates.
• Collaborate with local team and Region Manager to exceed targets.
• Develop Core 74 Opportunities within Salesforce each fiscal half.

Skills

Sales experience

Interpersonal skills

Problem-solving

Self-motivation

Microsoft Office

Travel willingness

Education

High School Diploma

Bachelor’s Degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

COMPANY OVERVIEW

We exist to make food the world loves. But we do more than that. Our company is a place that prioritizes being a force for good, a place to expand learning, explore new perspectives and reimagine new possibilities, every day. We look for people who want to bring their best — bold thinkers with big hearts who challenge one another and grow together. Because becoming the undisputed leader in food means surrounding ourselves with people who are hungry for what’s next.

OVERVIEW

The FAMM BAM Region, which includes the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi and West Tennessee (Memphis) is seeking a determined and energetic Customer Account Specialist to join our team to cover Mississippi, West Tennessee, and surrounding area.

As a Customer Account Specialist (CAS) you will drive incremental sales and volume growth and sustain existing business by owning relationships with food service operators. You will be selling company product lines across our K-12, Colleges & Universities, Healthcare, Commercial Restaurant, C-Stores, Lodging, and other non-commercial and commercial segments.

In this role, you will sell a broad portfolio of front-of-house and back-of-house products, including Frozen Baked Goods, Flour, Mixes, Cereal, Yogurt, Snacks, I/W Frozen Meals. Through these selling efforts you will develop mutually beneficial partnerships with foodservice operators across all customer channels and record all activity in Salesforce.

You will work closely with the Foodservice Account Executives (Distributor Managers) and communicate regularly with CAS peers while providing expertise to your foodservice 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, Targeted Blitzes, District Huddles, etc.…).

Strong candidates will demonstrate a strong work ethic, passion for selling, be agile and adaptable, have a strategic mindset and be a strong team player. We are looking for a candidate that can build strong relationships and most importantly…CLOSE/CONFIRM the sale.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Sustain existing business and drive new, incremental sales volume.

• Identify and sell General Mills foodservice products to key operators across territory to grow volume of Region.
• Execute strong relationship building skills with the ability to connect and develop relationships with key distributor sales team members to drive growth and establish General Mills as a go to partner.
• Collaborate with the Account Executive and other cross region Account Executives to create pull-through demand for core gaps and innovation.
• Partner with distributor sales teams to educate and train with our products, empowering them to sell on your behalf to their customers.
• Leverage resources such as Salesforce, customer purchase data, Internal AI Tools, Google, 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.
• Utilize analytics (i.e. Salesforce, Excel-based reporting…) combined with local expertise to identify new sales opportunities.
• Develop and execute a strategic call pattern that maximizes your sales call coverage (minimum of 16‑20 operator sales calls per week to sell approximately 2,000 + EQC’s 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.)
• Utilize and update Salesforce to ensure assigned metrics are met.
• Continuously collaborate with your local team and Region Manager.
• Develop Core 74 Opportunities within Salesforce each fiscal half, to focus on and close/confirm accounts, that will lead to exceeding sales targets.

Other Accountabilities

• Although a culinary background is not necessary, it is important to note that baking and preparing plate presentations & samples for your daily sales calls is part of the job requirement.
• This role is not a “work from home” role as it is required to leave your home office to make field sales calls/attend distributor and industry events. There will be some overnight travel required for pertinent business needs, approximately 30% travel.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• High School Diploma
• 2+ years sales experience
• Strong interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills
• Self-motivated with ability to maintain workload from remote office
• Proficiency with Microsoft Applications (i.e. Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• 30% Travel
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills

PREFERRED QUALIFICATION S

• 3+ years of foodservice industry experience
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Working Knowledge of the industry & territory
• Scrappy, adaptable, persistent and agile

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

The salary range for this position is:
$71,300 - $107,000 Annual

At General Mills we strive for each employee's pay at any point in their career to reflect their experiences performance and skills for their current role. The salary range for this role represents the numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to, educations, skills, work experience, certifications, etc. As such, pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range.

Beyond base salary, General Mills offers a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. We are proud to offer a foundation of health benefits, retirement and financial wellbeing, time off programs, wellbeing support and perks. Benefits may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors. You may also be eligible to participate in an annual incentive program. An incentive award, if any, depends on various factors, including, individual and organizational performance.

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet a minimum 18-year age qualification.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER (EOE)

General Mills is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital or familial status, status regarding public assistance, or membership or activity in a local human rights commission.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION REQUEST

If you need to request an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please fill out our online accommodation request form by following this link: Accommodation Request .