✦ Customer Story — Experience Feedback Interview
General Mills Logo
Customer Story · Nomadia Field Sales

General Mills goes from 6 tools to 1 and cuts visit preparation from over an hour to a few minutes with Nomadia Sales

🍦 Häagen-Dazs · Green Giant · Nature Valley 🔁 6 tools → 1 only 👥 7 pilot reps — 0 wanted to go back
🔁 6 → 1
tools replaced by Nomadia Sales — CRM, database, photos, deal management, 2 BI tools
⏱️ >1h
of preparation per visit with 6 tools — eliminated with Nomadia Sales
🚀 2 months
to obtain internal approvals — vs. 4 years of waiting before the project
0
pilot team reps wanted to go back after 3 months of testing

The project told by two voices

🎙️
William MARMIN
National Sales Director
General Mills France
⚙️
Pierre BERTIN
Sales Force Support & Tools Manager
General Mills France
✦ General Mills France Brand Portfolio
🍦 Häagen-Dazs 🌽 Green Giant 🌿 Nature Valley 🌮 Old El Paso

Project origin: a split and a total reorganisation

Can you tell us about the origin and context of this project?
W. MARMIN National Sales Director
Following the split from Yoplait on 1 December 2021, a reorganisation of the sales force was necessary. We started by working on a new commercial territory structure, with larger multi-category territories and higher visit frequency targets. Each sales rep now has a portfolio of stores across the hypermarket, supermarket and drive-through channels.

By observing how our sales reps were working, we identified time losses at every stage of our sales methodology, which has seven steps. For example, to prepare a single visit, they had to look for information across six different tools — which could take more than an hour for just one appointment! That explained why teams were unable to hit their visit frequency targets. We then looked for not just a tool, but a solution serving a new commercial approach, whose philosophy comes down to three words.
Simplification

One tool instead of six. A smooth, friction-free commercial experience.

🎯
Efficiency

More visits, better prepared. Sales reps focused on selling.

⏱️
Time Savings

Visit preparation reduced from over an hour to a few minutes.

✦ The 7 steps of General Mills' sales methodology — all optimised by Nomadia Sales
01📅
Visit Planning
02📋
Preparation
03
Verification
04🔄
Reprioritisation
05🤝
Sales Meeting
06🎯
Closing
07🔁
Re-selling

The root problem: 6 tools for a single job

What process led to the decision to change CRM?
P. BERTIN Sales Force Support & Tools Manager
It was precisely because the previous CRM, in place since 2016, did not cover all our needs that the tools had proliferated. The working environment included, on top of the CRM: a database for sharing information, a platform for deal management, an application for taking in-store photos, and two BI reporting tools for performance tracking. Managing this environment meant working with five or six companies every time a development was needed, with coordination problems that could lead to mismatches between applications. We wanted a solution that would meet all our needs while giving us greater autonomy.
6 1
6 tools replaced by Nomadia Sales — radical simplification

General Mills' fragmented ecosystem before the project, and the unified solution after deployment:

CRM (since 2016) Shared database Deal management platform In-store photo app BI Tool #1 BI Tool #2 ✔ Nomadia Sales — all-in-one

Why Nomadia was chosen — and in just two months

What tipped the balance in Nomadia's favour?
W. MARMIN National Sales Director
We had two options: start from scratch with a partner and build a bespoke solution — with all the investment and lead times that implies — or, as Nomadia proposed to us, start from a CRM solution that already incorporated the core business logic and could be customised to General Mills' specifics. This was the approach we chose, knowing that we had set ourselves a challenging timing target: to obtain in two months the internal approvals we hadn't managed to secure in four years!

Nomadia Sales was chosen because we absolutely needed a SaaS solution that met our IT management's requirements and the group's cybersecurity standards. Nomadia's ability to commit to deployment timescales and support us through change management was decisive.
P. BERTIN Sales Force Support & Tools Manager
Nomadia also supported us on the hardware change side. The Nomadia team ensured we received, in record time, the HP EliteBook 2-in-1 hybrid laptops we had chosen — usable without a keyboard to work comfortably in store aisles and in meetings — at a time when there was significant pressure on the IT hardware market. A level of commitment and responsiveness that goes well beyond simple software deployment.
🧩
Integrated business logicAn existing CRM base already covering the core sales process, customisable to General Mills' specifics.
☁️
SaaS & cybersecurityCompliance with the international group's IT requirements — IT management approval obtained.
🚀
Guaranteed rapid deploymentContractual commitment on timescales — decisive for meeting the 2-month project timeline.
⚙️
Configuration autonomyAbility to configure the tool internally without depending on external services for every evolution.
🤝
Change management supportNomadia involved in the team engagement plan, not just the technical deployment.
💻
Hybrid hardware includedHP EliteBook 2-in-1 laptops delivered in record time despite market tensions — a Nomadia value-add.

Reception by the teams: the pilot that changed everything

How was the solution received by the field teams?
W. MARMIN National Sales Director
This project is the most structurally significant the NSD has seen in about ten years. We really changed everything: tools, hardware and the in-store approach. That required a serious engagement plan. Before the official launch, we set up a pilot team of 7 field sales reps and 1 regional manager who tested the new solution for three months. They were so satisfied that none of them wanted to go back, even temporarily! The official launch took place in December 2022, at our annual conference. The solution was presented by the pilot team members, with such enthusiasm that by the end of the conference all the sales reps were eager to use it.
🔬
Pilot phase — 3 months before deployment
  • 7 field sales reps selected
  • 1 regional manager involved
  • 3 months of real-world testing
  • 0 reps wanted to go back
  • Total satisfaction documented and shared
🎉
Official launch — Annual conference December 2022
  • Presented by the pilots themselves
  • Enthusiasm spread across the entire sales force
  • All sales reps were eager to use it
  • The launch turned into a genuine event
  • Most structurally significant transformation in 10 years of NSD

To prepare a single visit, sales reps had to look for information across six different tools, including the CRM — which could take them more than an hour! For just one appointment!

William MARMIN, National Sales Director — General Mills France

We had set ourselves a somewhat audacious timing challenge: to obtain in two months the internal approvals we hadn't managed to secure in four years!

William MARMIN, National Sales Director — General Mills France

The structurally significant benefits of the project

  1. From 6 Tools to 1: Radical Simplification of the Working Environment

    By replacing 6 distinct tools with Nomadia Sales, General Mills France eliminated coordination friction, data synchronisation issues and the administrative burden of managing 5 or 6 suppliers simultaneously. The working environment is now unified, coherent and maintained by a single partner.

  2. Visit Preparation Reduced from Over 1 Hour to a Few Minutes

    This is the project's most emblematic benefit. Before Nomadia Sales, preparing a visit meant navigating 6 tools to consolidate customer information — over an hour of work before each appointment. Today, all data is available in a single screen: history, objectives, pricing conditions, promotions, shelf photos. Preparation takes a few minutes.

  3. GM's 7-Step Sales Methodology Finally Flowing Seamlessly

    Nomadia Sales supports all 7 steps of General Mills' sales methodology — from planning to re-selling — in a coherent, uninterrupted workflow. Each step flows naturally into the next, data from one step feeds automatically into the following one, and the sales rep stays focused on their commercial role rather than managing their tools.

  4. Visit Frequency Targets Finally Achievable

    The new commercial territory structure post-Yoplait split had set higher visit frequency targets — impossible to achieve with the old organisation and multi-tool environment. With the time freed up by Nomadia Sales, sales reps can finally honour those targets: more visits per day, better prepared, across the hypermarket, supermarket and drive-through channels.

  5. Unanimous, Enthusiastic Adoption: The Pilot Team That Didn't Want to Go Back

    The most telling result of the deployment: none of the 7 pilot reps wanted to return to the old solution, even temporarily. And at the December 2022 annual conference, their enthusiasm was so infectious that the entire sales force was eagerly awaiting deployment — the polar opposite of the typical resistance to change seen in CRM projects.

  6. IT Autonomy and Independence from External Suppliers

    With the old environment, every development required coordinating 5 or 6 different companies. Nomadia Sales gives General Mills real autonomy in configuration and future evolutions — the NSD can adapt the tool to its needs without depending on a chain of external suppliers.

The most structurally significant NSD project in a decade

Total Commercial Transformation

Tools, hardware and in-store approach: General Mills changed everything simultaneously — and achieved the most structurally significant NSD transformation in 10 years.

🚀
Record-Breaking Timeline

Internal approvals secured in 2 months vs. 4 years expected. A powerful signal of the project's relevance and urgency.

❤️
Unprecedented Adoption

0 pilot reps wanted to go back. The conference launch created a collective enthusiasm rare in CRM projects.

📋 Got a customer issue to sort out? Speak to an expert within 24 hours.

Take a look at our latest case studies:
nomadia logo

Geoconcept becomes Nomadia

Geoconcept brands are officially
evolving into Nomadia

nomadia logo

TourSolver becomes
Nomadia TourSolver