Ashley Blalock Milligan

Experience

• 

  Accenture

  Jan 1999 - Jan 1999

  Service Coordinator

  Managed consultant’s schedules, planned conferences and meetings, as well as assisting consultants and partners with project deliverables and metrics.

• 

  Performance Retail Inc.

  Jan 2001 - Jul 2002

  Marketing Analyst

  Contributed to development of company trademark/logo, advertisements, sales presentations, & trade show paraphernalia. Researched potential clients in the convenience store industry for the Sales Managers to make sales presentations. Prepared organization’s marketing plans; formulated alternative marketing concepts & identified ancillary branding strategies. Investigated competitors’ external marketing activities & used information to developed internal marketing strategies.

• 

  Sysco

  Sept 2002 - Aug 2015

  Inbound Communications- Designed the strategy, the processes, and built a team to support Sysco's Category Management initiative. The team receives and resolves our OpCo Merchandising teams category management inquiries by phone, email, and Chatter. Outbound Communications - Streamlined and standardized the outbound communications to the the Corporate office and North American Operating Companies merchandising and sales teams by implementing a single communication channel, consistent frequency of messages, and templates based on type of message. This also includes the publication of three different weekly newsletters.Strategy/Innovation - Collaborate with cross functional teams to strategize and communicate new initiatives. Show less Spearheads successive initiatives on a project by project basis. Collaborates with both in-house and independent professionals to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient completion of each objective. Acts as a change agent and business transformation leader while creating development strategies to improve corporate offerings.Led business and operational transformation to develop and implement Shared Business Services Call Center that caters to the needs of associates, suppliers, and customers. Currently manages call center operations while monitoring quality, assessing employee performance, and developing staffing plans. • Manages five supervisors, 2 call center trainers, and 40 customer service representatives, ensuring that the Shared Business Services Call Center continues to run effectively. • Creates, modifies, and resolves sales orders and inquiries through SAP ECC and CRM. • Oversees employee development for call center supervisors and customer support professionals; has developed and initiated plans to grow call center to 400 associates. • Wrote and executed process and systems training programs for Houston- and Dallas-based support centers. • Played instrumental role in the design and execution of the SAP order management and CRM for the Shared Business Services Call Center. • Conducted Voice of Customer interviews, using industry techniques and analysis, to determine scope of services expected by consumers. Show less Chosen as one of 50 professionals to further expand and define the newly developed Strategic Development Team, which comprised senior executives, including CFOs, VPs, and Directors, and other key professionals from multiple departments. • Led cross-functional teams in the development of the scope, approach, dependencies, and risks associated with the launch of a brand credit card; collaborated with Chase and Visa to create credit card program that grew margins and reduced DSO and debt ratio while promoting customer loyalty through cash-back incentives. • Spearheaded the development of an online bill pay feature in an effort to bridge current and future business models and provide clients with the ability to pay invoices over the Internet before the implementation of SAP; partnered with owners of a leading bill pay company to create website that meets consumer needs. • Championed the roll out of the online bill pay pilot program in five companies; traveled to each organization and introduced the new system to 50 to 100 employees in each location. • Wrote training sessions and webinars to educate internal employees regarding the new online bill pay feature; presented the new website to over 70 United States locations and 30 Canadian locations to ensure proper training of employees. Show less Directed recruitment and retention practices while managing eight customer service representatives. Trained, supervised, and assessed the performance of each employee while guiding project teams in the understanding of business processes and user requirements, identification of workflow inefficiencies, and development of business required documents. • Pinpointed and resolved communication gaps between departments and work flow inefficiencies, thereby improving productivity and accuracy.• Developed new reporting tool that reduced unpaid invoices by 35 percent. Show less Established collaborative trading relationships with suppliers that essentially doubled number of EDI partners through iTradenetwork. Wrote training presentations, implementation guides, and checklists. • Drafted trade show manuals, supplier guides, and website materials to inform current and prospective clients regarding corporate offerings and programs. • Directed 20-employee taskforce to identify opportunities and implement solutions in an effort to improve the work environment of the 150-person department. Show less

  • Sr. Manager, Category Management Communications

    Oct 2013 - Aug 2015

  • Organizational Effectiveness Lead

    Feb 2013 - Oct 2013

  • Manager, SBS Customer & Sales Support Center

    Jan 2009 - Feb 2013

  • Strategy Specialist

    Mar 2006 - Jan 2009

  • Supervisor, Customer Service

    Nov 2004 - Mar 2006

  • eSupplier Solutions Specialist (EDI)

    Sept 2002 - Oct 2004
• 

  Acosta

  Aug 2015 - Dec 2020

  Vice President, Corporate Distribution - Sysco Corporate

  • Develops, leads, and implements Acosta’s overall sales strategy and initiatives; oversees operational needs of the foodservice sales business• Designs, develops and manages client strategies, manufacturer/client relationships and revenue goals that align and lead to a successful integration and execution initiative through Sysco. • Responsible for managing, influencing, and expanding manufacturer / client relationships as well as maintaining solid strategic broker partnership with Sysco Corporate and 74 Operating Companies.• Assist in development, analysis, and implementation of client’s sales and marketing objectives with Sysco. • Maintains client engagement and satisfaction through design and implementation of solutions, timely deliverables and consistent processes.• Partners with the key account managers, field account managers and distributor account managers to deliver results for the client through streamlined and effective communications and processes.• Coordinates and communicates monthly sales analytics from Broker Tableau related to incremental sales volume, client scorecards, category, brand and account information, and syndicated data reports. Show less

• 

  Wells Enterprises

  Dec 2020 - now

  • Leads a 9-person field sales team in the Central region overseeing all aspects of team operations, sales growth, foodservice distribution, and broker management.• Accountable for the National Sysco Corporate sales execution and maintaining top-to-top relationships with Sysco distribution headquarters• Negotiates and manages trade programs, annual contracts, sales initiatives, category management, field sales execution, and strategic initiatives for all foodservice distributors, national accounts, healthcare/GPO relationships in the Central Region for our Blue Bunny, Bomb Pop, Halo Top, Customer and Operator brands.• Collaborates with sales teams nationwide to implement training and sales support for product launches and new programs.• Now serving as the Head of the Wells Women’s ERG, after serving two years as Communication Chair by writing newsletters, weekly leadership/professional development blog posts, determining content for monthly programs, moderating various leadership panel discussions, and facilitating content specific trainings. Show less

  • Team Lead Distribution and Field Sales

    Mar 2023 - now

  • Sysco National Business Development Manager

    Dec 2020 - now