Training Tuesday– Prospecting

No matter what you have scheduled for any particular day there is one part of your job you should do every day – prospecting. There are no sales without customers and there are no customers without frequent prospecting. To keep your trucks full of freight, you have to keep prospects in your pipeline. Set a daily or weekly minimum number of cold calls or prospecting contacts for yourself – your success depends on it.

There are many resources that cover the best ways to be successful in prospecting, and some of our top tips are below:

1. Talk to and develop relationships with everyone you meet in your industry. Make sure your competitors know you and what you do. Share information. Never give away company secrets, but sometimes you can help each other achieve goals and gain new business you might not have uncovered without the others help.

2. Join clubs and organizations. You never know where your next big shipper will come from.

3. Subscribe to industry publications. Read your local newspapers, business publications, and national publications. There are many online resources and articles that will provide excellent industry insight.

4. Attend trade shows and seminars. Those that are aimed at trucking and freight, as well as major tradeshows that are specific to certain industries, are a great place to start.

5. Give speeches every chance you get. Don’t sell from the podium, but positioning yourself as an industry expert will benefit you in the long run.

6. Develop and practice networking skills – the most powerful business tool. Mastering networking is the difference between a mediocre and magnificent career.

7. Surround yourself with successful people. It’s the best way to learn how to be successful.

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LTL 101:Restricted Commodities

Did you know that certain types of commodities cannot be shipped via LTL carriers due to governmental regulations and that LTL carriers can refuse to accept certain items as a matter of company policy? In many cases, the root issue is liability — certain items are too valuable and/or high target items for theft to make them worth the risk to handle and transport.

Items of Extraordinary Value:
Carriers have different policies regarding these items and they may be willing to accept certain items if they have the appropriate insurance coverage and specialize in the transport of valuable merchandise.

Restricted or Prohibited Items:
Another group of items that LTL carriers may refuse to transport are those excluded by government regulations or due to being extremely hazardous in nature. In addition, carriers that lack the proper storage and stowage equipment to maintain the proper temperature will refuse certain items, such as refrigerated items. Finally, certain items (such as canoes) may be prohibited by certain carriers because of their size, shape, difficulty to stow and difficulty to handle.

Do your homework and research LTL carriers carefully!

Restricted Commodities are listed in the Rules Tariffs of each LTL carrier. To give you an example of how complex some of these Restricted Commodities sections are, please visit FedEx’s “Prohibited and Restricted Articles” section of their rules tariff by clicking the link: http://www.fedex.com/us/freight/rulestariff/prohibited_articles.html

Make sure to address specific questions to the carrier you are considering. Within the world of LTL carriers there is a great deal of specialization. For instance, some carriers specialize in the transport of perishable items or hazardous materials. If you have items to transport that fall into both of these categories, you may be forced to hire two separate LTL carriers.

Whatever company you choose to move your hard-to-handle item(s), make sure to do your homework. Make sure you select a freight company with a strong track record, solid liability coverage, and robust maintenance and quality control processes to ensure top performance.

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Training Tuesday– Tips for a Great End of the Year

As we move steadily towards the end of the year, it is important to continue to work hard to gain new customers and keep existing customers satisfied. Below are some of our top tips to make the end of the year just as strong and successful as the beginning.

1.Call every existing customer you have.

Remind them why they already rely on you. Let them know that you and your staff will continue to provide excellent service through the remainder of the year, and beyond. Also ask them if there are any new projects or additional shipments coming in the next few months that you should prepare your staff for.

2.Call every “hot prospect” you have.

You never know when a prospective shipper may have encountered a problem with their current 3PL or carrier. You may luck into calling them on a day when they are receptive to hearing how your agency can provide better service than what they are currently receiving.

3.Train your team.

Ensure that your team has the knowledge and tools they need to finish the year strong. If they need additional sales or operations training, make sure they get it.

4.Set an “end-of-year” goal.

People find a way to achieve great things when they have a well-defined goal. Review your prior year’s results and compare them to current year-to-date run count and revenue results. Then, set an aggressive, but attainable, goal for you and your staff.

5.Make 10 customer calls per week for the remainder of the year.

By simply making 10 new prospect calls per week, you’ll contact almost 200 new prospective customers by year’s end.

 

Selling is the key to our success; as individual agents, and as a company. Our sales success has a direct impact on our ability to grow, to become more profitable, and to take market share – today and in the future.

 

“It is not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” – Patricia Fripp

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Training Tuesday:Maximize Joint Sales Calls

If you have sales people in your organization, and you’re not making joint sales calls with them, you’re missing out on one of the best tools to grow your business. Joint sales calls are beneficial in many ways, primarily for the less-experienced salesperson on the call, but they also provide an opportunity for the experienced salesperson to build greater relationships with their team members and customers. If you’re going to take the time to go on a joint sales call, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that your joint sales calls are most successful. Ask yourself the questions below before planning a joint sales call to maximize the benefits of the call for yourself, your team, and your customers.

1.What do you want to accomplish on this call?

Determine what you’d like to gain from conducting a joint sales call. Are you trying to improve the skills of a new team member? Improve a relationship with an existing customer? Or, make a sale to a new customer? After you’ve answered these questions, be sure to set concrete goals before the call and create a sales strategy that works towards that goal.

2.What action do you want from the customer at the end of this call?

This should be decided before every call to give you and your sales person a direction when making the sales call. If you want the customer to make a purchase at the end of the call your approach will be different than if the purpose of the call is fact finding. There are many different types of sales calls that will benefit the customer and help you grow the account; fact finding, service calls, bid review, sales presentation, etc. Know exactly what kind of sales call you’re making and prepare accordingly.

3.How will this call reinforce the value of your company?

What value does this joint call offer? Does it allow you to emphasize a strength of the company? How can you best take advantage of the time on the call to create value for your customer and the company? Make sure not to waste the customer’s time. Be mindful to accomplish your goals on the call, but more importantly, ensure that the time spent with the customer has value to them and to their company.

4.What am I teaching my salespeople today to help them achieve their potential?

How does this joint sales call allow you to be the best leader and help your salespeople to become stronger? Is this call part of a larger effort to create an encouraging environment for your team or is it intended mainly for sales purposes? Know what the value of joint sales calls is to your sales people. Sales representatives are uniquely different – make sure that the sales person you ride with will get the maximum benefit of your time, expertise, and coaching.

5.How am I creating a motivational climate for my salespeople?

Is a joint sales call the first step to motivating your employees? What else can you do to create a team that is motivated and empowered to be successful? There are few traits more valuable to a sales person than a positive attitude. Be sure when making joint sales calls that you demonstrate the power of a positive attitude to your sales person and to your customer. A little motivation can go a long way. When joining a member of your sales team on sales calls, make sure you demonstrate a dynamic, positive and upbeat attitude and approach to your sales efforts. Your example and sales coaching could be the key to your employees enjoying a successful sales career.

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LTL 101:Billing Accuracy

Many shippers have expressed concern about accuracy of billing by LTL carriers. Having pushed the LTL carriers to be more vigilant with making corrections for weight and other aspects of shipments for proper revenue capture, SJ Consulting researched the validity of such perception by conducting an extensive survey with several large LTL shippers, 3PLs, and freight audit and pay firms, with particular thanks to Williams & Associates. The freight charges on LTL shipments by these companies exceed $8 billion over a 12­ month period, representing 22 percent of the total industry revenue. For decades, the LTL industry has relied on an honor system for shippers to provide true characteristics of their shipments, required to accurately bill the customers for their shipments.

The survey found range of billing accuracy was 94 to 99 percent depending on the carrier, with the average being 97 percent. The most interesting revelation of the survey was that what shippers perceive as a billing error actually is due to shippers providing an estimated weight or freight class for dimensional attributes of their shipment that are corrected on more shipments as more LTL carriers deploy scales and dimensional machines. Given that about 50% of bills of lading have errors in weight or description of the shipment, it’s no surprise that a correct invoice from a LTL carrier can get perceived as a billing error.

Despite shippers’ perception, the LTL industry has an impressive record in billing accuracy, and it is finally converting rapidly from an honor system.

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SunteckTTS andMillerCoors Team Up for California Wildfire Relief Efforts

August 6 – Frisco, TX – SunteckTTS, a leading provider of agent‐based, multi‐modal transportation solutions, and MillerCoors, a leading brewing company, have partnered to donate and deliver 20 pallets of canned water to Northern California as part of the Red Cross relief efforts for the recent wildfires in the state.

The Carr Fire, which has been ravaging Shasta County, California since July 23, has destroyed more than 1,000 homes and damaged hundreds of additional homes, businesses, and other buildings. Many thousands of residents remain evacuated even as others have been allowed to return to the wreckage, and resources for disaster relief are desperately needed. There are more than a dozen other fires raging throughout the state of California.

MillerCoors is donating around 50,000 cans of water in connection with the American Red Cross Disaster Relief program for the California wildfires. SunteckTTS is proud to be partnering with MillerCoors to donate the transportation costs to get the full truckload of water to the community members in need in Redding, CA.
SunteckTTS and MillerCoors are proud to be a part of the relief efforts led by the Red Cross to provide these essential resources to those affected by the wildfires in California.

 

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About SunteckTTS
With offices in Jacksonville, FL, and Frisco, TX, SunteckTTS combines two third-party providers of transportation and logistics management services to create one of the largest multimodal, agent-based freight management service providers in the United States. The company provides truckload brokerage services, direct rail and intermodal drayage, less-than-truckload, utilizing more than 30,000 carriers and a fleet of over 2,000 trucks. SunteckTTS agents service a wide range of markets including food, oil, automotive, electronics, textiles, lumber, paper/printing products and machinery across North America.
For more information, please visit www.suntecktts.com

 

About MillerCoors
Through its diverse collection of storied breweries, MillerCoors brings American beer drinkers an unmatched selection of the highest quality beers, flavored malt beverages and ciders, steeped in centuries of brewing heritage. Miller Brewing Company and Coors Brewing Company brew national favorites such as Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Coors Light and Coors Banquet. MillerCoors also proudly offers beers such as Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy from sixth-generation Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, and Blue Moon Belgian White from modern craft pioneer Blue Moon Brewing Company, founded in 1995. Beyond beer, MillerCoors operates Crispin Cider Company, an artisanal maker of pear and apple ciders using fresh-pressed American juice, and offers pioneering brands such as the Redd’s franchise, Smith & Forge Hard Cider and Henry’s Hard Sodas. Tenth and Blake Beer Company, our craft and import division, is the home to craft brewers Hop Valley Brewing, Revolver Brewing, Saint Archer Brewing Company and the Terrapin Beer Company. Tenth and Blake also imports world-renowned beers such as Italy’s Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the Czech Republic’s Pilsner Urquell and the Netherlands’ Grolsch. MillerCoors, the U.S. business unit of the Molson Coors Brewing Company, has an uncompromising dedication to quality, a keen focus on innovation and a deep commitment to sustainability. Learn more at MillerCoors.com, at facebook.com/MillerCoors or on Twitter at @MillerCoors.

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