Chumming the Water

Canada and the United States are out of capacity on virtually every segment in commercial transportation at the same time. While there are signs that things may be slowing down, many shippers are still going to extraordinary lengths to secure transport service.

Longer open hours at loading docks and preloading trailers are just a start. Some are guaranteeing weekly revenue for surge capacity and paying to deadhead units to cover priority loads.

It’s put many trucking companies in an unfamiliar spot: able to sustain or raise prices with existing customers and turn away orders.

But while you’re brushing off that multi-drop account or duking it out over demurrage charges, remember this: don’t confuse desperation with loyalty. Not only that, but times change. So be prepared.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes, says Mike McCarron, managing partner at the MSM Group of Companies. The Bolton, Ont., company has six transportation divisions including its flagship, MSM Transportation, which provides less-than-truckload carriage and freight brokerage throughout Canada and the U.S.

“If you have freight to ship, you’re nervous about the availability of trucks to move your goods. You’re concerned about escalating rates and whether you’re getting consistent, quality service,” McCarron says. “You’re looking at your carrier mix and watching to see which companies really distinguish themselves.”

It’s not a time to sit tight. If you’re doing a good job, there’s a chance you can leverage your performance into new business, either at an existing customer or through a referral.

Nothing influences a prospect more than implied third-party endorsement from a reputable source. Referrals don’t require a hefty marketing budget, and they can legitimize you in your marketing material as a carrier that shippers can trust. Think of referrals as highly targeted direct marketing, without the phone calls, e-mail, literature, web-site, contact management software, stale call sheet, and spotty response rate.

The thing is, you won’t find out unless you ask. Here’s how to get started on simple programs to boost your sales:

BUILD ON ESTABLISHED TRUST

Forget poring over stacks of business cards, email records, and association directories. All you really need is your roster of existing customers. “Current customers are your best sales prospects,” McCarron explains. “Every one of your accounts has business that you don’t know about. Customers are dynamic. Things change. They add lanes, new suppliers, new customers.”

Most importantly, your customers know you. After all, the first shipment with a customer requires the most time, money, and effort when you factor in what it took to close the deal and earn the business. It costs far more to get a customer than it does to keep one. Once the freight is in your truck, it means the customer trusts you. Once he trusts you, it’s the basis of an ongoing relationship.

Here’s another perk: when you’re doing business with an existing customer, price generally will not determine whether you get more business. You’re doing work already, a rate structure is in place, and there’s less dickering and more getting down business.

So assume nothing and spend the first 15 minutes of every client meeting reviewing your customer’s business and how it’s evolving. Gather the names and titles of people who make transportation decisions. Exhaust the decision makers within your customer’s operation before you look at opportunities with brand new clients.

REFERRALS

The word of a customer — even one who uses your trucks only occasionally — resonates with prospects better than any brochure copy or salesman’s spiel.

Create a referral form and send it with your invoice. You can offer incentives for referrals that turn into business — something simple, like gift certificates or cash — but often a formal reward program isn’t necessary. Instead, remind customers that you’d really appreciate it if they’d refer associates to you, and then surprise them with a gift when they do.

Your customer’s name can break the ice of a cold call. If you’re calling on an account, drop in to the company next door, the one with the 35 loading docks. Leave a brochure with a handwritten note explaining that your truck is already making deliveries in that area every day and you’d like to introduce yourself. The objective of the cold call is to get an appointment. The fact that your prospect’s office-park neighbor uses you may be as effective as a direct referral.

LISTEN UP

Glen Transport, an 80-truck forest products hauler in Cowley, Alta., is probably the smallest carrier among its direct competitors moving wood chips, logs and lumber in Alberta, British Columbia, and Montana. It doesn’t have an active sales force, but like most trucking operations, its drivers are in contact with customers every day.

“It’s tough to take time, but you have to encourage your drivers to pay attention to what the yard staff and mill managers are saying and relay it back to you,” says Shane Stewart, the company’s vice-president of commerce.

Sometimes the message has to do with new business. “We just had a driver who heard about a new run with logs one way, lumber the other,” says Stewart. “He came back and told us we have to give those guys a call. If we get the contract, the driver gets first kick at the run.”

Just as important, your drivers aren’t a replacement for salespeople.

“Their job is to drive the truck and carry out your promises of good service and a fair rate. They have enough on their plate without having to bear the responsibility of actively selling,” Stewart says.

“Drivers don’t see the fiber manager for the whole mill, who is making important decisions about transportation. If you’re the guy setting rates and the outlines of a service contract, it’s critical to keep face time with those people.”


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