12 Points to Increase Sales in the Freight Game!

12 Points for Success as a Freight Broker Sales Rep in 2022

There are just over 100,000 freight forwarding and brokerages in the United States as of 2022. This number was just under 70,000 in 2012. The prediction is that this industry will continue to go up at a rate between 2.5% - 5.6% each year.

What does this mean to you as a freight brokerage sales rep?

You must be able to stand out amongst the crowd.

I have been able to have success as a sales rep and as a sales leader, training and guiding a team through the sales process.

Is it easy? Of course not, anyone that tells you that it is easy would be lying straight to your face.

Is it possible? Of course, it is very possible. Just like anything, you can learn how to sell a freight brokerage.

Here’s 12 Tips on Being the Best at Freight Broker Sales.

1 – HAVE A CLEAR VISION OF WHY!

You would think that this is the easy part, right? That’s not completely true. What is your vision right now? You probably don’t have one. Just like anything else that we do in life you must have a WHY. Why have a why? Direction, purpose, passion, drive, etc. This is what is going to keep you going when the going gets tough, and it’s going to get tough. Sales can be the most rewarding career, but it can also be the most stressful career as well. Balancing these emotions is key but it helps when you have a clear vision for your future.

My vision is to mentor 100 sales reps in logistics. These reps don’t have to just be at my company but anyone in logistics. I believe that if everyone is learning the correct way to sell it will help the industry.

2 – UNDERSTAND THE MATH!

Most sales jobs are highly driven by bonus, commission, & incentives. Understanding how you get paid is extremely important in this industry. But I challenge you to understand all the math. How does the company get paid, how does the carriers get paid, how do you get paid, and what all of this looks like? This is going to give you a better understanding of how you are benefiting the company and in turn benefiting yourself. Understanding the commission structure should be the underlying motivation to everything you do along with it being aligned with your vison.

3 – SET STRONG GOALS!

Now that you understand the vision and you’ve figured out the math, it’s time to set your big goals. A mentor of mine, Grant Cardone would say 10X your damn goals! That is exactly what you should be doing. It’s not going to hurt, maybe you don’t hit the 10X version of you goal and you only 7x it. I’m pretty sure you would still be doing more than you originally thought.

4 – MICRO LEARNING!

Be consistent and strive to increase your skill level as it pertains to sales. Negotiation, pipeline, follow up, persuasion, organization, team building, process, systems, mindset, personal development, closing, objections, communication, social media, branding, presentations, posture, tonality, body language, etc. These are all skills that you MUST learn to be the best salesman or leader within your company. This easiest way to do this is by learning a little bit and then applying what you learn every day.

We partnered up with Grant Cardone and enrolled our team into Cardone University. Three 5–10-minute videos each morning, that concludes with a test to make sure you are retaining the info. Then we roleplay the material and apply it on the game field (the phones).

5 – ROLEPLAY DAILY!

The best way to learn and retain information is to put it into action. Every morning your team should wake up their voices by roleplaying with each other before practicing the first calls on potential customers. This is a play pulled from sports. Imagine if Tom brady didn’t warm up, go over the playbook, practice, or throw prior to a game. His first throw is not going to be when the lights are on and the first play of the game. Sure, he could potentially complete the pass, but he would be much better if he warmed up properly and then started throwing the ball live! Prepare like a champion!

6 – KEEP THE PIPELINE FULL!

The pipeline (your call sheet, prospects, leads) might be the most important aspect of any sales job. Especially if most of your business is outbound qualifying with cold calling. You must keep adding shippers to your list if you want to grow you book of business in freight. This should always be full or even overflowing at times. The more you put into the top of the funnel you increase the odds that something will pop out at the bottom of the funnel. This is the game, you are only as good as your next call, make sure you have someone on the list to call.

7 – MASTER THE PHONE!

The phone is the greatest tool & weapon that you can use in a freight brokerage. Communication is one of the most important aspects to this game and the easiest way to communicate with people is the phone. The phone is also the cheapest way to communicate as well per repetition, when you compare it to traveling, or advertising. This is the skill that you should and will be using the most, so you should make it your priority to become a master. You must put the time in. Obviously, some people are more naturally gifted than other BUT the phone can 100% be learned and trained.

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”

This quote is especially true at a freight brokerage. The more time under the bar, the more swings you take, the more reps you get, the more time you acquire hammering the phone will allow you to get closer and closer to master level. The most important action is to dial the phone as many times as possible each day.

8 – OCD Follow Up (Obsessive Compulsive DESIRE)

You should have an OCD to follow up with every name & number on your pipeline. This is the heartbeat to success in the freight game. Anyone can make a list to call, anyone can call the list, but everyone does not continue to follow up with those calls. This is the separation between the amateur and the professional sales rep. The most efficient way to follow up is to have a gameplan of 365 days of material that you execute without thinking. Systems and processes in sales increases your output and quality of actions!

9 – WHITEBOARD EVERY CALL

The best way to retain information and to fully understand something is to present the material while it’s fresh on your mind. Taking notes is vital to your success as a freight broker and to take the best notes you must listen and ask great questions. The better you get at this, the faster you will see massive success. You can do this by recording your calls, writing down every aspect of the call, keeping the data of your calls, etc. It can be done by yourself but works much better with a team that holds you accountable.

I’ve found that bringing your sales team into a meeting where everyone must present their phone call data each day will lead to the best conversations. This process allows you to organize your thoughts in a way that must be presentable. It holds you accountable to keep your standard high. It makes you start back at zero every day and doesn’t allow you to become comfortable. Comfort is a major weakness for sales in the freight game. We strive to become comfortable with uncomfortable situations. We break down every single call that we make. Data points are, who I called, who answered, the objections, when did they hang up, what did I say, what was my tone, did I have the decision maker, what industry was this, etc. It gets very detailed but allows us to Improve at a much faster rate.

10 – SERVICE IS A TANGIBLE PRODUCT (THE PEOPLE)!

As a freight broker you must understand that you are selling a service to companies that already use a similar service. Most people in the industry will tell you that you must sell relationships and that “people buy from people”. This is true but the underlying meaning could mean different things to many people. You will hear that service is not a tangible product, it is not something that the consumer can hold, feel, smell, taste, etc. It’s not something that they can take home with them and show off to their friends. Selling a service is not easy but when you turn the service into a tangible product, it feels easier to sell.

You must learn everything about your business and the people that make it work. If you are cradle to the grave, you might find success a little quicker because your sales pitch becomes about you. But if you work in a split model company you can find yourself getting stuck in the sales process. It feels weird having to sell something like a service especially if you are not the one doing the serving. Therefore, you must build rapport with your operations team, the customer service team, the accounting team, the executive team, etc. You need to understand what everyone does and why they do it, and their skill level. This allows you to sell a tangible product honestly and transparently to the businesses you are reaching out to because you are selling your people! Your people just so happen to service the customer in an assembly line process that allows your company to handle more volume and have specialist in each department. But this must be a strong team environment with a likeminded goal in mind.

11 – ALWAYS ASK FOR REFERRALS!

The best lead, the easiest close, and the simplest sell will always come from a referral. The problem is that this is the most overlooked “ask” in the sales game. Statistics will tell you that the best sales reps know how to get referral’s and ask for referral’s, even with people that didn’t buy from them. All the businesses and people that spend money on leads, lead generating software, etc. are also the same businesses and people that ask for the least number of referrals. Use your time wisely when you are working through the sales process, but ALWAYS ask for a referral before you get off the phone, email, zoom, or in person visit. Worst case scenario they say no, or they don’t have anyone they can think of, best case scenario they give you your next best customer with details on how to engage with them. This turns a cold call into a warmer call, they will increase your odds over time.

12 – DON’T QUIT!

This may be the simplest tip and the most important. JUST DON’T QUIT! You only lose the game when you quit the game, you only lose the customer when you stop calling the customer. Being told no Is going to happen 99 more times than being told yes. Someone is going to sell the people that tell you know, why can’t it be you? The simple answer is that it can! Just keep calling, keep following up, keep selling your people, and stay OCD about the process. If you don’t quit at sales in the freight game, you will become massively successful, and you will write your own ticket to life! Logistics is a very rewarding career within a growing industry, and you don’t have to be over educated to get the opportunity. But you must make the most of the opportunity by taking the right actions and never settling for NO.

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you, no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life.”

―?Sylvester Stallone,?Rocky Balboa

I promise that if you follow these 12 tips and live your working life by tip # 12 and decide right now that you’re never going to quit, you will be successful in the freight game!

NOW WHAT’S NEXT?

I truly hope that if you made it to this part of the article that you have found some value from this message. I made my debut in the freight game in June of 2014. I was green as a stop light and wet behind the ears when it came to life in general. All I ever knew to that point in my life was sports, primarily football since I was finishing up my career at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. It took me years to realize that logistics and sales was very similar to everything we did once you make it to the D1 level of sports. This is when everything started to click for me, not just in logistics but in sales and teambuilding. I’ve been able to parlay all my experiences along with learning from some of the best operators, closers, and leaders in the freight game. Surrounding myself with high level and successful people as been one of the many keys to success. At the end of the day, it comes down to taking MASSIVE ACTION, continuing to get better, and refusing to quit. Start at zero every single day and remove your pride from the situation, no matter what position you are in, the team’s goal should remain the same.

If you have any questions, concerns, or if you would like to learn much more than just 12 tips to success in the freight game – reach out to me. I would love to take the time to interact & help as many people as I can. It doesn’t matter which company you work for; I don’t mind sharing my experience because we can all learn from each other. Put your ego to the side and branch out, it will make you better.

You can email me at [email protected]??????

You can call me at 423-206-9428

Let’s connect and make Logistics great!

Wishing you massive success,

The People’s Captain – Gunner Miller

Vice President of Sales at Twelve Point Logistics

Founder & Host of CWG Podcast

Professional Wrestler