FREE SECRET TO SUCCESS FOR FREIGHT BROKERS!!!
I have the SECRET to success for Freight Brokers and I’m giving it away for FREE, no gimmicks!
I'm a freight broker looking for shippers to work with. My company has been authorized to work in the industry for less than 2 months. Luckily my boss and the owner came with a book of business, because I have none. His work has allowed us to keep the lights on and I am grateful.
I know that my personality and work ethic will allow me to succeed if I just stay the course & like Johnny Appleseed, plant relational seeds across this industry.
So how did I find this secret? I put every effort I had into learning, listening & trying out different methods. What have I heard most commonly from shippers?
Shippers don’t like cold calls.
Don’t email shippers out of nowhere.
Build a relationship first.
Have a solution for a shipper problem.
There’s a lot to unwrap there, but what I get is that Shippers are busy people and if they are in business and worth working with, then they most likely have many things already figured out and are working just fine without me. (Thank you Ron Kane)
Hopefully you are no longer making true cold calls anymore & are doing research on the company, the person & the work they do prior to calling someone, but that just makes it a warm call for the freight broker. As far as the shipper goes, it’s still a cold call.
Emails usually don’t get a reply because face it, you’re selling someone a product that they already have & are probably satisfied with. If you email me with a better deal on my mortgage I’m most likely not interested if I did it right the first time. I’m deleting your email prior to even opening it.
Building a relationship is great advice & it can yield great success, however this is just like farming. You will have to continue to nurture this relationship & wait for it to flower & provide fruit. Just like farming, not all seeds grow fruit & some are just plants that look really nice.
My solution to your shipper problem is that I am most likely willing to work harder than whoever you are currently using, I may be more proficient or have a different TMS or tracking system, but it is still a gamble to go away from what you know & you have to first give me business to find all these things out about me & my company.
So where does this leave me as a new freight broker with a new company?
<<<<The SECRET is to believe in what you do, try hard everyday & hang on like your life depends on it. Those seeds you plant will only grow if you nurture them. They will only produce as much as you put into them & if you are not around when they are ready to be harvested, someone else will take them or they will be left to spoil.>>>>
SHIPPERS; I am going to call you, you will get emails from me & I will do all of these in hopes that I catch someone’s ear, I will do my best at the opportunities that I do get, I will nurture relationships & I will hang on as long as I can until I catch that break.
There are many different analogies that I can make here, but I like movies & one of my favorite is Forrest Gump. When he purchased that shrimping boat, he failed & he failed, but he believed in Bubba’s plan so he stayed the course. He didn’t give up & he even recruited Lt. Dan because his belief in Bubba’s dream was strong. He hung on through the hard times & when he was the only one left standing, Bubba Gump Shrimp grew faster than Bubba would have ever imagined.
If you're a shipper and you would like to save both of us some time, call me, email me, DM me and we can talk business. Why wait until someone else fails you to give us at VALOR a shot?
Retired Sergeant First Class US Army
4 年#business #leadership #freightbroker
Recruiting Manager at Freight Tec
4 年Eric Cerda Well written. Your attitude will determine your altitude and an " I will until " determination are essentials for success.
Relationship Manager at TAB Bank
4 年That is the correct attitude and approach. In past job I was very annoyed by random emails that said "Can I borrow 15 minutes of your time?". I would email back with a loan application sometimes.
Owner/Director of Operations , 5K Logistics
4 年Sales is a numbers game, especially in our current climate. I was taught it used to be 1 hit on 20 calls/emails. I'd say that's 2-3 times higher now. Don't take away a tool in your tool box by not cold calling. Some of my biggest accounts came from cold calls. Make it a game.