Elsdon Supply Chain’s Post

People Technology yields the highest level of service. Communicating and collaborating with customers becomes difficult when the human aspect is diminished. #Freight #Logistics #SupplyChain #Truckload #FreightBroker #DryVan #ShippingSolutions #layoffs https://lnkd.in/eQ2U_j5S

Brokers are hired by shippers to provide solutions, not be market experts. Be careful talking about “freight” predictions and such with shippers and prospects. I’ll tell you a quick story. I was having a casual conversation once with one of my customers. He was venting that this 23 year old kid from a big box brokerage was giving him this in depth market prediction ( all turned out to be wrong by the way). He thought this guy was full of it. I am pretty confident this big box brokerage lost business because of that conversation. Here’s why this is a issue: 1. Shippers generally have their own people in house studying the market. They also aren’t idiots, they know the market is hard to predict. If they want to see “expert” opinions they could just scroll LinkedIn lol. 2. Shippers hire brokers to provide solutions. Talking about the gloom or doom of the market, or some hot take anylatical prediction doesn’t solve any of their issues or provide a solution. Also, I think trust is lost if you pretend to be a know it all. Id suggest talking about difficult lanes, etc. Things that you can provide solutions for and keep customers up at night. On a side note, if you are obsessing about the market it will probably hurt your sales approach as you will be in your head about things you can’t control. Happy Friday guys! #kidfreight #sales #logistics #trucking.

I’ve always found the “sales only” role in logistics odd, personally. Calling potential shippers/customers, building initial relationships- only to hand them off to someone else. And from there, due to rampant failure/turnover in this industry, the logistics managers at the shipper/customer get passed from new hire to new hire over the years, constantly having to build new relationships and having hiccups in service because the new hire doesn’t know logistics well and doesn’t know the particulars of the shippers business and needs. Just seems odd to me that anyone would want to roll with that business model. Cradle to the grave is the way, in my opinion. Maybe it’s because it’s what I’ve done for 17 years, but the relationships I build are mine- forever. My customers never get handed off to some oblivious kid with little to no logistics experience. I know my customers business and needs inside and out- there are never surprises. If it wasn’t for the one year I had to take after TQL due to a non-compete, I’d likely have customers that I’ve worked with for 17 consecutive years… That’s irreplaceable trust for both my customers and myself. Good luck to everyone laid off by CH. Even though turnover in logistics brokerages is probably around 90% by year two and likely close to 95% by the third or fourth year- you can have longevity by being great for your customers, and by handling everything for them yourself.

Let’s be honest price sells. At least initially. When I was a freight broker 2 of my biggest accounts came from losing money. My largest account that turned into a 25-30k a month account I lost money the first few loads. And I didn’t make good money until a few months in. Another account that turned into a 5-10k a month account I was in the red after a month and 30 loads. I think the issue is a lot of brokers lose money on 1 load, and then raise their rates. Shippers are onto this game. Was it risky for me to go in red for so long? Of course, but I was confindent in my performance and service. Service and performance keeps customers, but price gets you in the door. I am keeping this in mind in the recruiting game. I am leaning towards the business development side of recruiting ( selling companies on using our services and having a killer recruiter teammate, who has 10 years in the game in the logistics space. More on that later. Why? Because I think it’s similar to logistics it’s about relationships and service. It’s also a volume game. If your pricing is better than most and your service is equal or better than others it’s hard to lose business. Greed is the biggest downfall of a lot of sales rep. PS: I think this is the first time in 6 months I’ve made 2 posts in one day, but this was on my mind and I didn’t want to lose this thought. #kidfreight #sales #logistics #trucking

Are you an experienced freight sales rep/agent getting caught up in this latest round of layoffs? If you would like more information on how you can control your own destiny and build a business (with no start-up cost) that will secure your financial future, let me know. It never hurts to know your options. #freight #business #future #sales

As the Truckload market turns.... it churns! The Big Squeeze is in effect for small to mid-market Brokerages and I predict the 'worst' is yet to come. IF the market starts to improve (more demand), this will actually 'hurt' small to mid-sized truckload brokerages as their already thin margins will get crushed This time around will be especially difficult due to the length of time at the bottom of the cycle and the high cost to access capital It's a perfect storm of high interest rates, low truckload rates, excess truckload capacity, tempered demand compared to supply (even as things may tick up). I don't envy small to mid-sized truckload brokers right now The waistband can't be tightened much more for most and more 'cuts and layoffs' will not be the silver bullet. It's going to get worse before it gets better for certain Meanwhile, LTL is over here is a completely different market... More on that topic in another post this week #truckload

I’ve never understood why companies sunset comissions or cap commission programs. If the goal is to take away motivation from your hunters, then these 2 things are perfect for creating a sales team that lacks motivation. Reward your sellers for bringing in business that makes the company money. If the comp plan is top notch and you operations teams are rock solid you will build an amazing sales team that remains loyal to your company. #sales #logistics #3PL #recruiting

Had a great call this week with a shipper who reminded me of the importance of being on offense, even in a challenging market. As I mentioned the difficult market, the prospect responded, "This market is exactly why we took the call - we need to be on offense, regardless of what the market looks like." It's encouraging to see shippers valuing the process of vetting new carrier options, as no one knows when the market will shift. I want to give a shoutout to Jenissa Garcia, one of our newer reps, for setting up this call. I understand that shippers are being bombarded with sales calls, and I empathize with them. However, it's important to remember that the pendulum always swings. It's better to be prepared for the unexpected and be on offense in these challenging times.