Over the past few weeks I have met over 40 trucking companies and freight management companies in the United States. These have ranged from companies with 30 trucks to some with 10,000 trucks. During this period I have spoken with between 60 and 70 sales management and executive personnel. As a shipper representative in many occasions, I have the opportunity to observe the effectiveness of many carriers’ sales presentations.

There are some carriers that “get it” and some that don’t. Here are a few tips on how to achieve greater sales success with your clients and prospects.

As a carrier, you should have an objective for every meeting. You should know why you are there and what you are seeking to gain from each meeting. With so many shippers staffed so thinly in the area of transportation management, and with these folks being so busy, you need to be very clear on your value proposition, particularly how you can help your client or prospect do something better and more cost effectively than it is being done today. You should be probing for problems and opportunities for which your company can provide a solution. You need to find that “hook” that separates your from the many commodity carriers and allow your company to sell more than just price.

Can your company supply more capacity in a specific area? Can you help the shipper with certain lanes that nobody else wants? Can your company provide superior service on some lanes? Can you help the shipper with backhaul moves and create round trips that other carriers cannot perform? Can you supply both intermodal and truck service? Does your company offer heavy haul service on some lanes and can you offer the shipper a lower cost per ton? You have to find those opportunities that allow you and your company to stand out from the rest of pack

You should be well prepared for your shipper meetings. If you are presenting a rate quote, it should be carefully scrutinized in advance. If you are presenting rates for multiple locations within a specific city, the numbers should be consistent. Your credibility and the quality of your company will be called into question if you present rates for multiple points within the same city and they vary by hundreds of dollars. You should be doing a spot check to make sure your Pricing Analyst inserted the correct mileage into your formulas so the correct rates are generated.

You should be able to answer some basic questions about your operation. You should know how many drivers are domiciled close to the shipper’s facility, how many loads a day your company can move to specific geographic areas, how many trailers you can spot, where you need backhaul and where are you fully balanced. You should be able to articulate to shippers your company’s energy conservation programs. If you cannot answer these questions, bring a knowledgeable operations person to the meeting.

You should be able to visualize how to take a particular shipper’s freight and link it with the freight from some of your other clients to create continuous moves and create additional capacity. You should be fully informed on what your company needs on a revenue per mile basis on key lanes so you can assess, on the spot, if your company is able to take on business on certain lanes. Since many shippers have their own fuel surcharge formulas, you need to be able to assess how these formulas compare with your company’s formula and what adjustments you need to make in your mileage rates to offer competitive but profitable rates.

You should conclude every meeting by summarizing the “take-aways,” what you plan to do between now and the next meeting and you should secure a date for that meeting. If you have identified opportunities where you can help the shipper and your service and pricing are in line, don’t forget to ask for the business.

In the last few years, the level of professionalism has risen in the ranks of sales management in many truckload carriers. With spiraling fuel costs and challenging economic conditions, the bar has been raised on what it takes to be successful. A heightened level of operations and pricing knowledge, strong analytical abilities and superior sales skill are essential to success in this very difficult freight environment.