This week a group of carrier executives came together for the first Transportation Company Workshop, sponsored by Dan Goodwill & Associates and Motortruck Fleet Executive. During one of the breakout sessions, one of the executives made the observation that it is very difficult being a transportation sales person at this point in time. Shippers are placing significant pressure on motor carrier sales people to reduce rates. RFP’s and reverse auctions are being sent to carriers, including carriers that never handled the freight for that shipper before. The bids are often used as leverage to “grind down” the incumbents’ rates.

In order to grow the revenues in their territories, sales reps are trying to reach new prospects but are having enormous difficulty getting past the receptionist or gatekeeper to make their appointments. The mood among many carrier sales people is one of frustration and dejection. This begged the question, what can trucking company executives do to support their sales reps on the front lines.

Here are some of the suggestions from the roundtable discussion. One senior manager argued that trucking company leaders should get out on the front lines. They should be making calls with their reps to show support. While this is certainly one of the responsibilities of the VP Sales or other sales leaders, the rest of the executive should step up and make calls. This will show empathy but also communicate the message that the reps are not being “thrown to the wolves.” The leadership team is willing and able to “get in the trenches” to help their sales team bring freight on board.

Another idea is to provide sales training. There are many sales people in the industry that are “home grown” and have come up through the ranks, starting as a driver or customer service rep and working their way up the sales organization. Some of these reps have had a record of success even though they have never had formal sales training. While spending money on sales training may appear out of step with the push to reduce costs, this may be a wise investment in the future. It sends the message to the sales troops that they are valued members of the company and the company wants to provide them with all the tools necessary to be successful.

Since many shippers no longer have receptionists, a sales rep is often confronted with a telephone and an employee list when entering a lobby to make a cold call. Even in companies that have receptionists, it is challenging to get past these folks to meet those individuals that make the carrier selection decisions. One of the attendees outlined the success they are having with telemarketing. Their (modestly paid) telephone sales people are tasked with making 100 telephone calls a day and assigning the appointments secured to their team of street reps. This frees up the street reps to maximize face time with current customers and prospects.

With cold calling being such a futile exercise, one executive suggested that carriers should be helping their sales teams improve their networking skills. Being an active networker in the local chamber of commerce, Rotary Club, industry associations and other events can build new and useful bonds that can ultimately be turned into sales prospects. In a previous blog, I discussed some of the key aspects of networking and highlighted a consultant in the Ontario market that is helping transport companies and other industries upgrade their networking skills.

Another business leader has tasked his sales team with obtaining referrals and additional business opportunities from their current customers. Since a trucking company’s sales and management team has a rapport with its major customers, these folks can identify other lanes of traffic that could potentially be made available to the company as well as highlight other business opportunities with their vendors and customers.

In addition to the suggestions made by the assembled group, there are other options worth considering. They include finding ways to add more value (e.g. cross-docking, local warehousing etc.) in order to make your service offerings less of a commodity, creating a brokerage operation to capture freight that moves on lanes not served by your asset based business, or migrating from a freight brokerage to a 3PL service, thereby creating an even more differentiated value proposition. Clearly there are a number of initiatives that trucking company executives can undertake to help support their sales teams in their efforts to add revenue.