Growing your transportation portfolio is a massive undertaking in today's competitive climate, to say the least. Every moment of your time and every ounce of your energy and devotion must be committed around the clock to ensure that all of your business horsepower and systems are predictably and consistently firing at peak performance levels.
The first half of the equation is finding customers. The other, delivering on your promise. With limited resources, achieving excellence on both fronts at the same time can be impractical and sometimes impossible. Becoming more profitable requires vigilance and precisely knowing your numbers. What is your customer acquisition cost? What is the LTV of your shippers? What is it really costing you to keep new business development in-house? How many of your telephone minutes equate to one profitable dollar?
New business development is a full-time job. As is customer relationship management. As is the job of an operations manager - booking loads, tracking and tracing, providing shipment status updates, collecting POD’s, sending and receiving payments, vendor management, and the list goes on. Trying to wear all hats simultaneously can be more costly than most realize. Be smart. Know your numbers. Value your time. Adopt a new strategy that will free you to live your life on your own terms again.
Smiling and dialing all day long may have been a sound strategy in prehistoric times. However, a strategy predicated on hope is no longer a useful business growth strategy for today’s modern transportation professional. Selling freight transportation services requires a laser sharp message that resonates with the Shipper instantly. Do you currently have a process to turn your leads into loads at will or are you simply smiling and dialing, hoping for a chance magical connection of a lifetime?
Many freight transportation providers operating in the spot market, endlessly go on in search of better leads. The only place that path leads to, is out - out of the freight game. The difference between the very few that make it and the rest that end up ejected from the spot freight transportation marketplace is strategy and hyper-specific, emotion-evoking messaging. If your communication doesn’t resonate with your prospects instantly and deeply, the tireless search for “better freight leads” will continue until the brightly-lit exit sign becomes clearly visible, impossible to ignore. Which way are you currently headed?