My plan for this space is to illustrate how the National Carriers Sales Team goes about its job of keeping the Elite Fleet hauling for the best shippers in the world. The Sales Team moves at a different pace than most of our organization. However, most of the rules for success for our team are the same for other departments within National Carriers. I want to share some of these rules and show other area where they apply. I also want to share some of the experiences, challenges, and successes of the team. As the most junior and most attractive member of the team, I am uniquely qualified to present who and what we do.
I started with National Carriers in November of 2012. I joined with over 10 years of refrigerated carrier sales experience. I was interested in National because of the history and reputation of the company. I joined National because of the people and the policies they employ. That is a fancy way of saying that I liked what I found when I interviewed with NCI, and they liked enough about me to hire me. One of the first rules of business is that people buy and partner with people and companies they like. It helps to have a superior product, and everyone is concerned about how much they have to pay, but if your customers don’t like you, they are not going to work with you.
My job at National Carriers is to find and secure load volume that is consistent, driver friendly, and profitable. The lanes we service have to be strategically correct, meaning that they fit in with the core lanes we service. The customers we target need to have freight in lanes we want, preferably at a high volume of weekly shipments, and be able to pay us for our services in a timely manner. Shippers with a long and successful history are even more attractive because they offer stability and generally have a good understanding of the challenges faced by the trucking companies they employ. Once the load volume is secured from a customer, the challenge is to successfully manage the expectations of the customer and of National Carriers. My job is to make sure that everyone involved in the partnership is happy and doing what they said they would do. In addition, I also work with the customer to see where we might be able to grow in their shipping network. When I am in front of a customer, I represent National Carriers. When I am in the office, I represent our customers. That is the rule of partnership management. In the end, what we offer our customers is service. If we cannot deliver service, the partnership will fail.
