We recently had one of our sales team (Global Development Manager - GDM) move on. He was/is a great guy who joined us 18 months ago after a difficult period in his career and I would like to think he enjoyed his time with us, as well as taking with him more sales and operational knowledge. This guy used all the support areas that we have developed to have a very successful 2008, but unfortunately he was offered almost double on his basic salary plus reduced targets which on the surface is hard to compete with. We all have to do what is best for our family, that is our first responsibility, but his departure was a shock and made me reflect on what we provide for our sales team compared to our competition.
As a freight forwarder having a strong understanding of how to move freight around the world, how to consolidate and build solutions to suit the clients needs are of course a must. Building support to stop sales doing the things that stop them selling and helping sales to succeed is also a must. I have been at, and worked in sales environments where I was given a Yellow Pages and a tariff, then advised “see you next month for your review.” Not a great experience and unsurprisingly I failed.
The YRC Logistics sales process includes a weekly teamwork call with sales and all the support teams (technology, regional managers, compliance, EU transportation, freight solutions, customer service and procurement) plus me and fellow Directors where we all dive into the main prospects of each GDM pipeline. We discuss what more can we do locally or globally to support the GDM, such as can I join a visit (they tell me this is the kiss of death!), what extra value can we add to the supply chain, have we used the support services and if we cannot find a winning solution or the prospect does not have pain, or no desire for change, then we agree AS A TEAM to move on and work on another prospect.
We as a company can always do more for our staff, as we can for our clients, if we think we are the finished article then we have our heads in the sand. In this industry you learn every day and the departure of a successful GDM makes you evaluate your sales process and support services, which is why we asked our GDM’s for feedback, the responses were varied, but all very similar to what you see below from one of the GDM's. It is great to read, but even though I am pleased, I am not satisfied as always believe we can do more.
Feedback from a GDM: -
Proposal Genie
This is a fantastic tool and can be tailored to suit the individual requirements of the prospect – now I know my way around the various pages, it takes no more than 10-15 minutes to produce a professional and impressive document. I do tend to amend some of the text in Word and check the relevance of all the information but again this takes me 10 minutes instead of hours starting from scratch. Having the ability to convert to PDF and email also is a great advantage although it can clog up my mailbox somewhat.
Sales Support
I think it’s great that Jessica provides us with the credit checks, import trade information and introduction pack for the appointments, prints and sends the proposal genies. Dawn Taylor is also a fantastic resource and she is great at getting into some of the more difficult appointments – most other organizations expect you to get your own appointments with no help.
SME’s (Subject Matter Experts)
I have to say that it is great to have the depth of knowledge within the organization to call upon. I am constantly working with Steve Birch, Sharon Robey and Chris Birch to close business and try to win the business. I would also say that TC has been a fantastic support in my understanding of import regimes like SIVA etc.
Walking the Walk
Having brought on a few customers now I have to say that we do not just pay lip service to our promise of customer excellence. Chris Birch has been a fantastic support, making sure that everything goes to plan and that customers and informed and happy. We did a review yesterday at XXX where we had it confirmed that we are now their forwarder and the comment from the lady who does the day to day job was – “it great to get answers to our questions, in fact Chris gave me copies of our paperwork before we had them”. In terms of what that means to me – I go out and promote our excellence with confidence knowing the team won’t let me or the customer down.
Depth of Services/Toolkit
When I first started at YRC my perception was that I would be looking for import accounts – sea and air – I am pleased to say that I was very wrong and its great for me to be able to walk into a prospect knowing that we have a solution to offer them
Management Support
I feel that the YRC management is approachable, supportive and helpful; this has not always been the case in other organizations. The comments on this morning’s call were very true when Marty said that XXX Logistics give you 6 months to hit targets or you are out – I have worked for organizations with this mindset. YRC are encouraging and work with me to achieve the results needed.
Admin
This is a niggle that it takes a long time to complete reports, dynamics, check FCL, credit checks, import info, sales packs, proposal genies, conference calls – oh and get appointments but when I step back and look at other companies I have worked with, in reality I have always had to do these things and this is what makes us professional in our approach
YRC Brand
I find that when talking to someone for the first time they have never heard of YRC – on one hand this is good because they have no perceptions but on the other, it can take me longer to persuade someone that we are what we say
"I feel part of an exciting team and that YRC will be taking the UK by storm, building a fantastic reputation for being the company to partner with and trust – I am glad I applied for the job! ”
Labels: Global Development Managers, Sales, Subject Matter Experts
# posted by Andy Martin @ Monday, March 23, 2009
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In time when all companies are driving new and creative campaigns to win business I get great pleasure when a two year trading client has just quadrupled their business with YRC Logistics.
An extract from their letter is below
“Our decision is influenced by price and the work Marcus has done for Andrew on getting competitive rates for us, but also heavily influenced by service. I wanted to repeat that we find all of the YRC team really helpful, responsive and easy to work with, and for Andrew and I this has been critical in our decision making. I know that when we can enhance this further with additional reporting and particularly PVPO we will be in a much stronger position to both understand our costs, but also work with you on making sure we are making correct decisions, such as additional consolidation.”
I would like to use my blog to personally thank our team as follows: -
- Vicki Farnden & Luke Davies for the day to day communication and operation. They are client facing but similar to accounts, warehouse, admin support, reception they are not always as high profile, but they are all just as important in looking after our clients.
- Richard Ferris for compliance excellence which rivals any outside specialist customs consultancy.
- Markus Higham and the procurement and implementation team
- PowerView Purchase Order, PVPO, development team.
- Dean Townsend for looking after this client overall and taking this client’s business personally and looking after their interests.
I would like to make a special note of thanks to Luke. He is a young guy who probably has the most difficult travel to work via various buses & trains. It is a bit like a journey I recall my dear old grandmother talking about when she first started work in 1900. He is always cheerful, prompt and efficient. I hear nothing but positive feedback from colleagues and clients alike. Great job Luke.
Labels: Core Values, Minimum Service Standard, Service
# posted by Andy Martin @ Friday, March 20, 2009
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As part of our internal sales training we use some of the techniques that are taught by Gavin Ingham, so we encourage our sales to read his blog http://www.gaviningham.com/, which I do on a regular basis.
However, today I read a recent post of his titled "The Simplest Sales Tip Ever" and could not agree with his comments epecialy the below: -
"In 2009, selling is proving to be challenging for many businesses and in many markets. “Good enough” is no longer good enough. If you want to succeed you have to sharpen the saw in every area of your business, particularly sales. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be complicated. The bad news is that you have to identify these areas for tightening up and tighten them up yourself, no-one else will do it for you."
"The difference between sales success and sales failure is often small. The gap between making sales and not making sales is often down to a few seemingly trivial actions. The paths of the sales superhero and the sales loser are often no more than a few feet apart. Little actions make a big difference."Labels: Cold Calling, Sales, Telephone Sales, Training
# posted by Andy Martin @ Sunday, March 08, 2009
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During a recent meeting, I was told that BBC News are following a container around world for a year to tell stories of globalisation and the world economy. The box is an ambitious and unique year-long project for BBC News to tell the story of international trade and globalisation by tracking a standard shipping container around the world. It is a project which plans to deliver content for television, radio and online audiences - telling the individual stories behind what makes the global economy tick.
The Box has already carried Whisky from Scotland to Shanghai China, Ningbo to Los Angeles with goods for a chain of homeware stores and is currently in Brazil.
Labels: BBC News, Container, International Trade, shipping
# posted by Andy Martin @ Friday, March 06, 2009
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I enjoyed joining a sales call this week with one of our Global Development Managers. The first meeting had identified our purchase order management system, PowerView PO, plus our capabilities in China as areas that could provide cost savings both direct and indirect.
The demonstration of PowerView PO was well received but during our conversation a real frustration this company had was due to the incumbent not having an escalation process that would deal with problems or delays. I probably bored them by sharing my favourite story of 28 years ago when I reported a delayed shipment to my manager who dismissed it by saying 'you can sort it out'. 2 weeks later a similar situation with the same client occurred and I thought I should follow the previous instructions and resolve it myself. A couple of days later I was called into the MD's office to be asked 'why did not you tell your manager about this delay'.
As I moved into senior management I vowed to ensure systems were in place so staff were/are trained in the key danger areas, that they have a clear escalation process and that as a company we have proactive corrective & preventative action system that work. I would be interested to share and hear ideas on this important area.
Labels: Communication, Minimum Service Standard, Reporting Structures, Service
# posted by Andy Martin @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009
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