Andy Martin - YRC Logistics EU

2010 Starts The Same As 2009 Ended

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:33:00 +0000

There is currently a lot of debate as well as many challenges surrounding freight rates at the moment. Our competitors are starting the year as you would expect, aggressive to win business at or below cost and then over the year find a way to make profit. It seems 2010 is continuing in the same manner as 2009 with focus from our clients on their costs.

What should we do?

· Continue to provide great service. We always have a chance if you are doing this no matter what rates are offered. Think what else can you do today? Things like getting back even quicker on client requests, make your clients life easier by giving them the answer before they ask the question.

· Find ways to add extra value. Utilise, in conjunction with your management, the review process to add value. Importantly make sure we are engaging with our client in true partnership style.

· Engage with your management and our procurement team who in turn should ensure we ‘engage don’t enrage’ with origins. Work as a team locally and globally.

· Know your client. If you client has the offer of a fantastic ‘special’ rate make sure you work with them as there could be hidden dangers, but in the end you have to do whatever is best for the client.

· Most of all use common sense; it covers a multitude of areas.

Work Experience in the Warehouse

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:22:00 +0000

One of the areas where I don’t spend enough of my time is our transit warehouse and transport department in London. I would like to thank Tom Foster for arranging a day where I could work with the team, which included unloading a couple of groupage containers.

What I did see first hand, is what I am being told by my management, in that we have a close team doing a great job. The warehouse and transport departments are often overlooked but they extremely important and integral part of our business and I had a really enjoyable day.

When I next see clients like Ben Sherman or Gant I can honestly say I did take care of their shipments and I have a bad back to show for it. Thanks again to Tom and the team for doing a great job for our clients.

Southampton Launch & Networking Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:56:00 +0000

My thanks to everyone that made our Southampton launch party such a fun night. We had over 100 people attend our prestigious new facility with a good mixture of clients, suppliers, prospects, Staff and partners.

I was great to see people networking and discussing topical industry issues with guest representatives from Southampton's DP Woorld, Carbon Footprint, China Britain Business Council, HSBC, BIFA, UKTI & the Southampton & Fareham Chamber of Commerce.

Guests then let their hair down and were entertained by popular local band Beats Working in the new 6500 square foot warehouse, which also became temporary home to a trendy bar and mouth watering hog roast.

The move marks a milestone in the development of the business that was originally based in Eastleigh. Over the last 8 years the branch has experienced a range of economic conditions, from the boom of the 90's to the worst recession since the Second World War. Through good times and bad our business has continued to develop, take on a new shape and strategic direction and I believe we are well placed to meet the challenges of 2010.

11th Hour, 11th day, 11th Month

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Today, the biggest thing on our minds should be thinking about the millions of people who have been killed in conflict. Our day to day challenges pale into insignificance in comparison. http://www.poppy.org.uk/

Good luck with the operation

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:45:00 +0000

Good luck to our Financial Director Darren Williams, who is having his eyes corrected by laser today. If we thought it was hard to get expenses approved before, it will be impossible now!

Glasgow Exceeds Clients Expectations

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:15:00 +0000

I was updated over the weekend on a situation which I believe most logistics companies would have said "it is outside our control" or "outside our responsibility".

Our team in Glasgow did not think like this and the result was a negative situation was turned into a positive one. I received a client message this morning as per below which is a great start to a Monday morning, my thanks and appreciation to the Glasgow staff.

"Catriona, This is just a mail to say thanks for the support of you and your team on Saturday. It looks like the cause of the confusion was the cargo wasn't fully unloaded from the plane in Houston on Friday. As you know the crate arrived in Houston on Saturday evening, our team in the US worked late into the evening on Saturday to retrieve a difficult situation and satisfy our customers needs. Thanks again for your support."

Do Something Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:52:00 +0000

For staff based in YRCL Egham office this Sunday 25.10.09 you can give blood at Egham Youth Centre. If you are not a blood donor already if you log onto https://secure.blood.co.uk/ you can register plus establish the next venue in your area. It is one of those things we can all do that saves lives but costs nothing.

YRC Logistics to Launch UK Distribution Service

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:46:00 +0000

I had an interesting meeting this week during which we agreed to partner with a company that will now allow us to offer UK distribution of parcels & Pallets for our clients. Over the past two years we have been able to deliver significant savings to our clients with our European Transportation Management system and we believe that we will now be able to do the same for UK parcels using an advanced technology solution that selects the best service provider for each shipment as well as managing, tracking and reporting on each delivery, so what is normally a labour intensive task for our clients to complete in house, could now be greatly reduced if not eliminated.

Engage do not Enrage

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:36:00 +0000

I wonder how many of us are guilty of thinking we engage with our offices, agents and partners overseas when indeed we are probably just telling them. I know I do this in my home life when I call my wife to say I have booked us to a dinner party to meet an important person when I should be explaining to her why it is important and why she needs to miss the X factor! Seriously I get away with it because she has been with me for over 25 years but in business it is different.

One of the core items we have for client reviews is finding ways to add value. A conversation could go like ' Mr Client as part of our process I need to find a way of add extra value to your business and I have discovered by consolidating your goods from X and Y via origin Z, I can save you £££ annually'.

If we then just send a message to our origin offices to say we have a change of SOP and please follow these new instructions we are telling and not engaging. What we should be doing is engaging them in the solution before we present it to the client, they may add others ideas to help with our drive to add value to the client, but as a minimum, they will be engaged and continue to feel part of the solutions we are offering our clients.

I have worked at a number of global logistics companies where this is an issue. It is good that we recognise this and work hard on continually improving internally to ensure we are giving our clients the best options.

A Tribute to Bobby Robson

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:40:00 +0000

For those football fans reading this you will be aware of the sad passing away of Bobby Robson. His memorial ceremony was not just about football it was about a person that did the right thing in his life by the way he conducted himself and treated others.

One of his final public comments was profound, "I was born into a black and white world, but as my last great challenge draws to a close, I am more than ever convinced that we are surrounded by light, and not darkness." Bobby Robson 2009

Getting Into Your Customers Head

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:23:00 +0000

I heard this story the other day from a very successful business professional. I thought it was very valid especially in a global service industry where personal knowledge and knowledge on your organisation combined with team support is critical.

When I was in my teens I worked a summer with my uncle who was an engineer in Manhattan. He purchased a lot of building material. I remember an endless stream of sales people trying to meet with him. I'll also always remember something that stuck with me from that summer. I asked my uncle once how he decided which products to purchase as all the sales people told a good story and had similar prices. My uncle told me he listened carefully not to the language of selling but to who knew the most about building products and how their products would benefit his firm.

That is what we need to teach our people. Most buyers think like my uncle did..

Welcome back to a familiar face

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:13:00 +0000

It is with great pleasure I am finally able to announce that Louise Coveney will be returning to work with us at YRC Logistics. Her official start date will be Monday 14th September and it is always good to hear when a member of staff who we did not want to lose to the competition returns to the company. I am sure that the new experiences she learnt whilst away from us will help her as she starts a new chapter at YRC Logistics and I am sure everyone will join me in welcoming her back.

Freight rates rise, but is the bigger issue reduced capacity?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:26:00 +0000

I am sure that everyone involved in transporting goods globally has seen the massive over capacity in the first part of 2009 on shipping routes resulting in rates dropping dramatically, particularly were directly relevant to me on Asia-Europe. With carriers reducing this capacity and demand increasing some have now restored rates to almost the same as they were in 2008.

It is interesting to see a headline in a trade publication this week that shows an airline is increasing it's rates by 25% globally over the next few weeks. Similar to container capacity there has been a reduction over the past months by many airlines, but there is definitely a strong push by these airlines to increase rates now. The balance for us as companies offering freight forwarding services is the need for the best deals without allowing the reduced capacity to damage our clients supply chains.

This is a key topic on our European procurement strategy and indeed our global procurement strategy. YRC Logistics has built a network of partners, not all of them trading clients, in which we share market intelligence on global rates and help each our with procurement strategy. If you are interested in more information on this subject please contact uksales@yrclogistics.com

Cove Youth U18

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:52:00 +0000

The team I am involved in Cove Youth U18 are at home to Flackwell Heath U18 on Wednesday 9th September with KO 7.45pm. Entrance is £3.00 but 50% reduction if you show this message.
Ground address is http://www.covefc.com.

The best burgers in Hampshire are available from the refreshment area.

Power Canvassing

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:20:00 +0000

Last week our 12 strong sales team spent some time together over a day working on Power Canvassing.

Part of the coaching includes making sure we feel good about making prospect calls, as well as ensuring that we highlight the value we are able to add to our clients and that their requirements match our global service offering.

The day involved a video, debate, role play and ended with 90 minutes of Power Canvassing putting into practice what they learnt in the earlier sessions. The 90 minutes session was a great success which the sales team securing 26 appointments with some good prospects and importantly their business requirements fit our strengths and service offering.

Working on Vacation, A Chore Or A Choice?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:22:00 +0000

With the holiday time now on us we recently had an interesting debate among YRCL EU management. The European legal requirement is a mandatory 28 days and in some EU countries it is even higher, this is very different to many of our own offices globally.

While our business leaders will often not take their full holiday allocation because they view this as their own company, which also means that when they are on vacation they will continue with their meetings, calls and general communication.

The argument can be that it doesn't give people proper time to switch off, but our clients never stop, so we also can never stop although we can scale down. It is also important that we have a team around us that ensures our clients do not suffer because of our holiday periods.

As I sit and watch a Spanish sunset with my family a few hours work each day is a small sacrifice. Modern technology give us the best of both worlds as had this been 20 years ago without a blackberry or similar technology I would not be here.

China raises rebates to shore up exports

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:13:00 +0000

The purpose of these rebates are to stimulate more trade between overseas buyers and Chinese exporters, the benefit will be a reduction in your prices on all applicable products shipped after the 1/06/09.

China has raised export tax rebates on more than 2,600 items, including processed farm products, machines, shoes, hats and toys, as of June 1, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Monday.This is the seventh time that the nation raised tax rebates since last August as to shore up exports amid global economic downturn. A ministry official, Liu Shangxi, told Xinhua the latest rebate increase reflected the government's efforts to spur the economy by combining domestic consumption and export industry."China's exports still face difficulties in the short term.

The tax rebate increase would help exporters reduce costs and shore up exports," he said.According to a notice jointly announced by the ministry and the State Administration of Taxation, tax rebates on TV transmitters, sewing machines were raised to 17 percent, and that on canned food, juice, shoes, hats and toys were up to 15 percent.Tax rebates on plastic, porcelain, glass and aquatic products were lifted to 13 percent, steel products, including scissors, to 9 percent and cornstarch, alcohol to 5 percent.

For more information on the full rebate % for the products you source from China please contact richard.ferris@yrclogistics.com

YRC Logistics - President Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Our President John Carr has departed today after a week trip where he reviewed our business & strategy for Europe as well as joining sales calls & client visits and ended the week by participating in our national sales conference.

Over the years the value for us and our staff is gaining ideas from high level visitors such as John and this trip was no different. The meetings were not stage managed as we feel that by only viewing the good, bad and the ugly can we really gain the maximum value in terms of ideas for our business.

Day 1
Started with an overall European business strategy review and planning session.

Day 2
I will look back on with a smile as a high potential sales visit with one of our Global Development Managers (GDM) had been pre-arranged, but unfortunately the prospect cancelled that morning. We understand that this happens and it is a hazard of sales but was disappointing and we had to find an alternative.

That meant the closest GDM geographically obliged by diverting to the office and taking John into two calls. The first was again a high potential prospect, ideal for John to visit with us, but they advised in the meeting that the day earlier their location had been put on notice to close and all staff were being made redundant. This is terrible news for them personally but also for our GDM who had our company President next to him. To the GDM's credit he was professional, sympathetic and still managed to conduct a good meeting.

The second was a client visit that this GDM is responsible for. It is very small in terms of revenue & size but personal to the GDM and we believe personal to us as a company because we believe you cannot turn service on and off. To understand the story you need to picture our President who is responsible for a $1 billion global organisation sitting on a settee being given tea by the very pleasant wife of our client stroking their four cats. In addition we had a communication issue with this client. which meant that the client was not happy.

We promised John that during his trip he would see us 'warts and all' and although it was a new experience for John sitting in a lounge of a small family business, the way we conducted ourselves in resolving the problem showed how strong our culture and our core values are. During the debrief of the day, John said 'that it was very humbling to sit with the family and the situation reinforced how we feel, which is that we do not just move boxes for our clients, we are responsible for their livelihood'.

For me this highlights the client focused culture that is driven down from the leadership of YRC Logistics to all levels of the organisation.

Day 3
A meeting was held with a large global client to discuss our forwarding and distribution services within our specialist retail environment which was very positive.

Day 4
John actively participated in our national sales conference where he saw the top three opportunities for every GDM and how they are providing a solution for the client with the focus on 'what else can we do to help our prospects and clients'. It was good for us to review the national sales figures and pleasing to see that even in a difficult economy our sales force is far exceeding expectations in terms of new clients trading with us.

Finally I also tried to explain the rules of cricket whilst the second day of England V Australia was in progress. I am sorry to say that I did not do a good job, as John suggested that if it is a draw after 5 days shouldn't the two captains get out to the middle and 'do battle'. I am not sure what the members of Lords would think of this amendment to the laws of cricket, but it did make me smile.

YRC Logistics UK earns highest Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:19:00 +0000

HM Revenue and Customs issued Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certification to YRC Logistics UK with effect from July 1, 2009. The AEO certification status is “Full (F)”, which entitles YRCL to benefit under both the security and safety and the customs simplification regimes. This status allows YRCL clients with similar accreditation to enjoy the full range of AEO trade facilitation benefits, such as fewer physical customs inspections at EU borders and easier reporting.

The AEO objective is to enhance supply chain security through granting recognition to reliable traders and encouraging best practice at all levels in the supply chain.
AEOs are able to benefit from facilitation for customs controls or simplifications for customs rules or both, depending on the type of AEO certificate.

There are three certificate types:

· AEO Certificate—Customs Simplification
· AEO Certificate—Security and Safety
· AEO Certificate—Customs and Security (so-called "Full Certificate")

Obtaining Customs Simplification/Security and Safety Full Certification status required YRCL to meet the qualification requirements for both the AEO Customs Simplification Certificate and the AEO Security and Safety Certificate. The comprehensive criteria encompassed standards relating to the management of commercial and transport records; general good standing and stringent security measures concerning the management of the entire supply chain.

Most importantly to our clients, YRCL’s AEO certification status will now permit AEO certified importers and exporters to enjoy the full range of benefits, including fewer physical and document-based controls, priority treatment of consignments and choice of location for customs controls.

For more information please contact Vince Thomson, YRCL UK Global Services Manager,
TEL: +44 (0)1784 480104; EMAIL vince.thomson@yrclogistics.com

Customer First Policy = Immediate Answer To Customer Requests

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:35:00 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen shipments increase from some of our key clients, this is a promising sign and I hope that it continues. I believe a logistics company with its core service offering of freight forwarding needs to differentiate itself and at YRC Logistics we believe that the "YRCL Way" and our customer first policy helps us to achieve this. Over the last 6 months we have ran fairly lean so it is with mixed feelings when I see staff concerned because they have not been able to answer every single request immediately. But what I do know is that having an almost 'frenzied' approach from our staff is the right standard to set.

If an answer is not immediate but it is achieved as near to immediate a possible (plus a few minutes), then we continue to be true to our DNA which makes us duty bound to serve our clients better than anyone else would do.

The YRCL internal minimum service standard (MSS), highlights this as a formalised customer service process which I do not believe is common to our industry or competition. This culture has been nurtured and evolved over 15 years through many long days and nights and with many 10 year plus veterans treating every call as though it was their own business. The satisfying aspect for me is to see our teams pull together, help each other out and end their day with a sense of real achievement, even if that is late into the night. Nothing is more important than us serving our clients better than anyone else would do.

You are all invited to @Tuesdaytweetup Southampton

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:57:00 +0000

What is a TweetUp?

noun, A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through twitter.It’s for all those addicted to twitter and those just getting the hang of it - to share ideas, TweetUp or just network.@Tuesdaytweetup is organising the time and the place for people to meet, to have a few drinks, exchange ideas, network and to just "TweetUp"Its free, kicks off at 6:30pm at Dockgate 4 Piano Bar, Southampton on the 16th June and yes you are all invited.

Not an hour goes by on twitter when tuesdaytweetup doesn't witness followers helping followers out.

It is really great to see and that was the inspiration for the tuesdaytweetup. It's a local event, to share ideas and bring the world of twitter into the real world. It's so true, at the last tweetup people felt as if they already knew each other, when all they'd been up until the event was just an avatar on the twitter timeline.

Twitter is a great ice-breaker and the tuesdaytweetup provides the time and space to really get to know your followers better and maybe find time for some business as well.

For more information you can twitter http://twitter.com/clar_key or http://twitter.com/tuesdaytweetup

Walk In The Park

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:16:00 +0000

In our industry where it is commonly agreed that formal training should be supplemented with on the desk coaching, it is great for me to walk into our Birmingham office with my manager Mike Collins, Senior VP of Global Operations & Sales. to hear how Tony Calnan our regional manager of 15 years talks so enthusiastically about his business unit as well as how he looks forward to Friday when he holds coaching sessions with his team.

These sessions can vary from simple "Customer First" examples to customs duty saving opportunities via regimes such as "first sale rule" or more in depth supply chain solutions.

The great thing to hear is how these are all focused on 'what else can we do for our client'. My job is a absolute walk in the park with guys like this on our team and staff in our offices so eager to be the best in the industry.

Making A Postive Difference For Our Clients

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:24:00 +0000

To round off the week I received a fantastic telephone call updating me on a business review with a new export client that produces staging equipment.

The client moved straight into our top 50 in April and during the review their senior management team advised us that we had made such a positive difference to their business compared to their previous forwarder, the main reasons for the increase in service is due to the information they receive about their shipments, YRC staff enthusiasm and competitive solutions as key reasons why they are so pleased to have made the change.

A keen eye on driving clients costs down

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:11:00 +0000

My week ended with Markus Higham and myself on a conference call with 40 sales and key management staff from 11 countries across Asia. Markus is the YRCL EU internal focal point to support our staff and clients with the best solutions to improve their supply chain with a keen eye to drive their costs down. Sometimes, actually often, this includes questioning how and when they move their cargo (or rather should I say their livelihood) around the world. In difficult economic times, calls like this remind me what a difference we can make to our clients by (forgive the cliche) acting global but thinking local.

Good Manners Secures New Client

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Martin) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:53:00 +0000

This is how simple, basic customer service combined with industry knowledge can achieve powerful results.

The below is an interesting example about how a prospect client did not receive basic customer service combined with industry knowledge and achieved a powerful result, but not what the client was expecting!

Last week our prospect client booked a road freight shipment to Austria with their present freight forwarder (who we shall call Mr Forwarder).

The shipment was collected via truck and was to be transshipped. Unfortunately the consignment missed its connection. The client's Austrian customer informed them that consignment did not arrive. Unfortunately Mr Forwarder did not advise the client about the missed connection or the late delivery. to add insult to injury Mr Forwarder advised the client that the final delivery could not be made for another 4 days.

Unfortunately the consignment was needed urgently by the clients customer so they requested to Mr Forwarder that another shipment was booked via airfreight to Austria. when the shipment was delivered out of 5 pieces only 4 were delivered to the end customer and to this day it is still missing in transit and the client has not been offered any form of compensation or even an apology.

Unfortunately for Mr Forwarder YRC Logistics has been visiting this client and had verbally agreed to trial in the near future, during a meeting with the client yesterday we were asked to quote on a DDU Air Freight to California. The GDM called the local Manchester office during the meeting and secured a price immediately in line with the Quote to Win Process.

The client also emailed Mr Forwarder for an ‘Urgent Price’ for the same job and received no response back. After half an hour the client called Mr Forwarder and said that the price was urgent and could they please get back to her as soon as possible as it was for a collection the following day.

After another 45 minutes and nearly close of business, the client called Mr Forwarder again. Her contact told her that they would not be able to get a price to her that day and it would have to be the following morning.

YRCL won their first piece of business from Mr Client as a result.

My summary would be: -

Having a service failure is not good, but how you react is very important. Aside from monitoring the original delivery at the appropriate danger points, the airfreight shipment that followed the failed delivery should have been managed with 'gold plated service' to ensure the client knew where is was at every stage and to make sure it was delivered on time. The client should have felt before the shipment departed, comforted by the shipment planning.
Replying immediately is a common courtesy but in our industry it is also a 'must do'. Nothing else is more important.
Being chased by a client is a disaster, not replying after being chased is inexcusable.
Freight Forwarding has many complications but some areas like replying immediately, managing shipment movements are actually fairly simple.

Aside from excellent (or even good) customer service, I believe that replying immediately to a request from a client, internal or external is just good manners that my dear old grandmother taught me every day some 40 years ago.