From Zero to Revenue: The Sales Rep’s Evolution | Ep 53

Brian: 00:00:00

Welcome back to logistics and Leadership.

On today's episode, we're going to talk about the evolution of a successful sales rep and how to overcome those Sunday scaries when you don't know where your revenue is going to come from. I know a lot of times, man, we've dealt with those.

Justin: 00:00:24

You feel it.

Brian: 00:00:24

You say that Sunday, scary Sunday blues.

I know in logistics, especially in a sales role, your base or your metrics around revenue, how much revenue can I put up in a certain week, in a certain month? What are some ways that you've done that that you can share with our audience to overcome the Sunday scaries or to prep for the next week?

How do you do that, man?

Justin: 00:00:45

Yeah, so I think I'm not as heavily involved running a book of business, so we call it in logistics running a book of business as I used to be. But you talk about the evolution of a sales rep. So tql, we both came from tql. Phenomenal sales training program.

Brian: 00:01:00

Yeah.

Justin: 00:01:00

They literally gave you the tools and education on the industry and showed you what to do. It was your job to execute on. On what, what you're supposed to do. So when you start, you're at zero. You have zero clients. Majority of that.

You have zero clients, zero load, zero revenue. And your job is to go out there and start building a book of business.

And in my experience, you're not just blowed out of the water, you know when you start.

Brian: 00:01:29

Yeah.

Justin: 00:01:29

That is a serious process. I hear you say this all the time, but it's, it's like a 12 to 24 month timeframe where you really start to build that momentum.

Brian: 00:01:37

Yeah.

Justin: 00:01:38

So for me, and I won't get too deep into it, but for me, it was my mentality was I need to build up and close as many clients as possible. I don't care if they're moving. Hey, penguins. Ice cubes, dog. I did not care if I could make money on it. I was, I was going after it.

Brian: 00:01:57

Did not care. Yep.

Justin: 00:01:58

So I went out. I was super aggressive. I was terrible on the phone. I've said this before, but I mumbled. I talk fast. Not as bad anymore.

But I have an underbite, so it doesn't help. But I was just going to pump out the calls. I didn't care how many. I was just going to outwork people, pump out the calls.

And I knew I was going to land business at some point.

Brian: 00:02:15

Right.

Justin: 00:02:16

It was just a matter of when. So as I did that, I figured out who values the service and communication and what I bring to the Table.

And I started focusing on them as you're building a book of business. And this is 12 to 18 months into the job.

Brian: 00:02:30

Yeah.

Justin: 00:02:30

When you're doing that, you start setting yourself up for the following weeks. You're prioritizing certain clients that are. They value what you bring, they pay their bills.

They're not undercutting you because another carrier came in at $25 cheaper. So.

So you prioritize them, and then you start getting that, like, more consistent volume because you're having the conversation up front on, hey, did I execute there? Did I do a good job? Are you happy with my service? How about I run those moving forward? How often do you have them?

Brian: 00:02:56

Yeah.

Justin: 00:02:56

So you start building in that consistency into your book of business. Once you start.

Brian: 00:03:00

I think that's what everybody wants, Consistency. Right. Like, I think that's the biggest.

I wouldn't say maybe the biggest, but one thing that we hear a lot, especially from salespeople, is, man, I just want a consistent book of business. I want to know what's coming in. It's like, we all do, right? Like, we.

We all of us want to know what the sales forecast is going to look like for next week. And the reality is, nobody has a crystal ball. We don't necessarily know unless you have contracted freight set up.

And it does take time to get that contracted freight. So anybody listening? Today, we all want consistency. Even today, even after, you know, 15 years in the business, like, we all want consistency.

We want to know what's coming ahead. And that's going to reduce those Sunday scaries.

Justin: 00:03:40

Right.

Brian: 00:03:40

When you come in and you have 10 loads booked on a Monday or on a Sunday night, you're gonna feel a lot better coming into work Monday morning rather than you have one load booked for $200 in gross profit.

Justin: 00:03:51

Exactly.

Brian: 00:03:52

But, yeah, I think everybody wants that consistency. I think it's just a matter of putting in the work. I know we talked about it on previous podcasts before.

Actually, one of those that comes to mind is episode 33, unpacking success in Logistics. If you're a listener of the show, go back and listen to that one.

There's a lot of takeaways that folks, especially starting out in logistics, can use in their daily process. But I think with some of those, it's having a mindset of, I'm going in there, I'm getting after it.

You mentioned this, but the hustle mentality, being at your desk, making the calls, sending the emails, being available. I love this story because it just goes to show you on the hustle mentality. And this was early on, I think we were in Lexington.

I think it was a coil customer.

And I love the story because it's a tribute to the industry and some of the successful people in our industry, where I think you packed your lunch every single day. You never went out. And then I think on a Friday, I think you, like, rewarded yourself with, like, Subway or something.

Justin: 00:04:48

And you went out. That sounds right.

Brian: 00:04:49

Yeah. You went out to Subway, you came back and you told me this story. Like, man, I'm pissed off.

This customer who sends out a blast email to all of her carriers, and she sends like, a load list, and it's the person that gets the load calls back or emails back right away saying, hey, I can take this lane for this rate. And then they book the loads. Right. So they're still working off an email format.

And I think you went to lunch that Friday, and you missed out on a couple of, like, Indiana to Florida loads where you were making good margin and you were pissed off. You're like, man, that was $1,500 in. In GP on four loads or whatever. And I missed out on that because I. I left my desk.

And to me, that just goes to show you, like, the hustle mentality has to be there. And I think a lot of times, like, you hear people say it in our industry, but, you know, the best ability is availability sometimes.

And I agree with that to a certain extent, where you have to be available. You have to be there for your clients, for those opportunities that come up.

Because you never want to miss a phone call as a salesperson or in your case, like an email.

Justin: 00:05:47

That was: 2012

Brian: 00:05:49

Yeah. Yeah. So we're going. I mean, we're going back.

Justin: 00:05:51

Motorola Razer phone. Flip phone. I don't think I had, like, I had my last thought, that's okay everywhere, but I don't even know if I had my email on it.

But that was a painful one. I think the next time I left the office was my honeymoon.

Brian: 00:06:03

Yeah, well, I think we, you know, we. We learn it. And I think that, to me is like, the hustle mentality. And I think you had that and like, you know, you still have it today. But I.

I think it's that hustle mentality of even the listeners on our show. I think you have to have that the first several years, the first two, three years those opportunities come up.

s they come up on Saturday at: 10:00

In our industry, fortunately or unfortunately, for those people that don't want to work nights or weekends, we have to be available to service those clients.

Justin: 00:06:36

Yeah. And you mentioned that the availability is. What was it? The availability is best.

Brian: 00:06:42

Availability is availability. Yeah. I'm bad with tongue twisters.

Justin: 00:06:45

Yeah. I'm not going to try repeating that, but you're exactly right. And I think it's ingrained.

And I know you're similar to this too, but like, it's ingrained in me where you have four kids. I have three kids now, but it might be 6:00, a prospect shoots me an email. I'm having dinner and like response time and so damn responsiveness.

And just being available and getting a reply back. Because this is when I've been working for six to 12 months.

Brian: 00:07:08

Yeah.

Justin: 00:07:08

I get an opportunity. I don't care. Like Carly gets it. But it's painful because I don't want to miss this opportunity.

In my mind, there's someone that is younger, more energetic, hungry. You know, they were in my position 15 years ago, but they might respond and get this opportunity where I missed it.

Brian: 00:07:27

Yeah.

Justin: 00:07:27

And I think it's tough for us to relate because we know what it takes to find that success. And then work. Life balance is such a huge topic of conversation now. Where these generations coming into the workforce once they leave work.

I'll see you tomorrow. I'm not, I'm not looking at my phone. It's like, it's like, guys, we put in so much work to get these opportunities.

Brian: 00:07:49

Yeah.

Justin: 00:07:49

So when the iron's hot, you better effing strike.

Brian: 00:07:52

Yeah.

Justin: 00:07:53

Because you don't know when that next opportunity is coming.

Brian: 00:07:55

Sure.

Justin: 00:07:56

So be available until the point down the road. We talk about the evolution down the road. When?

Now that's a client that you've been working with for three years and they're not sending that out to 10 carriers to deal.

Brian: 00:08:06

Yeah. They're coming to you direct.

Justin: 00:08:07

They're calling you after hours. And you don't have to be as responsive because you're getting that phone call.

Brian: 00:08:11

Well, I think it's life phases. Right.

And I think that's why we see so many folks in our industry that are from the ages of, you know, 21 to 30 that they have a ton of opportunity and they're creating more opportunities for themselves because they're in that life phase.

They're probably newly married, maybe they're single, they don't have any kids, they don't have a lot of responsibilities on the home front at this point yet. And they're able to respond kind of like the competitor you're talking about.

I do think that once you get a little bit older and you get married, you start having kids, you got a lot more responsibilities and maybe you're not able to get to that email at 6, 30 or whatever. And I think that's just, those are life phases or life stages that we're all in and I think it's makes it a little challenging.

So my advice to anybody that's listening today, that's in that phase of 21 to 30, 32 years old, whatever, and you don't have a lot of responsibilities. Hell, Even if you're 45 and you don't have a ton of responsibilities, use that time for your business to build it up and get that consistency.

Because I think that's different when you talk like you said it earlier about evolution, but the first several years of building it up is different than year 4, 5, 6, 7, 10. Now that's consistent business coming in, you know what's happening.

But those first two, three years, they're always tough for every single sales rep out there.

Justin: 00:09:31

Yeah, and I've again, I've seen nearly your entire career in logistics besides your first year when you started, because you.

Brian: 00:09:38

Started, I don't think you wanted to see that.

Justin: 00:09:43

Turned it down.

Brian: 00:09:45

Macy's turned me down. Yeah, I was stumbling at that point.

Justin: 00:09:47

And yeah, you and I both.

But you've worked with one of the top produce companies in the US And I remember you share your story with some of our, our team and it's like you had a small window every weekend where you gave yourself that freedom. You're still responsive and had your phone but like you were working through the weekends and now it's like, whoa, I worked all weekend.

It's like, okay, well like that's the work you had to put in to get to that next stage in the evolution.

Brian: 00:10:14

Well, I think that the window, I mean, I think it's different for every client. Right. Like I think produce is different than dry and flatbed.

But I think that if you do have somebody that's in the perishable space and they had opportunities for the weekend. You know, my schedule used to be I'd work every Saturday from, from 8 to noon and that might be from the house or whatever, taking care of business.

And then I would give that 36 hour window up until like 9 o'clock on Sunday night. Right. Still be available, still be there, but like at least I could have some sort of life in between.

And again that's going back to like the life stage or like the life phase, whatever you want to call it. I was newly married, didn't have kids yet. I could put that time in.

And, you know, so that's something that, you know, going back and looking at it, I'm like, damn, like, okay, yeah, I did put in that time, but the account probably needed it.

Justin: 00:11:01

Yeah. Here we are trying to put in more time at this stage in our life.

Brian: 00:11:04

I know it's hard, man. The balance. Yeah.

Justin: 00:11:08

Brian, I do want to touch on one thing and the evolution of a successful sales rep, because I think this is, this is really important. Sales reps that have established their book of business.

I think the number one thing I noticed with the most successful sales reps is they always have a pipeline.

Brian: 00:11:24

Sure.

Justin: 00:11:38

It doesn't matter how successful they are. They can hit the milestones, accolades go to the president's clubs. But one guy comes to mind and. Rob English. Yeah, there's another one.

You wouldn't, you would know him, but same deal.

Brian: 00:11:50

Yeah.

Justin: 00:11:50

You know, one of the more tenured employees at our previous company hit president's club every single year, was always at the top of the rankings.

Brian: 00:11:58

Yeah.

Justin: 00:11:59

And the guy still prospected in closed business. It's that continued prospecting where, you know, we experienced it as a company.

I've experienced it personally with my biggest account, you know, 10 years ago.

Brian: 00:12:10

Yeah.

Justin: 00:12:10

Lost them. Well, thank God I had a pop. And I didn't know any better at the time. I was just going to be prospecting regardless.

But, yeah, we saw it as a company where we let off the gas a little bit on the sales front. Our pipeline dwindled as a team, and now we're trying to play catch up.

Whereas if we're doing the work and what we should have been focused on the whole time, that blow of lost business wouldn't have impacted us as much. So the continued prospecting, I think, is always important for the most successful sales reps.

Brian: 00:12:36

Totally agree.

And I think that we harp on the quantity of calls early on in somebody's career, But I think even as you progress and you're a veteran, I still think there needs to be a level of prospecting. Is that 100 calls a day? No, it's not. Is it 10 to 15 touches? Yeah. I think that's attainable for anybody running a book. That's 30, 40, 50 loads a week.

You can still get in 10 prospecting calls a day to those clients. Now they are going to be more strategic and, you know, a book that comes to Mind is Jeb Blount or Jeb Blunt.

He has a book called Fanatical Prospecting, and it's a phenomenal book. Yeah, it's literally. We've said it numerous times on this show before, but it's like our sales bible.

And it's something that, you know, we go back to all the time and it has, you know, tactics and strategies on how to keep your pipeline full. If you don't know the guy, please subscribe to, you know, his email newsletters on LinkedIn. He's a guy that. He speaks our language, which is crazy.

Justin: 00:13:34

You said this, and I'm going to jump in real quick. Yeah, it doesn't matter.

So if you're listening and you haven't, you know, read any of his books or heard of him, it doesn't matter what industry you're in.

Brian: 00:13:43

Right.

Justin: 00:13:43

I feel like, you know, Jeb is in logistics when I, when I, like, read or listen to stuff. Yeah, but he speaks the language of sales prospecting, but go on.

Brian: 00:13:51

No, I think that's exactly it. He speaks the language and he talks about keeping your pipeline full and how to do it.

So he, to me, he's one of the best sales trainers out there and he gets the way that we prospect and he understands it. And, you know, he also has a podcast that he runs. But yeah, I think he's a great trainer. I think that's something that we rely on him quite a bit.

I know we've handed out a handle, a handful of those books to a lot of our sales reps as well.

Justin: 00:14:15

Another thing I would add that, that I feel like it translates across anyone that's found success in logistics or sales in general is they genuinely enjoy the relationships and the pursuit of new business. The top people always prioritize the relationship, and when you do that, there's a genuine curiosity to connect with these potential clients.

That's what makes the whole pursuit enjoyable. You're, you know, Brian, you're phenomenal at more the account penetration and growing accounts. I'm obsessed with the chase.

I enjoy the chase more than the kill.

So pursuing all these opportunities and having a strong pipeline is what's fulfilling to me because I know that there, there's plenty of opportunity there and I'm going to get some wins. It's just a matter of time. I never really gravitated towards produce because I just didn't learn on produce accounts.

I mean, I would consider you an expert. I know you're going to be humble and actually you're not, but I'll consider you an expert when it comes to market and projections and seasonality.

Where does that come into play when it comes to the success of a sales rep?

Brian: 00:15:20

Yeah, I think seasonality has a lot to do with it. Understanding the markets on what's moving, how that's going to affect your rates.

If you know that specific shipment going to a specific area is going to grant you a bigger margin or a better profit, you need to pay attention to that because that's going to give you the opportunity or give you more of a chance to make that money, which as a sales rep, that's important to you.

And so I think a lot of that paying attention and being aware of what we paid today, what we're going to pay next week, how we're structuring the carrier payment side and then also even on the customer side, knowing when to take chances and when to take risks and when to back off certain scenarios. It's something, you know. Yeah, I've been involved in produce for a long time. That's also something that I got thrown into. Right. I didn't know.

I think I made a couple cold calls back in the day and got a couple opportunities and it just happened to snowball from there.

So I think that's, especially with the market and with the produce cycles being what they are, understanding how that affects other modes, I think is huge because again, it all comes back to the rates to drivers, the rates to trucks, where we need to push on clients to, you know, make sure that we're making that, you know, 10, 15, 15% margin to successfully run a business.

Justin: 00:16:36

Yeah, I view it like this too. And this is something we mentioned somewhat often is being a consultant, being a consultant for your clients where you're bringing value.

And I work with a lot of smaller food and beverage manufacturers where they might not have the experience, especially when it comes to the market or modes, services, solutions, whatever it may be, but knowing the market and making those recommendations where you're bringing value to them as opposed to just making it transactional.

Brian: 00:17:06

So we talk about the evolution of a successful sales rep. I think there are different phases. I think there's a lot of good things that we've talked about today. I do want to reference.

You know, I said it earlier, but episode 33 on our podcast, logistics and Leadership is something that you should go back and listen to.