Logistics Unveiled: Sales & Operations | Ep 2
Welcome to the Veritas Vantage Podcast!
In today’s episode, your hosts Brian Hastings and Justin Maines explore the challenges and opportunities within the logistics industry, particularly focusing on entry-level sales roles and the high turnover rates due to burnout from repetitive tasks like cold calling. The conversation sheds light on the mental toughness required to succeed, differentiates between the sales and operational roles within logistics, and emphasizes the importance of hard work, going above and beyond, and having a competitive mindset for career advancement.
Get ready for discussions on Logistics and Leadership!
The Logistics & Leadership Podcast, powered by Veritas Logistics, redefines logistics and personal growth. Hosted by industry veterans and supply chain leaders Brian Hastings and Justin Maines, it shares their journey from humble beginnings to a $50 million company. Discover invaluable lessons in logistics, mental toughness, and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit. The show delves into personal and professional development, routine, and the power of betting on oneself. From inspiring stories to practical insights, this podcast is a must for aspiring entrepreneurs, logistics professionals, and anyone seeking to push limits and achieve success.
Timestamps:
(00:55) - Introducing the Logistics Industry: A 3PL Perspective
(01:54) - Navigating Career Opportunities in Logistics
(02:49) - The Hunter vs. Farmer: Sales and Operations Roles
(04:01) - Overcoming Challenges and Excelling in Sales
(06:51) - Strategies for Career Advancement in Logistics
(11:23) - Exploring Diverse Opportunities Within Logistics
(12:54) - Mindset for Success in the Logistics Industry
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Watch the pod on: YouTube
Transcript
There's a lot of burnout, mental toughness.
Speaker A:We talk about that a lot.
Speaker A:There's so much burnout when it comes to this, you know, entry level sales role for logistics companies because you're calling shippers over and over.
Speaker B:When my wife used to introduce me to some of her friends at some of her corporate dinner parties, I would always introduce myself as someone who gave truck drivers directions.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So on today's episode, we're going to mention a lot of different backgrounds, topics, roles within the industry, kind of figure out what it takes in our industry to get that entry level role, get promoted to the next level.
Speaker B:Also some mental characteristics that I feel like go unnoticed because, you know, our industry is definitely blue collar.
Speaker B:It's an industry that I fell in love with, you know, 15 years ago.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:So, Brian, let's say you're at a holiday party.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Jess isn't introducing you to her friends, but you're explaining to Aunt Wanda, you know, what it is that you actually do.
Speaker A:How do you describe that?
Speaker B:You know, Our Company is a 3 PL, third party logistics company.
Speaker B:We coordinate and manage shipments from the shipping location that might be in Los Angeles, California, to the delivery location in St.
Speaker B:Louis, Missouri.
Speaker B:Our job is to go out there, coordinate, manage, as well as assign a driver to that specific shipment.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And monitor and manage that shipment all the way throughout from pickup to delivery.
Speaker A:A lot of relationships involved.
Speaker A:A lot of opportunity.
Speaker A:What is it, a $500 billion industry?
Speaker B:Yeah, something like that.
Speaker B:Man.
Speaker B:There's a ton of opportunity.
Speaker B:I think, especially in the brokerage space.
Speaker B:It's close to 200 billion.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:That's controlled by brokers.
Speaker B:For us, there's so much opportunity out there, especially for people that want to get into the industry.
Speaker B:I think we look at it not really that much in detail between me and you, but from a macro level, it's a huge industry to be a part of.
Speaker A:So I'm a college gradu.
Speaker A:Yeah, 22.
Speaker A:I'm green.
Speaker A:I'm ready to go.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm a hustler.
Speaker A:I interview at Veritas Logistics.
Speaker A:What opportunities do I have?
Speaker B:Yeah, so we, I mean, we have a couple different roles.
Speaker B:One of them is a sales role.
Speaker B:The other one is an operational specialist role.
Speaker B:I think a couple characteristic characteristics that you would need coming in that first six to 12 months, whether it's an our company or any logistics company out there.
Speaker B:Hell, any trucking company.
Speaker B:Come in, work your stinking butt off, do the right thing, go above and beyond.
Speaker B:Those are the things that pay Dividends, whether that's two, three, five years down the road, that gives yourself the opportunity for promotion, for advancement, for higher pay, which, you know, we all want prosperity, we all want to earn more money.
Speaker B:So yeah, if I had to give any advice to a 22, 23 year old kid that comes in, do those things, work your stinking butt off, go above and beyond and it's going to work out for you.
Speaker A:So is it fair to describe more of the sales role, that Hunter mindset?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, you're going after new business, you're, you're nurturing new business.
Speaker A:You know, on the flip side, you have operations sometimes works hand in hand, but you're more of that farmer role where you're penetrating accounts, you're growing the business, you're still dealing with a lot of the relationship sides, but you're not as aggressive when it comes to new business acquisitions.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, for sure.
Speaker B:I think that the sales side of it, that's something that you, me and you came in with and I loved it coming out of the, you know, coming from college and I think it's gave me the ability to compete and have that scoreboard and you really got to be on top of it.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Always looking for new opportunities, always wanting to, you know, land that new client or land that new business.
Speaker B:And you have to have a level of awareness now, just like you mentioned with the operation side, that is more of like a client retention, customer support type of role where you're not actively cold calling.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And we're a heavy cold call industry.
Speaker B:But that's something that you don't have to cold call all the time.
Speaker B:You have to maintain the clients that you do have and try to grow those on a weekly basis.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And personally, the biggest challenge, and if this is an industry you're looking to explore or at least want more information about, here's a challenge most sales reps have.
Speaker A:You have to call shippers, let's just say Walmart.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:You have to call Walmart, convince them why they should be using your services compared to the competitions.
Speaker A:Correct?
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:There's a lot of burnout.
Speaker A:You mentioned mental toughness.
Speaker A:We talk about that a lot.
Speaker A:There's so much burnout when it comes to this entry level sales role for logistics companies because you're calling shippers over and over and a lot of times they're already working with other brokers or competitors and they don't have much of a need, especially in a softer market where capacity is abundant and you know, they're not really struggling to find, you know, resources to move their products.
Speaker A:So that's where a lot of the burnout comes from, which is why it's such a high turnover industry.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What do you think Separates, you know, we'll call it the elite performers or the successful salespeople versus an unsuccessful salesperson.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's.
Speaker A:There's a number of things, and I think it's tried and true.
Speaker A:You have to be competitive.
Speaker A:You know, we talk about the scoreboard.
Speaker A:Like everything's transparent.
Speaker A:So you see people's numbers.
Speaker A:You know, if you're competitive, you don't like being middle of the pack or at the bottom.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Like public.
Speaker B:Public shame or public embarrassment.
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:And if you're anything like me, I was so bad at sales because someone pick up the phone and I'd be like shoving everything down their throat, like, give me your business.
Speaker B:What do they call it?
Speaker B:What's Jeb call that?
Speaker B:A pitch slap.
Speaker A:I did a lot of things I probably shouldn't have been doing, but half the time you couldn't understand anything I was saying.
Speaker A:But that was my approach.
Speaker A:But I also knew there was no one in the company that was going to make more phone calls than me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So it's all about numbers.
Speaker A:If you have enough awareness to know, hey, listen, I suck at sales.
Speaker A:I talk too fast, I mumble, I say, you know, I don't, I don't really have much of a plan going to each call.
Speaker A:Like, you're gonna get hung up on, you're not gonna get results.
Speaker A:But if I'm aware of that and I'm still making those calls and working on my craft, I'm gonna find success.
Speaker A:But you also have to have a game plan going into that.
Speaker A:I think competitiveness, mental toughness, is massive.
Speaker A:You know, you are going to, you're calling other blue collar employees that, you know, they're working transportation, you know, you call enterprise level accounts, they might be a little bit more white collar and strategic.
Speaker A:So you have to, you have to adjust your pitch there.
Speaker A:But you know you're going to get hung up on.
Speaker A:You're going to have some, some tough calls where you get cussed out.
Speaker A:It's part of it.
Speaker A:But being able to bounce back and make a next call with the same level of energy and same confidence, that is the biggest thing I think separates the people who throw in the towel and the people that find success.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker B:I think that's it.
Speaker B:All about probability.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:I mean, hell, any sales company out there, any Sales role.
Speaker B:It's about probability, right.
Speaker B:You have to.
Speaker B:You have to take a certain amount of shots to make a certain amount.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So in your opinion, how do you, like, if I'm.
Speaker B:If I've been in a company for three years, I'm in an operational support role, I feel like I'm do a promotion or I'm do a raise or maybe I want to lead a team, right.
Speaker B:And I'm just not there yet.
Speaker B:What advice do you have or what.
Speaker B:What can I do to try to put myself in the best position?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it's a great question.
Speaker A:But if you're in that position, you have to look at your book of work.
Speaker A:Like, what true value are you bringing?
Speaker A:Are you just skating by?
Speaker A:Are you 8 to 5?
Speaker A:Are you just going through the motions?
Speaker A:Are you checking the boxes, you know, in and out?
Speaker A:I'm taking my lunch for an hour and I'm out at 5pm like, if that's you, it's gonna be a really tough conversation when you go to your supervisor and say, I want to lead a team.
Speaker A:Why would they want a robot leading their team that's just going through the motions?
Speaker A:Now, on the flip side, if you're that go getter who's bringing value, who's pushing people, who's, you know, you're full throttle, you want more, and it's apparent then, then it's a very easy conversation.
Speaker A:But I encourage you to go with some ammunition.
Speaker A:Here's what I've done.
Speaker A:Here are the goals you gave me.
Speaker A:Here are the metrics that I'm hitting.
Speaker A:Here's my plan here.
Speaker A:Here's what I'm looking to do.
Speaker A:And when you go with a set plan on why you should be promoted and why you should be in that position compared to X, Y and Z, then it's a pretty easy conversation.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think, I mean, you mentioned a couple things there, and I think it's all about the value.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:It's all about the how do I bring value to the organization or to the team?
Speaker B:And I think, you know, it's funny you say that.
Speaker B: e of a scenario I had back in: Speaker B:You know, this individual came to the table and they asked for a raise, and I said, okay, well, let's.
Speaker B:Let's go over some of your numbers.
Speaker B:What kind of growth have you put together?
Speaker B:What kind of, you know, and it was a non salesperson.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So it was an operational support.
Speaker B:They had no idea.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Or how many, you know, what kind of work have you done so far?
Speaker B:And they had no idea.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So I'm like, okay, well why don't you put that stuff together and then come back and we'll have a conversation and no problem.
Speaker B:Like, I'm pretty fair.
Speaker B:Like, I'll pay you what you're worth, never heard from again.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:And then like three months later they quit.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So it's just like, you know, if you're willing to put in that time and energy to, you know, promote yourself for, you know, the next level or to lead a team or for a promotion, you gotta be willing to put in the work.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:I think those are some of the things that, you know, I think we can help younger people out with, especially when they're in that kind of like one to five year mark in the logistics industry.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:So, and just recap.
Speaker A:I'm a couple college graduate.
Speaker A:I'm looking to get into logistics.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I have two roles I can pursue with Veritas or really this is most logistics companies, sales, where I'm going to be more so new business acquisition, I'm hunting.
Speaker A:New business operations is more of the farmer role.
Speaker A:You're managing accounts, you're growing accounts, you're working hand in hand with sales.
Speaker A:I go to my supervisor and I say, had that conversation.
Speaker A:I put my book of work on the table.
Speaker A:He's like, man, you're right.
Speaker A:Let's go ahead and move you to the next step.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's next for me?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think it depends on if that's leadership or if that's, you know, a higher pay.
Speaker B:I think that, you know, with leadership comes a different level of work, especially when you have direct reports and how to manage and what to do there.
Speaker B:But I think that, you know, if you're in this industry, it's an ever, you know, it's always growing.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So people are buying more products than ever.
Speaker B:You know, Amazon's thinking, flip the logistics game on its head.
Speaker B:It's an industry that's never going to die and it's something that, you know, I'm very passionate about and I love our space.
Speaker B:But you know, you have to make sure that you're still setting yourself apart even if you get that promotion.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:What am I doing to even, you know, help that team out and then, okay, what's, what's next three years from now?
Speaker B:How do I position myself for that?
Speaker B:How do I lead this group?
Speaker B:Maybe leading by example or bringing strategic initiatives to the table, you know, to set myself up for the future.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And I think one thing that our previous company did very well.
Speaker A:They talk about the family tree.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So let's say I am that entry level college candidate.
Speaker A:I come in, you bust my tail.
Speaker A:Two years later, I'm having a lot of success.
Speaker A:I'm up for a promotion, potentially maybe leading a team.
Speaker A:What I value most is the team that's coming up from underneath me.
Speaker A:How successful can I help others around me?
Speaker A:Can I get them in promotions?
Speaker A:Can I get them in better roles?
Speaker A:Can I get them to reach their goals?
Speaker A:Can they make more money?
Speaker A:So they did that very well and they drove that.
Speaker A:And I think you and I did a great job of grooming others that are coming behind us to get into types of roles.
Speaker A:But once you get into those roles for a larger company, there's a lot of areas for other opportunity.
Speaker A:Whether it's, you know, additional modes, services, compliance, like can you share with, with our listeners what is it?
Speaker A:Just moving, just shipments or what else is there into logistics?
Speaker B:Yeah, there's.
Speaker B:I mean, there's.
Speaker B:When you talk about modes, right, what is that?
Speaker B:That could be intermodal, that could be drayage, that could be less than truckload.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And it's all different divisions within transportation.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So there are several different modes or several different areas that you can go into.
Speaker B:It's just whatever makes you happy.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Or whatever interests you.
Speaker B:We might, you know, we have a person on our team right now that's extremely interested in the carrier compliance piece and he's a person that does a really good job with it.
Speaker B:We need him in a couple of different areas as well.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So probably 10 to 15% of his work plan is in that carrier compliance piece.
Speaker B:Even though in the future we know that he's probably going to be the manager over that team.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:So I think like those people that are in those roles, you know, always make it known to your boss or your manager or your supervisor, hey, I have interest in this.
Speaker B:I have interest in this type of role.
Speaker B:Do you know when those would come open?
Speaker B:What happens here?
Speaker B:What happens when we spin off a new branch?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Maybe we open up a new department.
Speaker B:Who's leading that group?
Speaker B:I really liked working for Steve in a previous role or whatever.
Speaker B:I want to work with Steve again, you know, so I think you, you have to use your voice to speak up and make sure that you let other people or let your supervisor know what you're looking for.
Speaker A:If you're from outside this industry and you're listening, this conversation may be a little unclear or you still may be confused, but here's what you need to know if you're looking to build a successful career in logistics.
Speaker A:It all starts with your mindset.
Speaker A:You have to be consistent.
Speaker A:You have to be mentally tough.
Speaker A:It helps to be competitive, it helps to be a hustler, and it helps to be a go getter.
Speaker A:A lot of these things are all bundled in one.
Speaker A:They all come from the same umbrella.
Speaker A:It's all mindset.
Speaker A:So if you do those things and this is something that you know you're willing to take a leap on and you're ready to get chewed up, spit out, kicked when you're down, whatever it may be, it's not easy, but the reward is it pays dividends.
Speaker B:If you're interested in hearing more, we're going to have a separate miniseries in the future breaking down these roles.
Speaker B:Sales, operations, compliance.
Speaker B:What do those look like and how to excel in each of those roles.
