Sales 101: Greatest Customer Sales Tips For Freight Brokers
Written by Adriana Pulley
Advice from Tim Higham, Founder of AscendTMS
We’re combing through past podcast episodes to bring you a series of our all-time favorite pieces of sales advice for those breaking into the freight broker business. Today we flashback to episode 22, where we got to pick the brain of Tim Higham, President, and CEO of AscendTMS, the world’s most popular TMS software.
Higham talked to us about the journey of his company and gave solid advice that can be useful for anyone looking to gain new business.
Solutions for Now and the Future
When you’re approaching a potential client, think about what problems they are currently facing that you can help solve. Next, think about trends, current events, upcoming regulations, etc. that could contribute to problems they may be facing in the future. If you can get a client to start thinking about how they can get ahead of an issue, that’s golden.
Higham says to look at how you “need to solve today’s problem that will bridge people into the future, you can’t just build one end of the solution.” Try to solve the mess of today’s world and anticipate the messiness of the future, he explains.
Don’t Mistake Your Exuberance for Knowledge
Charisma does play its part in the business. However, you need to back that up with being knowledgeable about the logistics industry. People are initially drawn in by charisma, excitement, and youthful energy, but will it keep them? So, you have to have the knowledge or no one is going to take you seriously. Although Higham spoke more about creating a startup, the same advice applies to making sales.
Really it all boils down to being prepared. Study the company’s background, load data, market stats, and more. This shows that you know what you’re doing. When you know what you’re doing, you can better meet a client’s needs.