The trucking industry is behind the times.
To be fair I will put that statement into context using my wife as the guinea pig. Today she eats up the online discounting and loyalty programs every retailer offers that didn’t exist 5 years ago. We save lots of dough and, more important for me, a trip to the local shopping mall. It’s amazing how much my family’s buying patterns have changed in such a short time. I can’t imagine that your house operates much different than mine does.
Just like you trucking customers “shop” different than they did five years ago. Frankly, I don’t think our industry has adapted very well to the changes. To confirm my suspicions I did one of my patented CMP (Call My Peers) survey. The results confirmed what I had suspected for some time. Too many truckers I spoke with are still using pricing-fueled sales rep centric models. Unfortunately, younger, smarter decision-makers shop differently than the traffic manager of yesteryear. Hell…they don’t even use that title anymore.
Today’s buyers no longer buy into the old “Can we set up a meeting to learn how I can help your business?” approach. Today you have to know what companies do and what makes the buyers tick’ before Johnny Sales rep reaches out (presume cold calling) to make a pitch. If you’re not prepared, prospects don’t have any reason to waste their time meeting you. The trucking industry is still asking customers to drive to the shopping mall.
Why we are so far behind the times is a complicated question? It’s one I don’t have all the answers to. It’s certainly too complicated to talk about in one post. However, it’s something I plan on exploring in future blogs. In the meantime - Google your Company’s name and see what you find. If you don’t mind sharing, let us know what you learned from the results. Maybe by working together we can all learn something…including me.
PS. Two sparkling brand new golf shirts just got delivered to my front door. I saved over $75 and since I didn’t have to drive to the mall– I had time to write this blog.
