Small carrier: How to get a direct customer & skip the broker.

I'm no expert but when I've been successful in getting a direct customer, I call and speak to the shipping manager.

With one large company, I was sent a carrier pack to fill out. Two weeks later she was e-mailing me available loads. Rates were set and 30% above what brokers pay for the same load from that shipper.

The other I got was from a phone call after hauling a brokered load. The fork lift guy mentioned they have the same steel load out NC to VA 3 times a day. Well, gee, I'm 30 miles away so why not?

Turns out they try to run o/o's only but turn to brokers when necessary. They were happy I called.

 

If you don't mind my asking, when you speak to the shipping manager how do you pitch yourself?

 

I see this article is a little old, but still rings true! Thank you for posting this. In my opinion, this is the most unique ideas I have seen.

Have a great day!

 

We are a new company. Anyone know where we can locate a list of shippers to direct-ship for? Thanks for reading.

 

Phone book

 

There IS no "list" other than the one that YOU create. Read carefully through this thread and you will realize there is a lot of leg work getting customers.

First, use Google Maps. Zoom in to an area, then type a search term, like "steel manufacturer" (if you pull a flatbed) or "dairy" (if you pull a reefer) etc. It will show a whole bunch of icons and you can click on each one to get address, phone number, rating, etc. Call them or better yet go there in person to drop off your carrier packet and do a meet and greet.

This is all about the fundamentals of salesmanship. It's a numbers game. To get one customer you might need to contact 20 or 30 potential customers. Some that turn you down might say, "Call me in six months". You need to be organized enough to make that call in six months AND remember everything you talked about six months ago.

I used a program called ACT! It's a great sales tool, you keep track of contacts, schedule calls, appointments, or tasks, and keep notes of everything about that contact. I used ACT! for decades, when I was a salesman and when I ran my import business.

Some of my best customers took YEARS of calls, meetings, and projects to get that first order. Plan on putting some real effort into your sales effort.

One last thing, told to me by a wise old salesman when I started out:

Customers are hard to get and easy to lose.

You can put years getting a good account, even keep that account for years, and it can all disappear with one bad shipment. Make good on your promises. Your word is your bond.

 

I will use this info in my journey... Thanks

 

WOW!! This post is FULL of great info! Im just starting out on my own with a somewhat specialized flatbed (3 axle expandable stepdeck) and Im looking to operate mostly in TX. When approaching a shipper with an envelope filled with the ppwk goodies, would it not be better to ask to see the shipping manager in person at that time, instead of waiting for them to call after (hopefully) receiving your package?

 

I would think you would be better off dropping the stuff off and asking for an appointment to meet with them.

 

Be careful of asking for meetings when you're on a fishing expedition. Management types typically have a very low tolerance of folks imposing on their time.

BEFORE you ask for a meeting you should have a very good idea of what problem you are going to be solving for the shipper. Get that information from the shipper's customers, their dock people, their office staff, their competitors. Build an understanding of how the operation works, and where you can add value. Then when you get to the meeting, it's a matter of verifying what you think is going on, and agreeing on a price for the solution.