Telephone etiquette

Nailed it

 

Good manners never go out of style.

 

Barney the dinosaur used to sing...

"Please and Thank You.. they're called the magic words..
If animals could talk, you'd hear the fishes and the birds saying PLEASE and THANK YOU.."

If it's good for a purple dinosaur.. it's good for we professional drivers and brokers.

 

I've had people calling on my truck with their mouths full of food.

Yeah sorry I'm not available.

 

mike! Hey Mike mike mike!!! yes Mike!

I have always tried to make a decent morning of everything before I pick up the phone to endure a series of questions machinegun style from scammers.

What I do now is just sit quietly with a couple of cat playthings and a couple of goodies When the coos, giggles and squeals in particular irratate the HELL out of the seller and they start #####ing

 

I'm happy if they even leave a voicemail.

 

Telephone etiquette changes depending on supply and demand.

In a shipper's market, you normally have to call on loads more often than not. When you do call, to ask about a load, the broker will pick up the phone sounding gruff. You ask about such and such load, and he/she will quickly go through the details and then tell you what it pays, take it or leave it, do you want it or not?

In a trucker's market, the freight broker is the most polite and professional voice you'll ever hear in your life. They'll call your phone, and most of the time by the sound of their voice, you'd think they were about to offer you a brand new house for all the great work you've done in your life, before they beg you to take their load.

Sometimes in a trucker's market, the broker will sound desperate and will ask you to "help them out". When you quote them an appropriate price for the situation, the call will most likely turn ugly and you will either be hung up on, yelled at, or you will hear silence for a couple of seconds before they ask if you can come down at all. If they ever ask you to come down at all, come down about 5-7% and most likely it's yours. This is why you should always quote more than you want. "Can you come down at all?" is the most wonderful thing you will ever hear on the phone.

 

And negotiation of a big ticket item you are considering purchase of. Communicating with seller to transport which happens to be by big truck.

You think you paid a high price for this item. But oh no. That's prior to shipping charges to come. A hardened negotiator will have you saying yes when in your mind you are oathing never to spend a dime more and go get it yourself. yes, yes, and yes out of your mouth.

When I got involved in trucking I promised myself never to be a broker or to cause people to say yes yes and yes. I have a phrase I use now and then but some moderators have boiled me for it or burned it. Take your choice so I'll leave it here. Too close to legal tender anyhow. =)