Some of these prospects may take three years to finally land, some may take two months.

But you know, if you're pursuing someone for that long and you're checking those boxes and building on the relationship, it's only a matter of time before you walk through the door.

On today's episode, we're going to talk, be talking about how to differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace.

And this is going to be towards new business acquisition to people that don't currently do business with us.

Today I have here a.

Don't.

Don't even say that.

Do not.

I have a 15 year veteran of new business acquisition specialist Justin Mains.

Justin, let's chat about it, man.

How, how do we differentiate ourselves?

What do brokers in the marketplace have to do today to stand out when they're prospecting?

You know, these prospects are getting, you know, we hear it all the time.

10, 15 calls a day, you know, 20 emails, 10 LinkedIn messages all the time.

It's kind of, you know, it's kind of, I always think of it this way.

It's, you know, when you get a, you know, you go to like a marina or a fishing marina and you throw in that little fish food.

Oh yeah.

And like all those carp.

Is it carp?

Is that the.

There's a lot of different.

I think all fish.

Yeah, yeah, they like, man, they are just trying to get that like piranhas.

Piranhas.

There you go.

So let's go over a couple things that you know, that are good for the audience to hear and understand about ways that you can differentiate yourself.

Yeah, this is, I do think this is a hot topic because we're in a soft market.

And what that means, if you're not familiar with the industry is, you know, there's, you know, plenty of capacity, there's plenty of trucks, but there's not as many loads.

So shippers needs are taken care of.

They're working with carriers.

They don't really, they're not entertaining new partners.

They're not, you know, they don't need, they're not like dying for a broker.

So closing business is more difficult than ever.

When it's tight, it's complete opposite.

You know, shippers need us.

So supply and demand, Correct?

Exactly.

So we're in a very, you know, loose market, soft market.

So these shippers are getting bombarded by calls, emails, texts, you name it, they're getting it.

So when they get a sales call and you're hearing it more now, you know, is this a sales call?

Is this a sales call?

Like.

Absolutely, absolutely.

No, it's, it depends on how you look at it.

But, but you're hearing that a lot.

Because that trust early.

Oh yeah, they're getting them so often.

So the question is, how do you differentiate yourself from the next 50 people calling that same contact later that week?

Yeah.

And there's a number of things and I think there's, you know, a lot of things that, you know, we still miss as a team.

But I'm pretty confident the competition is doing as well.

Yeah.

At the end of the day, you have, you know, 8 to 12 seconds, 8 to 15 seconds to catch that, that, that prospect's attention.

Yeah.

And you're going to do that by doing your homework.

You know, who are you?

Where are you calling from?

Why are you calling?

And then what do you know about them?

You have, you have roughly 10 to 12 seconds to do that.

Sure.

So match their energy.

Make sure that you're not calling with the same, you know, monotonous, you know, low energy voice.

Yeah.

And no generic, you know, bs.

What about like a script?

What if you just have like my name is I work for and you're super monotone on the, on the, you're.

Gonna hear, you're gonna hear dial time.

Because you won't get hung up on pretty quick.

Yep.

So but at the end of the day, like you have that time to even get their interest and you better have a solid question that you did your homework to ask.

And from there you're just listening.

Right.

You know, there's technology out there where I can measure how often or like on one call, let's say five minute call of that time, how much are you talking and how much are you actually listening?

So if you're, if you're talking 90% of the time you're listening 10, you're not going to know shit about that prospect.

Yeah.

You know, I'd be surprised that they're still on the phone after five minutes.

But you should be asking, you know, open ended questions that make them think and you're going to get honest answers.

If you're asking those generic questions.

How many full truckloads do you have?

Right.

How many do you move per week?

How you're going to get very short answers in the conversation.

Not going to last.

So go ahead.

And they can, I mean to me, anytime you hear a prospect on the phone and they hear that question automatically, they know.

Right.

And so I think, so what's, what are some examples of, you know, questions that you start off with?

Or hell, what is, you know, when you make that call.

And they answer and say, hey, my name is Derek.

How can I help you?

What do we do then, Derek?

And there's a number of things, but I am very targeted with who I approach.

And we have a smaller pool of prospects that we pursue because we want that laser focus on those prospects because they fit the client profile that we're trying to work with.

For me, I do a lot of food and beverage.

Food and beverage.

So I connect the dots and I'm working, you know, different contexts, seeing who's connected to who.

You mean like on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn.

Okay.

Yeah.

And I had this conversation with, you know, people I have relationships with.

Hey, I saw that used to work here.

Do you know so and so who I speak with?

So I try to connect the dots before I even call because it's immediately going to warm up the call.

Yeah.

And from what I'm hearing, man, I think, you know, just.

It sounds like you have a game plan before you are calling this potential prospect.

Yes.

How long are you spending on this?

You know, we'll call it game plan.

It's.

I would say anywhere between 30 to two minutes maybe.

Yeah.

So not a long time.

No.

And that now we're going in and we're making this call to the similar type of prospect food and beverage manufacturer.

And then what.

What happens next?

I'm trying to pique their interest enough in my opening to stay on the phone with me.

So you mentioned, you know, hey, I'm Derek, Derek Justin with Veritas Logistics.

Keep this super quick.

I saw that you're connected with so and so I reached out to him about you.

Yeah.

He said that you may need this, this and this.

Yeah, I'm curious to learn more about abc.

Nice.

Whatever it may be.

I think, you know, I.

One thing I love coaching, especially with the call coaching stuff.

Like I.

I enjoy that more than it.

More than I probably should.

But I always hear, you know, new reps or new salespeople, they'll ask, you know, the guy says, hey, Derek, how can I.

Or my name's Derek, how can I help you?

And the first thing they say is, derek, how are you doing today?

And God, man, I just.

I wish we could like alleviate that.

You are right.

Well, I think it screams salesperson.

All right, what do you want, man?

Now you've just lost their interest.

It's like gone off a cliff and you know, it's.

It's hard to recover from that.

So I love that approach when you're saying, derek, I spoke with this person I saw that you were connected on LinkedIn.

You know, how do you approach the mid mile management today going from, you know, your manufacturing facility into Kihei distributors or whatever the scenario is.

So what are some more ways like we went over the opening.

You're bringing up the client relevant fact.

What happens next?

Yeah.

What homework?

How are you going to show them that you've done your homework?

And a lot of times I'm name dropping so I'm working with a lot of your competitors.

Here are their challenges.

Are these similar challenges that you're facing today?

And here's how we solve those challenges.

So there's a lot of synergies between these companies, especially in food and bev.

Yeah.

So I will know a handful of facts about them prior to going into that call.

And if I don't, I'm calling lower level, maybe the gatekeeper or I call it three up, three down, three over where I'm gaining intel from contacts at that company that I can then leverage as my homework.

I can then leverage with the main decision maker.

Yeah.

Because if I know those things and I've talked to every single person around him and I know all their pain points, I understand their needs and now I have a solution I can bring to the table that brings true value.

Yeah.

If you cannot bring value to these prospects, what, where, why would they even work with you?

They're not.

Especially in this market when it's so soft and they're getting so many calls per day.

I truly don't think, I mean they don't have a need.

But if you can pique their interest enough to set up a virtual call or get them some sort of familiarity, I think you can have a leg up.

One thing you mentioned, and I love this, but even when you call the gate so you don't have a ton of information and you know there's potential there.

Calling that gatekeeper and doing some discovery where you're, you know, learning a little bit more about the decision maker and who they use.

If they're using brokers or you know, the gatekeepers, I feel like know more.

Than they lead on.

Yep.

Right.

They, you know, it's funny, we call these gatekeepers and they're instructed or I feel like they have like a laminated sheet that says like, oh, this guy's asking for Transportation logistics.

Oh, say this.

That's John Smith.

Yeah.

Say this right.

It's like transportation logistics script.

The gatekeeper pulls it up and says let me get you back to his voicemail.

Right.

I feel like that happens all the time.

But the more we can dig in and try to find out that discovery piece, I love that because so many people will take that.

Right.

The gatekeeper will say, oh, that's, you know, that's John Smith and let me get you back there.

And now they.

There's nothing really gained from that, I don't feel like.

Right.

So I think there is some value in learning more from the gatekeeper or digging in there to figure out what that is.

What are some other ways that we can stand out or be different than the 20 other people that are calling them every day?

Yes.

And I do think this boils down to the homework and what you know about them.

Because if there's one thing I hope listeners take away is, you know, as a small company, even if you're large.

Yeah.

You know, if you're maybe a TQL C.H.

robinson, they might buy from you because of your name and your brand and your capabilities.

But if you're that mid size or smaller brokerage, these companies are not going to buy because you have a really cool tms.

Right.

Or you have a ton of good carriers in their market in their area.

Yeah.

Or whatever you want to try pitching them that they don't care about, they will buy from you because you are you.

There's no other reason why.

Yeah.

And if they don't like you or they think you're kind of a cheese dick and they don't really like talking to you, they're not going to buy from you either.

Yeah.

So be a person, Listen, do a little homework, find out what they're interested in.

Get a little creepy on Facebook.

I don't know.

But get weird.

I love this part.

Yeah.

So like, but do your homework and be a person when you call that contact because they're gonna buy from you.

Also, if you bring a genuine curiosity to that conversation and truly understand their needs, my number one goal is to make their lives easier.

Whether he's a VP of transportation or I'm working with a logistics coordinator that just gets crushed every day with fallouts.

My number one job is to make their jobs easy.

Easier.

And if I could do that, I give them time back.

I start to know them personally, I figure out about their families, their personal lives, and, you know, may they have, you know, three kids that they rarely get time with because they work late dealing with fallouts.

Sure.

I.

If I can give that logistics coordinator two hours back every day because she doesn't have to deal with fallouts, then I'm winning.

How much do you leverage?

Even Though, just thinking about it, like the relationship piece and talking about their family, you know, how much do you leverage, like LinkedIn or their profile or anything they post or, you know, geographical region, do you dig in there much or what?

How much do you leverage that side of it?

Yeah, a lot of the conversation is going to be tailored based on their experience or, you know, their background.

So I try to find some type of language or experience in there where I might be a little bit more strategic, where I might have to bring it down and be a little bit more transactional.

But yeah, I try to find some commonality with them on a LinkedIn page, whether they went to college nearby.

Yeah, they worked at a company that we've crossed paths with.

Whatever.

Me, I try to find that connection and I bring that up, it might not be, you know, obviously we're not in the door yet.

We'll talk about getting in the door.

Okay.

But as we're building up to that point, trying to different differentiate ourselves, I'm trying to find some type of commonality to build on with the relationship.

I love it, man.

I think that that's where a lot of people have challenges is.

I don't know, I feel like people don't use their brain.

Right.

They have no sense of awareness of, oh, he's connected to that person.

They live here.

They, oh, I can see where, you know, it looks like he went to college there in this city.

He probably is moving back home.

That's something I'm going to bring up.

Yeah.

Oh, you.

I'm going to use my brain and connect the dots here like you mentioned earlier, and figure out.

I think there's a value in that as a salesperson to connect those dots like you're talking about where, you know, a lot of people don't do that.

And I think that it's like, I think it, it's.

The playing field is very easy when you connect some of those dots and make some of those connections.

I also love if a guy's wearing a Minnesota Vikings hat in his LinkedIn profile.

I mean, you bet your ass I am talking about the Minnesota Vikings and their, you know, three and O start or whatever it is.

So, you know, I think those are some of the things that people don't do that I think we can really hit on.

Yeah.

What are some more ways, like, so let's talk about this.

We talked about the opening, getting them to a certain point.

Familiarity.

What next?

Like, I've been prospecting these people for, hell, two, three months.

Medium to large size shipper and what's next?

What step?

What are next steps for us?

Timing is obviously important, especially when you're prospecting.

But it has to make sense for them.

And the only way it's going to make sense is if you're willing to go above and beyond where they're like, wow, we need to onboard.

I know we only onboard once a year, but we're going to onboard this guy in March.

What do you mean?

It's doing what the competition is not willing to do.

And I'll bring up one particular story.

We do a lot of marketing.

We do the handwritten letters.

We talk about it all the time.

We had a prospect and let me back up.

I would not do this unless they're a good fit and the partnership makes sense.

You're just not like, sending a blast out to, like, yeah.

All these people.

Yeah.

So, you know, the people we're pursuing are qualified, and that's who we're going to spend our time with.

But we had a great shipper out in Washington.

Yeah.

That we had been talking with.

We had some great conversations.

And, you know, the conversation came up, us being in, you know, Kentucky and Ohio, that, you know, if you're willing to meet in person, then we'll bring you on board.

It was the first time I've ever done this, but, you know, flew out to Washington.

Yeah.

To meet with their team.

Yeah.

And we had never ran a load with.

Never did business.

And that may be something common at other companies, but for a small company, you know, we were budgeting.

This is a few years ago.

Like, oh, boy, Two, three, four grand just to make the trip.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we flew out there, you know, we broke bread, had a great conversation, learned more about their team, built some.

Some more relationships, and.

And they're a great client today.

So that's.

Those are some of the things I mean by like, going above and beyond.

You know, some of these.

Some of these prospects may take three years to finally land.

Some may take two months.

But, you know, if you're pursuing someone for that long and you're checking those boxes and building on the relationship, it's only a matter of time before.

Before you.

You walk through the door.

What are some.

We always see these stats.

Right.

And it's like, you know, the first.

I forget certain amount of percentage of salespeople quit after the first call, and a certain amount of salespeople quit after the second call.

And I think like, the most or the most sales are made after, like, the eighth contact.

Right.

The highest majority.

And at that point, I think it's like 6% of salespeople are only willing to make eight contacts the same person.

What is, like, your cadence?

Or what do you.

What are you doing as far as.

Are you calling every week?

Are you calling every other day?

Are you emailing every other day with pictures of your dog?

What are you doing there as far as, like, the cadence?

I think this goes back to the listening part.

Like, if they're like, justin, like, leave me alone for a month, sure.

You know, I may send them an email with, like, a marketing update.

Yeah.

But I'm never bringing up business for at least a month because I want them to know that I heard you listen, and that's what I'm going to do.

But, you know, if.

If I had the conversation, are you okay if I.

If I, you know.

You know, send you anything that I think you'll find of value?

Yeah, but I'm always trying to get commitments and build out a timeline on when I'm going to, you know, finally start working with them so that the expectations are set.

I'm getting commitments from them, and I'm moving them along through the sales process.

So, um, it all.

It all depends on the conversation and how much potential is there.

But if I'm not reaching them and they have a commitment they gave me.

Yeah, I mean, I'll call every day.

I'll call three times a day.

I'll email multiple times a day.

Hopefully I don't get, you know, a restraining order.

But, yeah, it usually works in our favor if we're that persistent.

Well, and I think, like, you said it, but I think, even, okay, you had the initial call, you know, and saying something along the lines of, hey, do you mind if I follow up every month?

Or what do you like, even putting it back in their court?

Right.

Like, what's a good cadence for us?

Can I follow up monthly?

Is it every quarter?

What do you got?

Yeah, you could follow up monthly, no problem.

Yeah, that's no problem at all.

Okay.

Now, I put that in my CRM.

I put that in my, you know, whatever it looks like as far as, like, the client file.

And then what do you send to them?

Like, say somebody only wants quarterly emails.

What do you do then?

Like, yeah, I want to know, like, what's important to you.

Yeah.

I don't want to send, you know, a bunch of fluff that you're just going to discard.

Sure.

Like, what is most important to you that you're actually going to look at.

And so I'm always trying to.

And if you're not getting contact at first, you need to.

You need to try different things.

You're sending the same generic email, and you're, You're.

You're always going to lose.

So I'm always trying to have that conversation to find out what's most important.

Yeah.

What are your biggest challenges?

What hurdles can I remove from your team?

Yeah.

And once I know that, that's what I'm selling to, because I'm building that credibility where they're like, oh, this guy actually knows what he's doing.

Yeah, he should pro.

We should probably bring him on because he's going to bring some value as opposed to this guy that got grandfathered in, you know, had to move the load in two months.

Right.

There's a real situation.

Well, I think, like, when we talk about, like this episode is about differentiating yourself.

Right.

And how.

How do we do that?

Well, listening to the client, making sure that, you know, we're doing what they.

They want us to do.

And you said it, man, like bringing value.

Whether that's market insights or something that's happening in the shipping world or, you know, even this week, there's a huge, you know, rail strike up in the northeast.

And how does that impact their business?

Right.

Sending that valuable information to them if they are moving drainage off the East Coast.

Right.

How does he.

Is this going to impact you?

How does that look?

I heard, you know, I listened to a ton of Jeb Blunt.

So do you, you know, something he said a while ago, as far as cadence is differentiating yourself from being white noise like everybody else or sticking out.

And, you know, every time he's talking.

Okay.

I'm doing, you know, the handwritten cards, the marketing packages, golf balls, whatever it is to stick out or differentiate yourself here as opposed to being that white noise, you know, on the left.

Yeah.

And one thing I will add to that since.

Since you mentioned it, but the, the you know what is going to make you stick out.

And I love virtual calls because.

Yeah, it's.

It's about as face to face as you can get without flying to Washington.

But was meeting with a, you know, national brand, a snack brand.

Yeah.

And the contact was remote.

And her son walked in.

He was one of his mom to play with Legos.

Yeah, yeah.

And I do this intentionally because I want to see their background, what's hanging on their wall.

The picture of kids.

Yankees hat or something like that.

Yep, yep.

So her kid walks in with.

With Legos wanting to play.

She stiff arms him right out the door and, and I put together a care package with a thank you card and I included a superhero Legos in that.

That package.

Love it.

But if I would have had that call, I'm not paying attention to those types of things.

How am I going to stick out as opposed to just another guy that I talked to the other day?

Well, I love it.

I mean, it's like, okay, what is a Lego set?

I know they're pretty expensive, but like.

This one's probably like 100 pieces.

And it was like two grand, I.

Think about 40 bucks.

Yeah.

So you're spending 40 bucks, some postage, overall, $50ish, whatever, for a potential to stick out, especially for this opportunity right now.

If the opportunity is, you know, they only do a couple shipments a month, we're probably not sending a lot.

But if the opportunity is there for potential partnership down the road, spend the 50 bucks.

Differentiate yourself.

God, I love that man.

So we've talked about a lot today how to differentiate yourself from a prospecting side of it.

Tune in for the next episode.

We're going to talk about how to differentiate yourself from a client retention perspective and customers that we're actively billing today.