By
Freight 360
Everyone wants the silver bullet to success. The recipe that we can apply to every situation and get a win. Well in this blog we’ll teach how to go from being a student to an advanced freight broker now!
As promised, let’s dig in to the ingredients in the recipe for success. And how students can turn into advanced freight brokers now. Then we’ll break each down in more detail. First and foremost in learning anything is curiosity. Without being curious, we don’t really care much about why anything’s actually happening. The second ingredient is being a lifelong learner or student of your trade. Third is challenging yourself and pushing yourself to better than you were yesterday. And finally having a mentor or a coach to light up the path ahead of you and help you avoid the common mistakes.
It’s no secret that curiosity makes learning more effective and enjoyable. Curious students not only ask more questions, they also actively seek out the answers. Instilling students with a strong desire to know or learn something is what every teacher lives for. Why? Because research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school or professionals will perform in new jobs.
While it’s no surprise that we’re more likely to remember what we’ve learned when the subject interests us. When our curiosity is aroused we also learn difficult things we may not typically remember when they’re in the same conversation. For instance is easier to remember a difficult step in a process if you are interested in everything else that’s around it.
So how do you put this in to practice? Think about your interests, hobbies and past careers when putting your prospecting leads and calls together. If you’ve been a lifelong fly fisherman, start prospecting companies that produce products in that industry. Maybe you’ve worked at a farm in high school and college and you have a passion for gardening. It would be a good idea to start prospecting companies that ship produce. It doesn’t matter what you’re interested in, because somewhere a company is shipping that product. For more on this check out our video “Prospecting with a Purpose” 03:16
The second ingredient in our recipe for success is to become a lifelong learner or student of your trade. Learning is a lifelong process. It never ends. Albert Einstein said, “once you stop learning you start dying.” This may be a little extreme for this case. But it makes a solid point. Advanced freight brokers that move 100’s of loads per week didn’t get there by accident. They did it by learning more and more every day. They listen to podcasts, read books and consume whatever they can in their free time to get an edge. There are a ton of free resources available today. Start with our friends at FreightWaves, our site Freight360 and check out some of the folks we interact with on LinkedIn.
Challenging yourself. One of the lessons I learned early on in sales is to get comfortable being uncomfortable. We are all somewhere different on this scale. How comfortable we are talking to others or even strangers. Let’s define that as our comfort zone. The imaginary line in every conversation that we feel comfortable approaching, but not crossing. For most new to sales, it’s not a very wide circle. Most will feel so uncomfortable when they hear an objection, that they hang up and start the next call.
Advanced freight brokers push that boundary a little further on every call and every day. Challenge yourself to ask one more question before you bail and pull the rip cord on the call. Next time someone asks for you to send them an email. Don’t say sure and hang up. Pause, and ask them what specifically they would want to see in the email. Is there anything specific you’d like me to add? I’d hate to send over paragraphs of useless statistics about our organization if it’s not relevant to you.
Often time, that one or two more questions breaks the conversation wide open. That’s where you’ll find the quickest improvement. Pushing past your fear and discomfort a little further every day. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” Consider that for a moment: to get what you want, you just need to get past your fear or discomfort.
The last on our list and final ingredient is having a trusted mentor or a coach. Preferably both. They can be tremendously helpful in developing better time management and prioritizing tasks throughout your day. This is one of the most valuable skills to a freight broker. You will be consistently shifting priorities throughout your day. And all of them will seem like the most important. Having someone that’s done the job over and over again that has learned how to choose between the urgent and important. Most people just deal with the loudest problem or the squeakiest wheel. Unfortunately, you’ll never have your leads and prospecting yelling at you. So, as rookies begin to see some success it’s the first thing to fall to the way side. Or gets pushed to tomorrow over and over again for weeks.
A coach will help you increase your confidence which is a huge determinant in a successful sales call. Why does a coach help with your confidence? Because you have a feedback loop pointing out what you’re doing well. And carefully encouraging you to improve on the things you aren’t aware of.
Greater well being. Being a freight broker is stressful. You’re suddenly expected to take on additional responsibilities on top of your existing work load. And you may not feel you have the resources to succeed. Research has shown that coaching and mentoring reduce those negative effects. Having a supportive relationship with a coach or mentor can help you feel less alone. This can relieve some of the stress and anxiety related to not knowing what you don’t know.
For more on becoming an advanced freight broker be sure to watch our weekly podcast on our channel and check out the rest of our content!
In the fast-paced world of freight brokerage, effective leadership is not just beneficial; it’s a necessity. At Freight 360, we understand that the backbone of any thriving brokerage firm is its ability to lead wisely and efficiently. That’s why we’re diving deep into the concept of leadership and how it can ignite growth and success […]
By Stephen
Discover effective strategies to address underperformers in your freight brokerage business with this 4-step guide. Boost productivity and success.
By Stephen
When to walk away from a deal. Strategic disengagement is vital in freight brokerages sales strategy. It can be the key to success.
By Stephen