The Root of All Evil In Logistics

Saying “yes” when we really should have said “no”. We’ve all been there more often than we’d like to admit, right? And when we are getting our business off the ground, we do that more often than we can count, don’t we?

I recently found myself reminiscing about my early days in the transportation industry. The beginning was hard. I was doing all I could to attract new customers. For every shipment opportunity that came my way, I tried to provide potential customers an option with the hope it would result in winning their business. After all, don’t they say, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” ? I’d say ‘yes’ to new loads, all the time, irrespective of my area of expertise. Doing so I was, unknowingly, putting my clients at great risk. And I wasn’t alone. What I figured out was it was better to ask myself: “Was it worth it to win every shipment that was coming my way?” Luckily, I realized I was operating the wrong way before a catastrophe hit.

Greed is Good or Is it?

We specialize in expedited transport. From auto parts to trade show freight, we’ve moved it all in the ten years we’ve been in the industry.

When it comes down to choosing a new provider, freight forwarders have become more hesitant. Their reason, often, is a lack of trust. Why do I say this?

With taking all and any loads, I realized I was inadvertently compromising the quality of my services.

We often sell ourselves the idea of success at any cost. We believe greed is good. In logistics and many other industries, profit has become the main driver. We believe it pays to be driven and ambitious. If we receive an opportunity for a shipment, before even considering how we will handle it, we tend to rush into accepting it from a customer. With this, we put their needs aside and put ours first. Eventually, what can happen is that in the hurry to make a profit, we make a mistake that can cost our customers, and indirectly us, dearly.

I’ve had this happen to me when a potential client reached out looking for help. All I saw at that moment was an opportunity to win over their business. Excited, I rushed into booking a carrier without following my regular check process, which consists of: looking at their safety score ratings, authority, insurance status, and if there were any service failures in the past reported by other companies. I skimmed this part and only after the freight was picked up, I realized what I had done. It turned out that the carrier had a few reports about late deliveries and their safety score was a mess. All I could do at that moment was pray that everything goes as smoothly as possible. It was a miracle that they made it on time, without any issues. Luck is not always on our side and it could’ve turned out a complete mess.

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with winning more business and building our profits. Every person with an entrepreneurial spirit, no matter his industry, will want to get more customers and eventually build his own company. What is wrong is when we get into the mindset of moving more shipments at any cost, just to drive the revenue. Not only do we risk losing that business when it’s a poorly executed job, but we also risk losing our reputation as a company worth doing business with.

Are You a Jack of All Trades and Master of None?

There is no company that can handle everything well, especially when it’s a small business. What we must focus on is the quality of the service we provide. This means that we need to own a niche. For example, if we work with 53′ vans and our customer or a prospect approaches us with a request for a service we haven’t handled before, the best would be to pass on it. The hardest thing for many of us to learn is how to say “NO” to shipments we are not good at and focus on those within our niche. That way, instead of potentially watering down the quality of our service, we will improve on what we do well.

Often companies are not aware that they aren’t weighing the pros and cons first. We’ve become so attuned to wanting to say “yes” first and figure it out later. When I started out, I was doing it to appear helpful to my clients. I wanted to look professional by giving them options for every single opportunity they would send my way. To date, I believe it was just a matter of time before something went wrong.

We all need to understand that business shouldn’t be just about us. What it should be about is providing value to other people. It is their business, their very livelihood, on the line in many cases. Trust is the foundation of our industry or any industry as a matter of fact. It’s only when we care about their outcomes, as much as we care about our own bottom line, that our integrity will be noticed, differentiating our business from the rest of the industry.