Shippers want transportation partners who understand their business. Shippers already get flooded with generic outreach every single day. “Do you have any freight we can help with?” doesn’t cut it. What they actually want is a sales team that already knows: - Why they’re in the market right now - Which lanes or services they care about - Who inside their org is making decisions Have a plan when doing cold outreach leads to more meaningful first conversations, higher win rates, and most importantly, outreach that shippers actually value. Find a way to be different, but also have some info on their company before making that first call.

Disappear for 3 months, disappear for 6 months! Disappear for as long as you need to get to the level you want to be. I separated myself from everyone and everything for 3 months and grew my business by over 30% and also started another business in the process. Your success is entirely dependent on what you are willing to sacrifice and for how long, especially in this decades economy. Having fun is great, but if you want to reach levels above everyone around you, you need to be willing to sacrifice. Those weekends spent at the bar or at your buddy's house watching the game, out of state weddings, family events, etc. Your true tribe will never hold against you the sacrifices you need to make to get to the level you want to be. Only the ones who don't understand the game we are playing will. There are two types of people in this world today. The ones willing to do everything needed to succeed above the rest, and those who aren't and will remain average for the rest of their days on this earth complaining about what others have that they don't. It really is amazing what you can accomplish in just 90 days of grinding 18 hours a day building your dreams into reality. Now make that 180 days, 365 days, etc., and imagine the wins you can make happen throughout that time. Don't worry about the negative criticism from the people who don't understand. Surround yourself with like minded individuals that don't need to see you or even hear from you every week just to consider you a friend. People who get the struggle and the grind required to excel past mediocrity. These are the people who will help you reach the next level.

With every problem, there is a solution. What sets the best freight brokers apart from the rest is being able to identify an issue, think outside the box for a solution, and keep everyone happy. https://youtu.be/9RcD4siG6aI?si=Op8vyL1DZwqvhLZN

It was finally a weekend off with no freight moving. Lately I've been at it 7 days a week. It felt great to catch up on some reading. If you want to be the best you need to learn from the ones who did it the best first! How was everyone's weekend?

Leveraging connections in business is one of the most important things to do. But this isn't just about leveraging a customer referral to gain more business, or leveraging your experience to get a sale. It is important to build connections throughout every aspect of the industry and one of the biggest connections you can make as a freight broker is a reliable carrier that consistently runs the lanes your freight moves through. Market rates fluctuate week by week. Sometimes they go up and sometimes they go down. Having a list of reliable carriers helps keep consistency within your prices to your customers. If you develop a relationship with a carrier that commonly runs your freight lanes, there is a much higher chance of maintaining consistent rates for your customer. Carriers know the roller coaster of rates from week to week. But if you have a steady lane to offer, at a consistent price (as long as its not bottom dollar), you can often agree on the same rate from load to load on that lane. If the price is $100 higher on average for that lane this week they more than likely will be able to help you maintain the original price for your customer as long as the accommodation is reciprocal. When that price drops $100 from the last time they ran it for you don't go trying to crush them down just to make the extra profit. Keep them happy and offer them the same amount, they will remember it and will be a great partner to have in the future. Now this isn't always the case, and sometimes you do have to fluctuate on price. I've seen prices jump as high as $400 in a single week for the same lane. When this happens of course your going to need to make the appropriate adjustments. But in general building a carrier list of reliable business partners help not only maintain a consistent price for your customer, but also make the process of moving freight much more efficient, therefor increasing your profits without making more by increasing productivity and lowering the labor cost of moving that load. There are some lanes I have that move multiple loads per week, and I haven't had to use a load board for them in months. This is because I have a list of carriers that have proved themselves to be reliable and efficient, and they all get a call or text first before I ever post the load up. They have built their own lanes around my available freight as well further increasing their own profits because they can plan around the freight and schedule their return loads instead of going into an area blind with no previous freight connections of their own. I know I've touched base on this in the courses, but building a reliable carrier list especially on difficult lanes is one of the most important things you could ever do as a freight broker, especially with a relatively new customer.