Make the best of your free time as a Freight Agent and learn how to connect with customers while on social media.

Has this ever happened to you? You have 5 minutes free – who am I kidding? You are a Freight Agent; you don’t have 5 minutes free! Let’s say you’re on hold or waiting at the doctor’s office. You decide to pass the time and scroll your Facebook feed for a minute. Twenty minutes later, your name is called, or the other person picks up the phone and you didn’t realize that you had spent that entire time on social media! 

It happens to everyone and if it happens to you, it’s happening with your colleagues, your customers, and potential customers. So, using that time to see what your neighbor had for dinner last night may not be beneficial to your Freight Agent business, but using that time to connect with customers can be amazing for your business.

As your Freight Agent Support at Trinity, anytime we find something that could be beneficial to our network of Freight Agents, we do everything we can to help educate them in that area. And we know more people are connecting with customers through social media. So, at our recent Agent Sales Conference, we invited a social media expert to talk to our Trinity Freight Agents about building their social media presence and how to connect with customers.

TIPS ON HOW TO CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA FROM AN EXPERT

Chances are, if you’ve consumed any logistics content online, you’ve heard of or seen the name, Blythe Brumleve. Blythe is the owner of Digital Dispatch and the Everything is Logistics website. She has a podcast by the same name, Everything is Logistics, and has been a regular content contributor to many sites outside of her own, like Freightwaves.

Blythe joined our Agent Sales Conference for an engaging, informational, and actionable session on building your personal brand through social media.

If you’d like to connect with customers and colleagues through social media, check out some of the takeaways that I got from her session.

Start With One Platform

There are so many social media platforms available! And each one has different algorithms and audiences. When starting to build your personal brand, it’s best to choose one platform to focus on first to grow your knowledge so that you can engage consistently. Among logistics professionals, LinkedIn is most often the platform that has the best organic reach.

Establish Your Why

The reason behind WHY you want to post and engage through social media is as important as WHAT you post. It drives everything you do! Posting for the sake of gaining followers isn’t going to drive your business forward. But posting to create value for your current and potential customers is a great way to drive your business forward!

Make a Great First Impression

Your profile is your first impression to the viewer. Take time to include a professional-looking headshot and banner photo. Also, let your customers know who you are and what you do through your tagline and information space! When they see a great post and follow it through to your profile, you want to establish yourself as someone they want to get to know.

Consistency is KEY

Like sales prospecting, being consistent with your social media outreach and follow-up is essential.  Build some time into your workday or week to focus on your LinkedIn page. Post consistently and engage with those that like or comment on your post. Also, make sure to follow others in your field to engage with them by commenting and asking questions. Just because you aren’t face-to-face doesn’t mean that it must be one-sided!

Provide Value to Your Connections

 People want to connect with people they trust. So, show your customers and colleagues that they can count on you for the information they need. Show up consistently with informative and relevant information to establish yourself as a subject matter expert! 

Be a Student Yourself 

This is one of the biggest lessons that I can give for so many areas of your life! But it applies to social media as well. Make sure to follow people and pages that will help you stay fresh and current with information in your field as well as information on how to stay current on social media and marketing trends. Following someone like Blythe Brumleve is a great place to start! She has an amazing podcast, and social posts, and is a great supporter of other content creators to help you build your list.

Keep Connecting with Customers Simple

It may seem complicated sometimes, but as Blythe highlighted during her session at our conference, the phrase “Keep It Simple Stupid” is the best motto to keep in mind. Keep it simple, consistent, and relevant. Don’t expect to go viral on day one, but if you maintain consistency and establish yourself as a subject matter expert in your field, you’ll see the value in connecting with customers through social media.

TRINITY LOGISTICS HELPS KEEP YOU ON TREND WITH HOW TO CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS

At Trinity, we understand running your business is hard work, which is why we have an entire Support Team to help your Freight Agent business succeed. This includes assisting you with your personal brand building and marketing, as we consistently work to provide you with new marketing material and content to share on your social media.

Go ahead and choose to get in touch with a Trinity Freight Agent Representative today so you can start receiving world-class support and education to get ahead of your competition. Call 800-846-3400 x 1908 or click the button below to begin your conversation with Trinity.

Are you a Freight Agent that gets a stomach ache at just the thought of picking up the phone to make cold calls? Even with a great script at the ready, cold calling is a tough task to complete. However, with today’s technology, there are other systemized and predictable ways to prospect without making hundreds of cold calls. Don’t get me wrong, cold calling is still a part of developing new business, but it doesn’t have to be the only thing.

WARMING UP YOUR COLD CALLS

In the age of voicemail and caller ID, the success rate of cold calls is low, hovering around a two percent conversion rate, according to LinkedIn. So, before you pick up the phone to make call after call, you can help your chances of success by putting on your marketing hat. By using some form of creative marketing, you’ll find businesses who are looking for your solutions calling you for more information. I’m sure everyone would love to receive warm calls versus relying on cold calls for new business.

Many of our Freight Agents have found success by trading in cold calls for a combination of social media, emailing, and warm calling. 

TRADING COLD CALLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

According to LinkedIn, 75 percent of business-to-business (B2B) buyers use social media as part of their decision process. So, if you haven’t joined the professional social media network, LinkedIn, already, then now is the time. 

Make Sure You Look Professional

To get started warming up your calls, you need to have a LinkedIn profile that looks professional. Just as you’re finding probable prospects and looking at their profile pages, shipping managers don’t generally do business with someone they feel is not professional. Trust me; they will check out your profile. 

Creating a professional profile is a relatively easy thing to do. You can get ideas from other Freight Agent profiles on LinkedIn, but in the meantime, here are some quick tips for building a great profile so your prospects can get to know you.

1. Use a Professional Profile Photo

LinkedIn profiles with pictures are 14 times more likely to be viewed. Choose a photo showcasing you professionally, at your desk, in your office, or a simple friendly headshot. 

2. Craft a Headline That Shares Your Value

Have your headline answer these two questions so visitors know what you can offer them right from the start: Who do you help and how do you help them? For example, “I’ve helped X number of companies save X amount through outsourcing their logistics.”

3. Make Use of Your Cover Photo Too

Instead of keeping the generic blue gradient cover photo LinkedIn provides, consider adding your company’s logo, tagline, or even a family photo. The cover photo is your opportunity to give the viewer more insight into who you are as a person and freight agent. 

4. Include Your Contact Information

This may seem simple, but surprisingly, not everyone does this! It’s important that you include your email address, phone number, blog, or company website, so it’s easy for your prospects to gather more information and get in touch with you, setting you up for that warm call. 

5. Let People Learn More About You

Craft a summary to let your viewer learn more about you and your Freight Agent business. Get more specific about your work, projects you’ve completed, or results you’ve helped drive. Include keywords your buyers might be searching for to snag their attention and let them know you are a possible solution for them. And most importantly, include a clear call-to-action, communicating why and how your prospect should get in touch with you. 

6. Strategically Make Use of Your Time and Activity on LinkedIn

Your viewers can see your LinkedIn activity, like your most recent comments, likes, and shared content. This part of your profile can show your authenticity, so be sure to consider how you spend your time online. For example, are you offering advice or support to your connections? Congratulating them on a promotion? Sharing your knowledge with others in groups? All this can be seen on your profile so make sure you are showcasing how knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful you can be! 

On the LinkedIn Path to Warm Calls

Now that your profile LinkedIn is ready, here we go! Below is a basic outline for building a LinkedIn presence on a path to warm lead relationships and calls.

Making Connections

Utilizing LinkedIn messenger is essential when sending out your daily connection requests to shipping managers.

Shipping supervisors, logistics managers, and warehouse managers are the first people to start sending connection requests to and then continue with the many other titles for shippers that you want to search for.

Your first message should be simple and warm: 

“Hello, I’d like to connect with you.  Having a professional connection like you in my network will be a plus for me. Thanks, Your Name.”

If they respond back to your connection request, send them a message back & thank them for accepting the request. Remember, they’ve looked at your profile and approved you.

Making Use of Email

After you have thanked them, then the process of trying to find an email and or phone number begins.

Finding the shipping manager’s email or phone number is key to moving forward in the process. You can do this with a simple Chrome extension, like Get Prospect or UpLead, that connects to LinkedIn. If it doesn’t, this may slow you down.

Once you’ve obtained the email, ensure the first email you send is a simple introduction telling the shipping manager who you are and what you can do for their shipping needs.

You may find the benefit of incorporating a mass emailing system. They can save you time by sending several emails at once and give you insight into analytics, such as open and click rates. There are lots of applications to choose from. Some are free, like MailerLite or MailJet, and some require a small monthly fee, like Mailchimp. Any good mass email system should let you know if an email is invalid, blocked, or if the email has been opened. This is important because it will let you know they have read your email. 

It may take several emails for the shipping manager to like and trust you enough to get on a phone call with you. Remember, getting on a warm call versus a cold call generally gives you the upper hand because of the process the shipping manager has already been through in getting to know you. You have gained their trust at this point.

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

While not necessary, some agents will choose to upgrade their LinkedIn services for prospecting. LinkedIn has other paid services you can investigate, such as LinkedIn Premium, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Both are fee-based services and can work very well.

Now that you know the basic process, you’re ready to start reaching out to shippers without the stress of making any cold calls. Work this process through. It could take a little time, but this method of prospecting has been tried and proven, and the payoff can be huge for your business. 

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PROSPECT FOR NEW CUSTOMERS ALONE

At Trinity, we understand running your business is hard work, so we have an entire Team to help you. This includes assisting with your marketing as we consistently work to provide you with new marketing material and content to share.  

Let us help you do what you do best, building relationships with your shipper customers and carriers while receiving world-class support to put you ahead of the competition.

Many of our Freight Agents see a 50 percent increase in their business over a two-year period from joining. Will you join them in their success? 

Hi there! My name is Shelby. I am a lover of hiking and the New Jersey Devils. I’m a senior at Salisbury University majoring in Marketing. This year I had the opportunity to work as a Market Research Intern at Trinity.

When I began my internship in June, I never expected to grow as much as I have professionally and personally. What started as a ten-week program has become a year-long internship that serves as the foundation of my future marketing career. Here are the three key highlights I have from my experience, which I believe is what makes my internship program “Different on Purpose”.

Leadership

From Day 1, I was treated as a full-fledged member of the Marketing Team, despite my intern title. I am expected to handle some serious responsibility that not every internship offers. Throughout my time here I have been conducting research on our trade show presence and working on our email marketing strategy to increase our open rates, as well as get our message to our audience. I am in charge of handing the team’s Marketing Analytics, which helps keep our company’s leadership up-to-date. These analytics have an impact on steps we might take to reach company goals. Although challenging, it’s incredible that my internship has trusted me to complete higher level tasks and is invested in developing interns like myself into leaders.

The People

I get to work with a talented team that wants to see me succeed. Everyone here has been willing to jump in and help me with anything I need, as well as answer all my questions. Additionally, I have developed friendships with other interns at the company that I will continue to maintain long after this experience is over. Being able to come to a work environment that is so warm and motivating is what has made my internship so special.

Expertise

I can confidently say that this internship has allowed me to learn more about marketing and analytics than I would have in any college classroom. With the hands-on training I received and industry certifications I’ve earned during my time at Trinity, I feel much more prepared for the “real word”.

Working as a Market Research Intern at Trinity has been a defining opportunity in my life. As I wrap up my final semester and begin my career, I’m excited to take everything I have learned with me as I navigate my career. If you see an internship at Trinity pop up, and you are considering applying, go for it. You won’t regret it.

To view our current job openings and internships,

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To connect with Shelby on LinkedIn,

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