Muck in and sell
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Whether or not a haulier can afford a marketing manager, every employee must be able to make the right response to business inquiries
THE TRADING SLUMP which is compelling professional road hauliers to operate with maximum efficiency, while minimising expenditure on all "non-productive" items, may seem to rule out any serious consideration of marketing as a priority subject for managing directors. Marketing, in terms of employing a sales or marketing manager, with a car and the necessary on-costs, would run away with £5,000 to £7,000 a year. How many medittn-sized hauliers could contemplate that expenditure in present circumstances ?
Quite evidently, very few, unless the extra revenue produced by the marketing man would earn his keep. For practical purposes, the small and medium-sized road haulage company must undertake the marketing function as part of the general management activity.
A recent seminar •at Coventry arranged by Fleet Planning Ltd enabled three successful exponents of marketing in road transport to present papers and a fourth speaker, an expert in marketing—but completely inexpert in the niceties of road transport—wound up the discussions.
One of the most interesting features of Mr Adrian Mound's talk was his insistence that professional salesmanship can be learnt. There is much talk of "born salesman." Perhaps selfeffacing personalities should stay out of the selling arena ? If the marketing function must be carried out by the great majority of independent road haulage contractors then undue diffidence must be avoided.
All in it
Mr Mound (of MANTA, sales and marketing training specialists) began with a famous quotation : "Nothing happens until someone sells something." The most modern truck fleet, the best drivers, the best warehousing facilities, and adequacy of capital, will not avail if these assets are not sold effectively.
While it would be understandable for a road haulage contractor to despair at the extent of competition during a recession, the most business-like response is the determination to sell harder to get a bigger share of a unaller market. The ability to sell may be the only discernible difference in the approach of competing firms.
It is not only necessary for the head of a business to be capable of selling; traffic managers, traffic clerks and the switchboard girl must all make the right response to business inquiries.
Those with little knowledge of marketing may assume quite wrongly that it is a mysterious science, or technique, full of strange jargon. Mr Mound tried to dispel such fears. He used the analogy of a prospector, digging and sifting soil in search of a nugget of pure gold. While everyone in professional road haulage knows that there are too many prospectors about it makes sense to attack the problem systematically. The best tool is information. Once a road haulier has decided on a market sector, or specialisation, the number of possible customers can be approached systematically.
What is essential is to record the result of interviews, whether personal, or by telephone. Any helpful relevant fact should be noted down. Professional salesmen would certainly note down on a contact card the existence of a fierce dog—of which there are quite a number guarding road haulage premises. If the dog can be persuaded to be a friend by I calling "Down, Rover" it's as well to endorse the call card appropriately. Equally, if the caller discovers that the potential customer has one or two marked enthusiasms or aversions, then these should be noted.
"He who fails to plan plans to fail" is a useful axiom in marketing. The most efficient and economic ways of getting at potential and existing customers must be used to ensure that the maximum selling effort is compressed into the time available.
"Product knowledge" in the road transport context, means the capacity to sell the true benefits of the service on offer, in terms of speed, reliability, cost, efficiency, or other criteria. The nature of customer objections and the best way to overcome these must be foreseen. Most particularly, the difference between real objections and red herrings must be quickly 'appreciated.
Simple things
Often, the simple things make all the difference between success and failure in marketing. Adrian Mound quoted Victor Borge: "The shortest distance between two people is a smile," Appearance should not be overlooked. In a conservative industry a quietly dressed, well spoken salesman is likely to be more warmly received than a long-haired youngster wearing jeans.
Clearly fashions change; in the City of Landon, for centuries the guardian of traditional ways of life, relatively long-haired men in pinstriped suits can be seen. A road haulage salesman doing business with a young executive in industry could be at a disadvantage if his dress and hair style is excessively conservative.
Adrian Mound discussed the importance of aneffective " closing " technique. How do you come to the crunch point and ask the customer for a decision ?
It was apparent, from Mr Mound's experience, that closing a deal is one of the most ticklish aspects of marketing. All too often, he said, salesmen talk themselves out of new business because of the difficulty they find in stopping their sales spiel and waiting for the customer's response. He described one famous occasion When a visiting salesman and the president of an American company looked at each other in total silence for over 20 minutes before the president grinned and said : "You win."
The conference chairman, Laurie Payne, chairman of West Midlands RHA and managing director of Paynes Transport International, said his company was too small to employ a fulltime salesman and the marketing function was part of his own responsibilities. He reckoned to spend I+ hours a day—onefortieth of his time at work—on marketing. This could be in the form of one customer visit and five telephone calls. John Silbermann, one of the industry's best known enthusiasts for marketing, was asked about the danger of a principal customer contributing perhaps more than half of the turnover of a haulage business. He agreed that if a large customer dominated a haulage contractor's revenue a dangerous position could develop. Maintaining the level at around 50 per cent meant that the customer could not trifle with the haulier. The other 50 per cent turnover could well represent eight other customers, preferably across a spread of industries. Mr Silbermann added that he made a point of maintaining details of comparison values of competitors' services.
Laurie Payne thought it was an ideal situation to have five major customers, none of them providing more than 20 per cent of traffic. If the work of one customer was lost a haulage business could recover. Most hauliers had to be on their guard against expanding too quickly at the behest of a single customer.
Innovations
Geoff Kenyon, marketing chief of BRS Parcels, wanted to know what scope there was for innovation in transport. How many could really say: "We have a unique service?"
To this, Laurie Payne replied that there was little room now left for basic innovations in road transport. There was room for more professionalism. The best operators would survive.
Richard Gapper, Pickford's marketing manager, defined innovation as a change from what' had happened before. "And small things at both ends and in between; then you can attract customers and keep them. Loading bank changes can help to improve a service. Cost saving, speed and reliability can all help to tie a customer to a contractor. Hauliers must be both professional and innovative.
"The market place," said Mr Gapper, "is sometimes likened to the law of the jungle. When I am told this I recall that Tarzan's Jane was once rescued by a thoughtful elephant."
John Wells asked whether the road haulage industry in its present situation needed total marketing. Mr Silbermann said hauliers were under attack from many quarters. There was a case for the industry to market itself, leading to a bigger share of tonmiles than its competitors. The road haulage industry did not sufficiently stress that heavy vehicles comprised a mere 200,000 of 2m goods vehicles.
25 calls a week
Eric Walters, planning and marketing manager of Lex Transportation Ltd and Wilkinson Transport, suggested that a trained salesman could fit in around 25 planned calls a week— all confirmed appointments. In his company salesmen reckoned to do about six calls a day for four days a week, allowing a day to be spent in the office.
Mr Walters said that Securicor had built up a specialist parcels carrying business worth £8-£10 million a year. The business yielded large margins, and it showed what was possible in terms of added service on top of an existing specialisation.
A number of questions related to livery; in particular, when a group of formerly independent companies are brought together under one ownership was it sensible to have a single, common livery ?
Mr Walters instanced the relatively small Bees Transport company, part of the Lex group, which had been allowed to continue with its well known livery. A much bigger group company, Townsends Carriers, very well known in the Midlands, had changed its livery to identify with the national coverage of Lex group companies.
An interesting question on the relative value of professional salesman versus depot managers revealed typical salary levels of £3,500 (salesman) and £5,000 for a depot manager with 50 or more vehicles. One general haulier present paid his depot manager, in charge of 40 vehicles, £4,500 salary plus 21 per cent of net profit, plus a car. The profit share was said to be equal to the salary paid, 'so the gross value of this depot manager's job would not be far short of £10,000 a year.
Transport managers frequently contrast their gross pay with that of senior drivers, and, perhaps, with the possible profits of a 20vehicle haulage fleet, put at £10,040 a year by John Wells. Maybe salesmen in road haulage deserve their money ! Now compare in terms of stress a regional sales manager at £6,000 plus, with a depot manager's salary ?