10 questions-sales leads

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
10 questions to ask the next time you are encouraged to turn in a sales lead;
1. If I turn in a lead for a Hundredweight account, will my time allowance be adjusted to compensate for the extra weight I will be loading every day?
2. If I develop new International volume, will I then be threatened with disciplinary action for failing to correct clerical errors made by the shipper that result in International Holds for that volume?
3. I.E. will not give my center enough package cars to function properly. Should I still turn in a lead knowing that we may not be able to service that volume properly?
4. I can barely get my Next Day Air off by my commit time. Can I count on my management to get me the help I need to make service on any new volume I develop?
5. Can I count on my management to act in a timely manner to provide me with an adequately sized vehicle to contain the volume that I develop?
6. Are my CURRENT customers getting the quality of service that they are paying for?
7. Is my facility already overcrowded?
8. Can I count on I.E. to act in a timely manner to enlarge and improve my facility to accomodate the volume that I develop?
9. Can I count on my management team to make the necessary dispatch and load chart adjustments for the new volume I develop?
10. If I am living with my girlfriend in a two-bedroom apartment with 8 children that we are struggling to feed and clothe...is getting pregnant again really a viable solution to our problems?
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I will try my best to answer your questions:

1. You've got to be kidding me.

2. Get the volume--let the clerks worry about the paperwork.

3. Get the volume--let IE worry about being able to service it.

4. I'm sure they would prefer dealing with too much volume rather than having to lay off people due to lack of volume.

5. Again, get the volume--mgt will take care of getting it delivered.

6. Only you can answer that question for us.

7. Again, get the volume--I am sure they will adapt to be able to deliver it.

8. See #7.

9. See #'s 4 and 5.

10. One of you needs to learn a simple two letter word--"No!!"


I couldn't help but notice a tone of complacency and lack of initiative in your inquiries. I guess you need to ask yourself if you enjoy receiving above-average pay and benefits and the promise of an above-average pension and comfortable retirement. So, to answer your question, yes, you should seek out every possible source of additional volume, turn in as many sales leads as you can and not concern yourself with those things that are beyond your control (facilities/vehicles) but focus your attention on that which you can control (service/on-time deliveries) and go the extra step to maintain the new volume that you have brought in.

BTW, what the hell is a load chart? Don't you have EDD/PAS?
 
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soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
. ...So, to answer your question, yes, you should seek out every possible source of additional volume, turn in as many sales leads as you can and not concern yourself with those things that are beyond your control (facilities/vehicles)...
I want to develop and grow the business just as much as anyone else...but SMART growth requires a willingess to invest in the necessary resources to provide those new cutomers with the service that we are asking them to pay for.
I am the one running the route. I am the one who has to face the customer and try to clean up the mess when some unaccountable idiot from I.E. refuses to provide the resources necessary to provide the service. It is foolish, greedy and couterproductive to solicit new volume when we cannot adequately provide for the customers we already have.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
sober, you make some excellent points and I am not trying to minimize what you are trying to say. My point is that you should do all that you can do to bring in new volume and let those who are responsible for ensuring that we are able to service this new volume adequately. I would much rather have this issue than have to deal with some of my younger co-workers being sent home because there is not enough work for them.
 

Coldworld

60 months and counting
sober, you make some excellent points and I am not trying to minimize what you are trying to say. My point is that you should do all that you can do to bring in new volume and let those who are responsible for ensuring that we are able to service this new volume adequately. I would much rather have this issue than have to deal with some of my younger co-workers being sent home because there is not enough work for them.

The problem is there are accounts ups spend YEARS trying to get, and they finally give us a shot and everything is going well for a month or two, then things start happening. Damages, routes being cut and now their pickup is much earlier than promised, etc, etc. This looks bad on us and the customer walks and we never have a second chance, now whos problem is this, its not the drivers, these things are out of drivers control most of the time, when is someone...like IE, going to start realizing these kinds of things? this company can get accounts, but seems like reasons beyond driver control is how they are lost. Let me give you a example, and Im sure everybody has a few they might like to share. We had a customer, very nice sized medium business who had been with ups for many years. Fedex continually bugging them for business, but they loved our driver so fedex was out of luck. Finally they cave in, great pricing from fedex, the company came to ups and said they like our service and driver and asked if they could just come close to fedex pricing, not even have to beat it...ups said no, say goodbye to our volume, lots nda, 2da, nice ground. nice size account for the area. about 1 week later the company gets a call from ups saying that they would like their business and would beat fedex in pricing, company said sorry you had your chance, we came to you remember. Thats just unacceptable and took ups years to get a small portion of volume back, little air. This is disturbing because drivers can go above and beyond and if we dont get some kind of backing from mgt, sales, whoever, it could fall apart. You dont cut routes then ask for sales leads...it is so counterproductive but nobody seems to understand this. I think the whole sales lead program needs to be changed, and it doesnt matter what kind of super driver you have on a route, medium to large customers really are different beasts when it come to the world of volume, and the driver has little impact on these kinds of accounts when it comes to diverting volume from our competition. Needs to be an overhaul of the sales program. need to be more cooperation from different depts of ups.
 
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