Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Freight Factoring
So you have a challenge. Your drivers want to get paid quickly but your clients want to pay slowly. The math doesn’t work. Unless you have a nice cash cushion in the bank, paying your drivers will be a problem. And trying to get bank financing will get you nowhere. Banks always provide financing based on your past history. What if you are a new or expanding freight broker?
A better solution is to finance your freight bills through freight broker factoring. Freight factoring provides you with immediate money for your freight bills, giving you the necessary funds to pay your business expenses and most importantly – your drivers. And, as opposed to business loans, freight factoring is easy to obtain. While banks usually look at your past history to make their credit decisions, factoring companies look at your future potential. The main qualification requirement is that you do business with credit worthy clients that pay on time.
If you are a freight broker, factoring your freight bills may be a little bit different from traditional factoring. Most factors will team up with you to find a solution to pay your drivers on time, since this is essential. Others may even pay your drivers on your behalf, helping you handle back office tasks.
Freight broker factoring works as follows:
1. Once the freight has been delivered, you send copies of the documents to the factor
2. The factor advances you up to 100% (less fee) of the freight bill
3. You get immediate use of funds, while the factor waits to get paid
4. Once the client has paid, the transaction is settled
One of the big advantages of factoring is that it is easier to get than a business loan. And, as opposed to business loans, factoring financing grows with your business. The more you invoice, the more financing you qualify for.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Prospecting Skills Is the Key to Effective Salesmanship
Keywords: effective salesmanship, how to be an effective salesman
Effective salesmanship involves the ability to find quality prospects who will turn your business into an income-generating tool. Prospecting is part of being a salesman. Depending on what you are selling, you are likely to find a customer who will be willing to try out your product.
However, not all prospects can be profitable. Finding the right client will depend on your skill and training. Unless you receive backing from your company, you are working independently.
Effective salesmanship involves the ability to deliver goods and services to clients who seem unconvinced at first but eventually got interested in your product because of your good sales pitch. You’re your hard work; you would see the fruits of your labor.
Here are some of the tips to help you learn how to be an effective salesman.
1. An effective salesman is able to answer the curiosity of their client. As much as possible, go direct to the point. There are some clients who lose interest in a product due to long pitches. So if you want to close a deal, keep your sales pitch short.
2. Find a common interest before making your sales pitch. If you find out that your client likes golf, you can talk about the sport first before proceeding to the business at hand. This is known as power line and can help in establishing rapport with your client.
3.To be effective as a salesman, you should always remain level-headed and cool tempered. You should maintain your enthusiasm for work while being flexible with your style.
4. If you see that your client does not show any interest in what you are pushing, do not waste your time and instead look for another client.
5. Take rejections as a challenge. This will serve as a reminder that you would need to exert more effort than what you are giving now.
6. Set weekly and daily goals. Do not focus on where you are located. Stretch your limits and see 5 new people daily. This way you can add more people to your current and future prospects.
7. Set up meetings with prospects, get referrals from acquaintances. Record all the appointments that you make and maintain your credibility.
8. Establish contact with the people who first rejected you. Send another e-mail thanking them for the time they gave you. This gives you the opportunity to redeem yourself not the item.
9. Evaluate your working habits. If there is something wrong, modify your system and keep trying.
Rejection can be a reason for losing your motivation to sell. However, this can give you an opportunity to assess yourself and make the necessary adjustments in your selling style. Think of your work as a puzzle that you need to piece together.
Finally, do not lose your focus. Maintain your disposition. Everyday is a learning experience and use your mistakes as a ladder to success. Keep on building your confidence.
Good prospecting is by no means a skill that you learn right away. By taking into consideration the tips on how to be an effective salesman, you can look forward to closing a deal and making your first sale.
Title: A Look at the Qualities That Every Good Salesman Should Possess
Keywords: Guide to being a good salesman
Succeeding in the field of sales cannot be achieved in a wink of an eye. To excel as a salesman, you need to possess some qualities to ensure that the deal will be closed. This guide to being a good salesman will help you determine the qualities required to be successful in this field.
A Good Salesman Should Be Confident
Confidence is helpful not just in sales but in almost any aspect of our lives. When delivering your sales pitch, you should be confident with your skills as well as with the product you are selling. Otherwise, you will not be able to successfully close the sale. Confidence can help you become reliable and more relaxed.
A Good Salesman Should Be Client-Centered
Every salesman should be focused on offering a product that caters to the needs of their customer. One of the most common mistakes that a salesman commits is selling their product even though the customer does not need it. So as much as possible offer your product to people who need them. Pushing your item to the right person guarantees a wise investment of both your time and effort.
A Good Salesman Should Be Emotionally and Physically Fit
Being emotionally qualified may play a major role in succeeding in sales. Having sense of humor, cracking jokes from time to time, praising clients – are skills that can contribute to a successful deal. To become successful, you need to be open to changes and should have the ability to accept rejections from clients. By maintaining a positive outlook, you will be able to find clients who will be open to purchase your product. In addition, a good salesman should never lose their cool and stick to their goal despite the odds. Resiliency is another helpful quality that an emotionally stable salesman should possess. They should keep on trying until they get the sale.
A Good Salesman Should Be Optimistic
A single rejection can break a salesman’s motivation and confidence. However, this should not be the case. Remember that talking to people or finding prospects is part of being a salesman. A salesman should always think positive about the product and most importantly about their skills. This should be a good starting point.
Positive energy can usually help turn what is already a lost sale into a favorable result. So stay on course, do not lose let frustrations ruin your sale. Think positive.
A Good Salesman Learns From the Experience of Others
If you have doubts about what you are doing and seek the help of more experienced salesmen, there is nothing wrong with asking help from other salesmen. In fact, there are various resources that can provide the budding salesman with professional help. Examples are Internet sites, books, or training manuals. Likewise, managers who provide high-quality information concerned with marketing and sales of a certain product are still unsure and have no knowledge of what to do. If the knowledge that you know is already outdated and obsolete, learning new techniques and getting more trainings can be helpful in widening your experience.
By following the above guide to being a good salesman, you will be able to successfully close out a deal.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Becoming a Freight Broker
Before you take the plunge and embark on getting the necessary legal requirements you should first decide if becoming a freight broker is right for you. Unless you have experience in the field taking a course on becoming a freight broker may be a good starting point. A search of "freight broker" through any search engine will give you listings for the course.
To become a freight broker first thing is first, you will need to get the proper legal documents.
There are three legal documents needed to operate as a freight broker. They are:
1. A Broker�s Authority � through the FMCSA - $300 fee. You fill out Form OP-1 and file for your authority to operate as a broker. 2. Surety Bond or Trust Fund � obtained from a bank or bonding company. The cost varies depending on your personal credit. You are required to carry a $10,000 bond or trust, but if your credit is good, some companies will put up your bond for you for a fee (normally $500 to $700 per year). The form filed with this is BMC-84 or BMC-85. 3. Processing Agent � This runs approximately $50, with form BOC-3.
Once you have your legal documents in order you will need a computer with high speed internet, a fax machine, a telephone and service with inexpensive unlimited long distance. If you are opening a brokerage, you will also most likely want to purchase a transportation software program. If you are an agent, you will use your broker�s software system.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Great Home Business
Friday, August 1, 2008
The Freight End of The Trucking Industry
Learning about being a freight broker, freight agent or freight locater puts a person in a position where they are running the show rather than out on the road in a tractor trailer and still be a part of the trucking industry
A freight agent arrange shipments both incoming and outgoing to trucking terminals, they accelerate these shipments by determining what routes will be an advantage to the truck driver. They also prepare the documents for the loads, including what the load is, the weight, the destination and any damages that occur. They are the main person that arranges the pickup and delivery with the company or customer.
The freight broker is basically the middleman between the company or individual that requires shipping and the broker then contacts the carrier to arrange for a truck and driver for this load. A freight broker must be licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and they also need to carry insurance to protect both the client and the trucking company.
Another important person in the trucking industry is the freight locator, this is a person who is efficient at locating trucking loads that match the truck, driver and route.
Each of these positions is key in the trucking industry and it would be difficult for any owner operator or company to do all of these jobs on their own. For this reason they depend on these people and their expertise.
These types of positions take training because there are people that depend on an agent, broker or locator to perform their jobs flawlessly to keep the trucking industry running smoothly.
Once a person has the proper training
These are the kind of positions that used to only be available to someone who worked their way up in the trucking industry office or terminal and today they are available to anyone. All it takes is an interest or knowledge of the trucking industry and there are training courses
that can be found that take the training step by step. This means in a short amount of time a person can have a rewarding job knowing they help to move items across the country while sitting in their home office. It is also a career that from behind the computer or telephone a person can be any age or sex and as long as they are well trained to do their part of shipping merchandise they are in charge of what their earning potential can be per week, month and year.
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