Month: November 2016

Maintenant que tout le monde a fini de faire des farces et attrapes et rangé ses costumes d'Elsa, de Tortues Ninja et de Harley Quinn, les consommateurs commencent à se préparer aux grands événements de la vente au détail tels que le vendredi noir et le lundi cybernétique. Cette saison n'est pas seulement celle de la montée en puissance des détaillants, elle est aussi celle de la gestion des stocks et des entrepôts de fin d'année pour la plupart des industries et des fabricants. N'oublions pas que la plupart de ces événements se déroulent au milieu de conditions météorologiques parmi les plus difficiles que Mère Nature puisse infliger aux terres, aux cours d'eau et à l'air de ce grand pays. Comment relever ces défis et, plus précisément, comment la division du transport de lots complets de Priority1 apporte-t-elle des solutions et des réponses à ces défis ?
L'équipe de transport de lots complets de Priority1 a élaboré des solutions en permanence au cours des 24 derniers mois. Elle a concentré ses efforts sur l'investissement dans les talents qui se cachent derrière la marque et dans l'infrastructure qui soutient l'opération. Ce plan de réussite porte aujourd'hui ses fruits. Le transport de lots complets a constamment atteint de nouveaux records. Le fret continuera de circuler à un rythme effréné jusqu'à la fin de l'année et l'équipe du transport de lots complets est prête. Comme indiqué dans les mises à jour précédentes, le transport de lots complets a ajouté du personnel supplémentaire en prévision de la croissance saisonnière des besoins de nos clients et de nos partenaires. Truckload a étendu ses capacités de couverture du point de vue du soutien administratif afin de refléter la croissance de Priority1 dans l'Ouest.
Dans un effort pour maintenir une réponse rapide et un support supérieur, Truckload travaille avec un œil attentif sur les améliorations opérationnelles et les processus rationalisés. Le fait d'offrir une équipe et un système de soutien agiles permet à Priority1 de fournir des solutions rapides pendant ces mois d'hiver où la flexibilité est vitale. La vague de fret excédentaire sur la côte ouest, qui a entraîné un rapport charge/camion nettement en faveur du transporteur, perdurera pendant les fêtes de fin d'année. À cette époque de l'année, nous devons vraiment nous appuyer sur les relations que nous avons nouées au cours des neuf ou dix derniers mois pour assurer à nos clients que nous pouvons toujours leur fournir le service auquel ils sont habitués.
À l'approche du "Black Friday", nous verrons les choses se resserrer dans tout le pays. Nous pouvons nous attendre à ce que cela se poursuive jusqu'au 1er janvier de l'année. Le bon côté de cette information est que Noël n'est que dans quelques semaines. Nous assisterons ensuite à une forte augmentation du fret disponible, ce qui ramènera les tarifs au niveau où ils devraient être.
Truckload a anticipé les demandes de l'industrie et les défis logistiques de nos clients et partenaires, ainsi que leurs saisons de pointe. Une approche proactive a permis à Truckload de s'adapter aux besoins et aux demandes de ses clients sans que cela n'ait d'impact négatif sur d'autres clients ou sur des services fiables. Une approche raffinée de la logistique, soutenue par un ensemble de talents, permet à Priority1 de continuer à faire la différence grâce à son personnel et à son plan.

We all want to be successful, why are some more successful than others?
I do not think that anyone wakes up and says “hey, I do not want to be successful”, yet when comparing groups of friends, graduating classes with the same majors, and most likely any other social group there is bound to a large divide between the haves and have-nots. Why is that?
I wrote this because I have seen new hires go from making entry level wages to six figures in less than a year and conversely I have seen Ivy League educated, super smart new hires fail miserably. The individuals that can stand out early in their career have a distinct advantage of reaching management echelons quicker and distinguishing themselves as special talent within an organization.
In the hyper-competitive industry that I operate in, an aggressive sales force is the driving pulse of the organization. With that being said, I have put aside the five characteristics that I have seen consistent amongst superstars in my sales and leadership organization.
1. Competitiveness
I want the gal or guy that would rather die than lose on my team. Does this sound extreme? It is. Why do you ask? Are you concerned about the environment that this competitiveness might create? Don’t be!

The people you work with are a team. Your team’s responsibility is to win. You win by beating your competition and taking market share from them. I want a group of men and women that will push themselves harder and further than the competition.

If you have ever been to a dog track, you’ll know they incentivize the dogs to run faster by running a rabbit out in front of the dogs. There used to be a live rabbit but these days tracks use a mechanized rabbit. I am a firm believer that you need a “rabbit” in a competitive sales environment. There needs to be someone out in front for the others to chase from a sales perspective. If balanced appropriately, your top sales person doubles as an incredible revenue generator for the company and the rabbit for all the competitive sales people to give chase to.

2. Naiveté
It may seem odd to list naiveté as being a desirable trait but please allow me to explain. I entered the workforce at a very young age and I was mostly naïve to the world but more so I was oblivious to a work environment. My parents raised me properly and instilled in me that I should listen and respect authority. That old adage translated to the workplace easily and I have always listened to my superiors. Like most of you, I have had both good bosses and bad bosses in my career and regardless of what I thought of the individual managing me, I always listened to what they said and I did exactly as I was asked. To further elaborate, when I first entered the workforce I wasn’t jaded by years of experience or a previous bad source of disenchantment in the workplace. I was fresh and willing to serve without question to my employer.

I am not sure if I could duplicate the success I have had in my career if I was asked to start over. I almost know too much now and it would be a hindrance in finding early career success. There is a time when experience and pushing back come into play. After all, we all want to ensure the organization we work for is great. But when you are a front line employee who is learning the ropes, pushing back on corporate initiatives isn’t the best use of your time. Figuring out solutions because your leader gave you a task is much more productive.

3. Hard work
It sounds cliché but you still have to put some elbow grease if you want to move up in an organization. Almost any professional level job has some minimum hours, maybe it is 8:00 – 5:00, that holds true for our sales team. However, my top performers are out by 7:00 am and work all day. Many of them are still at the office at 8:00 pm doing their follow up for the day. Those are long hours for anyone. I look for the people that recognize that those long hours pay off both financially and through career advancement.

4. Ambition
Ambition has to be the hardest thing to measure in an interview process. Differentiating between a dreamer and a very ambitious individual is next to impossible. I want to work with someone who is not content with the status quo and who challenges sales goals because they are too low.

5. Loyalty
If you are successful and a top performer you will be propositioned with job offers from other companies at some point in your career. It is always flattering and sometimes extraordinarily enticing. My advice, if you are reasonably content in your current position is not to jump ship. I have seen hundreds of examples through my career where someone chased greener grass only to either be disappointed or possibly totally ruin their career.

There is something to be said for folks who are fiercely loyal to their organizations and the same can be said of employers. I have seen plenty of examples where an organization returns that same fierce loyalty to their employees.

I am certainly not advocating that anyone stays with an organization that is unethical or continues to put you in a bad situation. I do believe that there will be times and phases in your career that you will not love what you do or who you work for. I would encourage anyone to look at the bigger picture before chasing a fancy title or a 25% raise. I do not think any organization is perfect, it’s important to make sure you look at the big picture.

Dan Berardi, directeur général et chef d'exploitation