“Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.”  - Max McKeown

We’ve seen a lot of commentary in sales professional networking groups these last 6 weeks about how now simply isn’t the time to sell. At Luminaries, we believe that couldn't be farther from the truth! People who need your services are buying and you definitely can, and must, keep selling right now. Some of it involves simple adjustments to our approach: a little more empathy and grace. But we should be doing is what we should have been doing all along --- just with even more focus and discipline. It’s in that spirit that we’re providing these four tips for effective, adaptable sales organizations as they slowly get back on the road in the coming weeks and months:

By Jason Ickert, Senior Director of Business Development, ENERGY Transportation Group

Everything you've planned for in the last six months…all of the painstaking work you've put into mapping campaigns, building content, planting lead magnets, sequencing messaging, building value propositions, planning and budgeting meetings and events…everything came to a screeching halt and we have found ourselves in an unchartered waters. 

By Tony Bodoh, Lead Strategist, The Congruity Group

When customers are feeling overwhelmed, there is a tremendous opportunity to create value. Overwhelm causes people to feel stuck, frustrated, and angry. The most creative people in good times can feel lost and confused when conditions pivot and danger or threats appear around the bend in the road. 

During TMSA’s COVID-19 Town Hall meetings these past three weeks, participants have emphasized that they have seen an influx in user activity over the past two weeks. 

With people around the world staying home to limit the spread of COVID-19, marketing and sales professionals in transportation and logistics have been logging onto LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to stay informed, and to keep updated as to how other businesses are handling the situation, in order to shape their own approach.

By Jim Bierfeldt, President, Logistics Marketing Advisors

Every two years, my firm surveys 100 buyers of logistics products and services to better understand how to get and keep their attention.  Recently, we followed up with some of those surveyed to learn how COVID-19 has impacted the purchasing of logistics solutions.

By Jennifer Karpus-Romain, Director of Marketing Services and Industry Outreach, FayeBSG

It’s challenging for any marketer to get the perfect messaging out to his or her customers, prospects, partners, and team members under normal circumstances. So this task is even more difficult during a time of crisis. It’s a bit chaotic, and no one knows what the right step forward is. 

By Holly LaBoda, Partner and Co-Founder, Luminaries Consulting

How are you doing? No, really, how are you doing? As individuals, many of us are finding ourselves smack in the middle of the biggest and most sweeping personal and professional change we’ve experienced. As leaders, we have the privilege of helping others work through this change as well.  Here are three things that will help you, as a leader, more effectively lead your team right now.

By Michael Cardwell, President, Digital Brew

As an affiliate member of TMSA, we at Digital Brew know how chaotic the essential supply chain industry can get, even without a pandemic sweeping the nation. And when information changes without a moment’s notice, it becomes extremely difficult to keep everyone in-the-know. 

So many of us are working remote from home this week, and probably for a while, amidst the nationwide effort to prevent further spread of Covid-19. With restaurants, coffee bars and many other remote working locations also closing up shop, that means most of us are under the roofs of our own homes, doing our best to be both productive and collaborative in entirely new ways.  

Addressing Sick Leave, FMLA, Pay, Privacy, and Actions You Need to Take

By Terri L. Dougherty, PHR, SHRM-CP, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents new challenges in the workplace as employers strive to keep businesses running, comply with regulations, and support the health and well-being of their workforce. A business’s response to this crisis needs to minimize the spread of the disease in the workplace while reducing the risk of noncompliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations and employment laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) is a crisis with complex potential impacts on companies in transportation and logistics. According to some attendees at the TMSA Connections event at MODEX in Atlanta yesterday, shippers are implementing new procedures for professional truck drivers making deliveries and arriving for pickups. Third-party logistics providers and motor carriers are being asked by their customers to provide them with detailed information about how they’re addressing this crisis in their own operations to help them maintain a safe, secure supply chain.

Internet search giant Google is playing with the idea of identifying slow-loading websites by displaying a “Usually loads slow” splash screen in place of a homepage when someone is trying to visit such sites, according to an article in Transport Topics. The move, which Google detailed in a recent blog post, would have a chilling effect on any transportation industry website that Google deems too slow to load. A “Usually loads slow” splash screen served up by Google would pretty much be the kiss of death to your website, encouraging a web surfer to move along to a competitor’s site with better performance.

The difference between a leader who achieves commitment from employees versus one who achieves compliance, is effective coaching. The most effective leaders are those who see themselves as coaches and leaders rather than managers or supervisors. But what makes a leader an effective coach? It’s their mindset.

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The third of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the members at large of the TMSA Board of Directors - individuals who volunteer their time, talent, and expertise to help the organization become the best it can be in serving marketing, sales and business leaders in the transportation and logistics industry.

Lina Acosta, Chief Marketing Officer, GLT Logistics, gives back in knowledge and empowerment to the industry. She's volunteers as a member of the Board of Directors at the TMSA and as the Vice President of Programs and Marketing Chair for the CSCMP South Florida Roundtable. "I have also created with GLT an educational program for people working in the logistics and supply chain business called GLT Logistics Sessions," says Acosta. "These sessions are events that offer insightful material about specific business topics, providing information and tools that attendees can apply on a daily basis, boosting efficiency and developing higher skills in the people of our industry." In fact, earlier in February Lina hosted TMSA's CEO Brian Everett to present a session in Miami on the importance of marketing, sales, and business strategy in transportation and logistics. 

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The second of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the current chairpersons of TMSA’s many committees. All of these individuals also serve on the TMSA Board of Directors.

One of the primary ways TMSA members find value from their involvement in the association is by gaining access to relevant content and education through monthly webinars, our annual conference in early June, and specialty programming such as TMSA Sales Training Workshops and the TMSA Digital Transformation Conference in the fall. Co-Chairs of the TMSA Education Committee are:

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The first of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the current TMSA officers team.  

This Valentine’s Day, instead of expressing your love to friends and family, why not spread some joy to the industry in which you work? In fact, what makes some of our volunteer leaders so unique is because they are motivated to give back to the industry. Let’s take a look at some of our amazing leaders who love to give back in the form of volunteering.

The Transportation Marketing & Sales Association has named two new individuals to its board of directors, effective Jan. 23. Their industry knowledge and expertise will be vital to the continued success of TMSA!

Meet Leigh

Leigh Sauter has been named co-chair of the TMSA Marketing Committee, and will be responsible for leading this committee to utilize new and traditional media to help practitioners stay on top of emerging trends through relevant content, innovative communication while driving new membership and engagement in the organization. She has more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and sales, is HubSpot Inbound-certified, and is a Certified Transportation Broker with the Transportation Intermediaries Association. An active member and committee volunteer since 2017, Sauter is marketing director for Tucker Company Worldwide. 

By Jennifer Karpus-Romain, Director of Marketing Services and Industry Outreach, Faye Business Systems Group

The faster the world moves, the quicker the transportation industry needs to move to get it there. So what do logistic firms need? The technology that will support this rapid evolution. The good news: This technology exists!

By Joe Pulizzi, author, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, and speaker at past TMSA events.

So, another Super Bowl is here. For those advertising during the Super Bowl, the average 30 second spot will cost approximately $5.25 million dollars to reach over 100 million viewers worldwide.