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When
I first started working in the auto transportation industry back
in 2002 I knew absolutely nothing about it. I fell into it completely
unexpectedly and for no other reason than I REALLY needed a job; so
working as a commission-only sales person for an auto transportation
brokerage did not scare me in the least.
Having virtually no experience in sales, I operated the only way I knew
how; by giving the customer all of the information that I would want if
I were on their end of our phone conversations. I probably lost more
business than I gained by my honest answers to universal questions such
as “How soon can you pick up my car?”,
“Can I put stuff in it?” and “Are my
dates guaranteed?” because my answers were always the truth
and that’s rarely the answer that the customer asking such
questions is looking for. However, I did not want for a moment for my
customers to feel that they were being or had been misled or that my
only interest was in getting my commission, regardless of any
consequences for my customers.
The things that I have learned through my experiences working at
another company, from witnessing my competitors’ behavior and
through the feedback from my customers over the years, both positive
and negative, guided me in my formation of this company and my effort
to create a more customer friendly environment in which to assist
people with the transportation of their vehicles.
I chose the name “Honesty First” because the number
one thing I have learned is that honesty is a very rare quality in this
industry, with a substantial absence of integrity following close
behind, not from carriers, mind you, but from other brokers. That is a
large part of why my hiring policy places a person’s
character far ahead of their sales experience. I am not interested in
hiring ‘closers’ whose ability to acquire your
credit card information surpasses their ability to obtain your trust. I
hire a person based on their intelligence as well as their ability to
courteously and professionally explain the process of transporting your
vehicle.
I also believe that when we answer the phone with the words
“Honesty First”, it is a reminder, both to my
employees and our customers of where our priorities need to be and of
the kind of company that the caller is dealing with, the kind that I
personally would like to see more of.
I never considered another name for my company. “Honesty
First” was my first and only choice. I look forward to
showing you why.
Sincerely,
Michael Eric Strickland
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