After years on the carrier side of the shipping industry, I was tired of telling shippers I was going to bat for them when I knew I wasn’t. The goal of the carriers is to protect their own bottom lines, not to help their clients save money.
When I learned about Reveel’s client-first business model, I knew this was a different kind of company. But as I got to know its people-first company culture, I realized exactly how different.
I’m a Vice President at Reveel, but I spend the majority of my time building relationships in Nashville, with no expectation of generating immediate business.
Reveel truly believes in relationships. We build community for its own sake and do the right thing — not just for our clients, but for everyone in our networks. After all, we believe that will make our company more successful in the long run.
Why I Joined Reveel
When I started my career at WorldWide Express, a division of UPS, I was excited about the opportunity to connect my clients to the shipping services that they needed. But then I learned about our strategy. UPS sought shippers’ invoices from our competitors, so that we could beat their rates by as little as possible.
The goal wasn’t the best deal for the client — it was a barely-better deal for the client, with as much money as possible going into UPS’ pocket. That never felt fair to me. It wasn’t transparent.
I learned very quickly that my clients’ goals were the opposite of mine. UPS said it wanted to save its clients money, but what it really wanted was to save them as little money as possible.
After more time in the industry, I realized this strategy wasn’t unique. The lack of transparency in the shipping industry is pervasive. It can really start to feel like everyone is out to protect their own bottom line.
Reveel’s model solves this problem at its core. How much money we make depends on how much money we save our clients. Our success depends on their success.
Now, my goals align directly with my clients’ goals. It feels so much better to work alongside them, helping them mitigate their expenses so they’re not diluting their margins more than necessary. We’re giving them a fighting chance to survive in the age of Amazon, rather than squeezing every dollar that we can from them.
Read More: Why I Left FedEx for Reveel
Building my own Community in Nashville
I joined Reveel while I was living in Chicago. About two years ago, I moved to Nashville, where I had to start all over and didn’t have a community. I spent six months cold-calling with little success. So I decided to create a community of my own — a community based on connecting people, without expecting any business in return.
(Thanks to Nick Nowaczyk, our Vice President of Operations, for recommending the books Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Give and Take by Adam Grant! I highly recommend these books as they’ve had a significant impact on both my personal and professional life. Nick has always encouraged me and the rest of the team to put others first, make connections for others, and expect nothing in return.)
I started by reaching out to my trusted referral partners in Chicago and asked them to introduce me to their counterparts in Nashville. Then, I’d ask my new referral partners in Nashville if they’d be willing to introduce me to any other business professionals they liked working with. I just kept asking, meeting contact after contact. Three years later, I had developed a network of trusted advisors I felt confident putting in front of my clients to help their businesses grow in other ways.
I knew I needed to find a trusted advisor in each of the core professional services (such as CPAs, corporate attorneys, bankers, etc.) to help me serve clients who would find value from each other and Reveel. It took me a solid year to find people who felt like true strategic partners who I could put in front of my clients, but I’d trust each one of them in just about any room.
Now, I participate in a few strategic networking groups where one of the members gives a deep-dive presentation on their company so that we can better understand how they can help our clients and contacts. We also share direct referrals to clients and new partners.
I find these monthly meetings extremely valuable because we keep learning about each others’ businesses and industries and are always looking for new ways to help our current client base. As a result, our businesses continue to grow organically through direct referrals to clients. This is a true testament to the trust that is built in these get-togethers.
Read More: More Than a Client: Creating a Personal Bond With Natural Partners
Building Lasting Relationships in Nashville
Today, I spend the majority of my time networking, usually grabbing one-on-one lunches and coffees. My goal is to keep building my circle of trusted advisors so that I can continue to learn from them, help them achieve their goals, and hopefully build enough trust with them that they feel comfortable introducing me to more interesting people.
As a connector, I strive not only to connect people with clients, but also to focus on connecting two people who would just enjoy having coffee and getting to know each others’ businesses. At Reveel, we believe that this always comes full circle.
That’s what our business is based on. I love having the opportunity to help others build community and their own businesses. It’s not just a slogan for Reveel.
We’ve intentionally built our company around selfless service — from our pricing model to our corporate culture. We’re here to build relationships that speak for themselves.
If you want to talk more about how Reveel may be able to help your organization or simply just to say hello, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out using this form or connect with our team on LinkedIn.
The Reveel App uses AI and machine learning to provide an unparalleled look into what’s impacting your bottom line. Through invoice audits, peer benchmarking, and rate modeling/simulations, you can see the health of your operation and assess pricing changes from parcel carriers like FedEx and UPS. Sign up for a free Reveel account today to see how you can leverage automation to synthesize your data, ship more for less, and reduce the time needed to identify issues and action items.
