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in this issue
· Annual Leadership Summit Dates
Announced
· Measure and Manage Customer Value To
Increase Market Share and Improve Profits
· Transportation Costing Group &
Carrier Logistics: Partners for Your Profit
· Out to Lunch Training Continues
· Personnel News
· Calendar of Events
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Greetings!
Welcome to
the June 2005 Carrier Logistics newsletter. In this edition you will find information
regarding our annual Leadership Summit, which will be held in Tarrytown, NY
on September 28 - 30. This gathering of executives from customer companies
and carefully selected prospects has as its theme "Growing Your Trucking
Business." With educational sessions focusing on sales, marketing and
customer service, the event promises to be highly informative.
This
edition also features an article by Steve Raschilla of MASTIOGALE Consulting
on the importance of measuring and determining customer value. Steve will be
a featured speaker at the upcoming Leadership Summit where he will present a
two-part presentation on the subject.
Also of
note is a description of the next "Out to Lunch" session and an
updated schedule, an article on our very successful partnership with
Transportation Costing Group and brief background on CLI's newest employee,
Rainer Tauchert.
Have a nice
summer and enjoy the issue.
Annual
Leadership Summit Dates Announced 
Annual
Event for Transportation Executives Set for September
CLI's
Annual Leadership Summit will be held September 28 - 30 once again at the
exclusive Tarrytown House Estate in Tarrytown, NY. This by-invitation-only
event is produced for executive-level leaders in the transportation industry.
The theme this year is "Growing Your Trucking Business" and there
will be a strong educational emphasis on sales, marketing and customer
service. There will be keynotes, interactive workshops and lively roundtable
discussions on hot industry topics. Once again it promises to be three days
of learning, idea exchanging and networking.
The keynote
speaker will be Paul DiModica, head of DigitalHatch, a firm that specializes
and excels in sales and marketing consultation. DigitalHatch helps companies
grow revenues through sales strategy and marketing advisement, as well as
sales staff training. They believe for any business to succeed in the current
marketplace, it must integrate its marketing, sales, strategy and strategic
partnerships departments into one outbound program that hunts for new
business from existing customers and new prospects. Clearly, those attending
the program will leave armed with an action plan that will inspire them to
make significant changes to help grow their businesses.
The exclusive
Tarrytown House is located in the heart of the Historic Hudson Valley. Daily
sessions will be held in state-of-the-art meeting rooms, while evening events
will take place in magnificent parlors and staterooms in the property's two
lush 1800s mansions. First-class service and elegant accommodations truly
make this a desirable destination.
The program
will begin Wednesday, September 28 with an opening evening reception and wrap
on Friday, September 30 with a closing lunch. We've secured special weekend rates
if you wish to stay and explore the local area or nearby New York City, which
is just 30 minutes away.
Please
remember that if you are invited to attend this program, you should RSVP as
soon as possible. Last year's event was oversubscribed and there was a
waiting list. Finally, bear in mind that all registration and meeting fees
are sponsored by CLI. You are responsible only for your travel and hotel.
Click
here for a preliminary agenda.
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Measure and
Manage Customer Value To Increase Market Share and Improve Profits
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 By Steve
Raschilla, Vice President,
MASTIOGALE Consulting
Will
customers choose to buy from you or from your competitor? The question is
fundamental; the answer is simple. In most cases, customers will choose the
supplier whose products or services offer them the best value, i.e. the
most useful benefits at the most reasonable prices. For this reason, the
supplier that can offer superior customer perceived value
generally experiences rising market share, rapid sales growth and improving
profitability.
To become
the supplier of choice, a business must become known for providing better
value than that of the competition. Managing customer value involves
coordinating products, prices, service, customer relationships, marketing
communications and quality assurance in a strategically coherent and
cost-effective way. The aim is to provide a superior package to customers -
heavy on the important benefits, light on the fluff.
Market
leaders know that customer perceived value can be measured and managed.
Their customer value programs combine market research, expert opinion,
customer relationship management and internal metrics to monitor what is
important to customers and to provide insight into how the company
benchmarks against competitors.
The
concepts of customer value management originate from the 1994 book Managing
Customer Value by Dr. Bradley T. Gale. In developing the book, Dr. Gale
drew on his experiences that include extensive work with GE's strategic
planning staff, a prominent role as a member of the original board of
overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and as head of the
Strategic Planning Institute - a think tank dedicated to business strategy
development.
Customer
value concepts are deceptively simple:
- Customers make buying decisions
based on perceived value.
- Value equals the benefits
received relative to the cost of securing products or services.
- Benefits include all
non-cost attributes (i.e. product, service, relationship and image).
- Benefits, costs and value
are perceived relative to those of the competition.
To measure customer perceived value you must ask the market:
- What factors matter to
customers?
- How much do these factors
matter in driving purchase decisions?
- How well do we perform
relative to our competitors on these key factors?
Importantly,
Dr. Gale's customer value analysis is supported by rigorous empirical
evidence. During his work at the Strategic Planning Institute, he was
responsible for managing the Profit Impact of Market Strategy (PIMS)
database. This database contains years of data from approximately 3,000
business units in various markets. Using this data, Dr. Gale was able to
test his strategic principle, observing strong correlations between
customer value scores and market share and profitability.
Ask
yourself the following question: If a competitor offers one of my highly
satisfied customers a better value, would they switch suppliers? Delivering
superior customer value is the key to growth and profitability. 
.
.
.
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.
Steve
Raschilla will be a featured speaker at the CLI Annual Leadership Summit
being held in Tarrytown, NY on September 28 - 30, 2005.
You can visit
MASTIOGALE Consulting's website by clicking here. »
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Transportation
Costing Group & Carrier Logistics: Partners for Your Profit
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 Carrier Logistics has been partnering with
the Transportation Costing Group (TCG) for many years now in an effort to
provide customers with all of the advantages of Activity-Based Costing
(ABC). While ABC is not a part of the FACTS™ system, our systems work
seamlessly together, creating a win-win for our clients.
TCG was
created in 1982 on the premise that managers of freight transportation
companies would place great value on a service that helped them operate
their business more efficiently, more competitively and more profitably.
The initial service that was designed and developed was a sophisticated,
activity-based individual shipment costing model that enabled Less Than
Truckload (LTL) motor carriers to function successfully in the then newly
deregulated environment.
Time has
proven that TCG's premise was correct. They have gone on to continually
enhance and broaden the applications of the initial system, and have
expanded their software offerings to other products including truckload and
LTL loaded-to-ride cost systems and auto-rating as an integral part of the
costing process.
The LTL
Cost Information System (CIS) is a comprehensive computer model developed
by TCG, which is customized for individual motor carriers who provide
LTL/TL service via a terminal network. CIS combines carrier traffic and
financial information with carrier and/or industry performance standards to
develop the cost of individual shipments. The system processes freight
bills or user-built shipment description files to provide accurate,
specific cost information for pricing, traffic analysis, profitability
analysis and operations/productivity analysis. 
TCG and
CLI: Six letters that mean increased efficiency and better profitability
for our clients. For more information on TCG, please click on the link
below.
Click
here to visit the TCG website. »
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Out to Lunch
Training Continues
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Following is the "Out to Lunch" schedule for the
coming weeks:
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Date
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Topic
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June 24 12:00pm EST
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Outbound Operations Overview
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July 8 12:00pm EST
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ProBill Data & Rate Auditing
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Next
week's session will focus on Outbound Operations. The areas to be covered
include Call Logging, Daily Reset, Global Views, Routing (methods to
send to Agents/Drivers), Dispatch Daily Functions, Confirmations and POD
Info.
Remember,
"Out to Lunch" sessions are a great and inexpensive way to learn
how to maximize your CLI software. Limited to one hour, this training is a
terrific opportunity for you and your team to get up-to-speed on the FACTS™
system.
REGISTER
TODAY!
Do you
have a topic that you would like covered in a future "Out to
Lunch" session? Please send it to training@carrierlogistics.com.
The
fee for each session is $75. If you need more than one connection to the
conference call, each additional connection is $30. This additional fee
covers the conference call and the WebEx cost, both priced by user. For
questions or to register for either of the above sessions, please either
reply to this e-mail or send an e-mail to training@carrierlogistics.com.
Registration is required at least 24 hours in advance as we may need to
increase the number of connections required for a given session. Please
supply the following when you register: Company Name, Your Name, E-mail
Address, Phone Number and Topic.
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Personnel News
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 CLI is pleased to announce that Rainer Tauchert has
joined its Training Department. Rainer was previously employed by G.O.D.
Trucking and possesses expertise in LTL Operations, including P&D
Management and Line Haul Management. Prior to working at G.O.D., Rainer
worked for A-P-A Transport Corporation. The combination of Rainer's
background and his Operations expertise makes him a great resource for CLI
customers and a terrific addition to our Training Department.
Please
join us in welcoming Rainer to the company.
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Calendar of
Events
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Quick Links
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