I try to be very graceful very pleasant at the same time especially if I am delivering bad news very humble just making sure they understand that they are in our best interest and whatever the issue may be if we could have avoided it we definitely would have whether it be a breakdown although it was late welcome to life of the mile delivered by freightworks one of America's fastest growing podcasts actually produced by Trucking indicted to tell stories I need to do something like Industries all here right now

and you know folks we want to make sure that you stay engaged in each one of our podcast episodes there are important things for you to know if you're a prospective driver if you're somebody that's interested in logistics or just want to know about the American Trucking industry this is the place to come make sure that you like share subscribe get that notification Bell that comes on I am so incredibly happy anytime somebody will leave their desk for at freightworks and come and sit in this chair we've got Jasmine Clark with us she is a customer support specialist and uh it's great to have you here thank you glad to be here now you know we we always start by asking the question how did you get involved at freightworks what was your journey to come here well it was a little different for me I've got kind of a varied background I've worked in cosmetics and different things tell us about it people are interested well I was actually I worked for Estee Lauder for a while and um and then I did a little bit in healthcare so um Trucking was very different for me um I knew absolutely nothing about trucks or Trucking or anything I have learned a lot since I've been here but it's been a very interesting exciting uh journey I absolutely love what I do I have done some customer service before in the past but this is different it's it's it's very eventful so I I'm I'm really excited to be a part of this team Jasmine for people that don't know when we talk about customer service and of course we'll talk about comoros in a minute what exactly do you do every day like describe for people what your day looks like well for me uh well for what I do in customer service I see my job as being like a liaison between the customer and the company we are the go-between the company when they need to reach out to the customer for something they talk to us first the customer when they need to know something from the company they talk to us first so we're basically the the fact we could be considered the face of the company really how we are what we do presents the company that's very important to me you know to that our presentation is is a good presentation for freightworks um but we we serve the customer basically our our interest is really our priority in the department that we work at is making sure our customers are happy now when you when you deal with customers and you deal with drivers and you're the go-between how do you manage that I mean it's like two different cultures right I mean there's a push and pull there right it's very it that is very true can you describe for people what that's like I mean I would certainly try yes if that's very true um we have to in our position we have to be able to understand both sides of the story both pictures uh we have to we have an understanding that the customer may need for example their load um but on the other side we we also have to understand that the driver you know needs rest so we kind of have to weigh and balance that you know making sure we're not pushing the driver but at the same time making sure that the customer's priorities are met and their needs are met um so that that can be a fine line sometimes um difficult to juggle uh you know just be in the go between between the dispatchers and the customer and the planners and the customer we we stand right in the middle now can you describe for people how you interact with load planners and and other folks in the office I mean I've walked through there and I know everybody works with each other but can you describe for people because we have people that watch Life of the mile that have no background in trucking can you describe how you deal with load planners clients just how all that works it's a it's a big it's really we like I said we have our fingers pretty much in every Department planners you know we I work a lot with the planners um just basically in the loads that we do the amount of loads that we do where they're going or how many we can do you know um and then of course dispatch we work a lot with them um it's important to me to have a very good relationship with all departments just because right we're dealing with all departments all the time even maintenance I mean there's times where something may happen with the trailer or truck on our customers property you know where they go between between maintenance and the customer in that stake so um we like I said it we we stand right there in our dealings with every department is very important it's very important for us to have a very good relationship a working relationship with everybody in every department now talk a little bit of course Kimora's is a very important client yes the freightworks can you talk a little bit about who Commerce is what they do and some of the different bakeries the things that you deal with with them specifically comoros is if not our biggest one of our very biggest clients that we do we take our relationship with kimurs very seriously just making sure that we meet their needs we do a lot of loads for comores we we do it anywhere between 65 to 70 loads a week to tell people where they go like like where the where the we start off in past Christian Mississippi heading up North there's various locations um very quite a few different receivers or some in New York um we also start off we've got another shipping location out of Tennessee in the Johnsonville Tennessee and we can that can be basically a lot most of the commercials loads are East Coast so they're going up the coastline um North and South yes okay yes uh and we we do a lot for comers um like I said it's our biggest customer so to tell people what comores does like what are we transporting well there's a the product is called titanium dioxide and it is a product that they actually use to make paint and a lot of paint products so um and it's it's like a powdery subject except it's not non-hazmat um but we uh it's very important and very much needed now do you interface with the drivers a lot every day or who are you talking to mostly I don't have a lot of interaction with the drivers but what might be the occasion for you to talk to a driver uh I've had some I mean really typically I try to go through their driver manager if I have a question but there have been times where I have had to call a driver directly we've had some issues where there may be a driver that's not able to get in through a receiver or they may need help understanding how to get through that receiver how to access a trailer that's on the property or you know and I may have exp you know Specific Instructions that I know that they need to follow so in that case I have called them directly and walked them through how to this is what you need to do you need to talk to this person this is what you need to say this is the correct PO number or you know whatever so I have talked with drivers what what is it like when you have to talk to a customer and give them bad news yeah you you know what I'm asking like like part of what Jasmine part of what has struck me is that you always seem Pleasant whenever I talk to you and I know you're managing a lot but there are times where you have to deliver bad news to a customer right there is how do you do that the word that I probably would is probably one of my most favorite words [Music] when in reference to freightworks is graceful I try to be very graceful very pleasant at the same time especially if I am delivering bad news very humble um just making sure they understand that they are in our best interest and whatever the issue may be if we could have avoided it we definitely would have whether it be a breakdown a load was late or you know anything along those lines we've gone out of our we've tried exhausted all means you know and but this is the outcome so I find that that really most of the time it it diverts any kind of negativity from the customer they're usually very receptive very forgiving um that doesn't happen a lot but it has happened yeah and it seems to me one of the things about great works Josh and I have talked about this of course Josh farmer who founded the the company freightworks is interested in relationships not just transactions right yes I mean we we're interested in people and customers come to know that don't they I mean they know because of the way you interact Your Truth teller you're a promise keeper they get to know that right and you you haven't interplay with them right it's back and forth yes absolutely honesty is is really a very big part of you know and when you're when you just tell a customer this is what happened I mean this you know they understand and a lot of times the response that you'll get in a situation like is that's Trucking we understand that's gonna happen happen let's move on to the next thing so you know in in that and I like for us to present ourselves you know as being straightforward honest you know trying our best um good attitude because really if you your attitude makes a hundred percent of the difference you go in and you start dealing with the customer and you have a sour attitude absolutely even though it's not necessarily true to them Freight Works a sour because who they talk to presents the company you were the face of the company in that moment right with an incredibly important client exactly like like comoros now let me let me ask you this uh when it comes to the marketplace and the seasons and all of that we're about to go into winter do things change a little bit yeah they do yeah what what changes and what what is the impact for you well you'll find that um with the season the product changes uh the demand for the product changes so we'll have shifts with some of our our customers um of course my my two main customers that I deal with is comores and uh I also work with HP Hood that's actually my my customer that I work with um what do they do we uh we carry dairy product for them really yes creamer coffee creamers uh almond milk uh one of our lines that we just picked up going from Massachusetts to California is actually ice cream cream so what kind of ice cream it it different yes it's different all kinds of ice cream yes Frozen product though so um just reefer reefer yes runs at negative 10 to negative 20 degrees so it's very cold um I haven't really I don't notice really a lot of a shift with that those particular products but we do also carry some fruit and also uh chocolates for Lent um and those you'll find that going from the the fall or the summer fall into the winter months you'll have an uptick in those it'll those demand that those demands are heavier I I know whenever there's a situation with one of the loads of chocolate or ice cream and there's an overage or whatever and there's an opportunity for people at freightworks to get some it's a happy happy day for us for frogs let me let me ask you this about your interaction with other people in the company what is it that you believe makes Freight Works different Jasmine I mean there are a lot so many drivers you know this freightworks one Studio drivers lounge around the corner so many drivers privately say to me they came from a company that beat them up didn't tell them the truth we don't make negative comments about other companies but we want to be truth tellers we want to be real and we're going to come to a reason why we do that in a minute but what do you think makes freightworks different works as a family um to me it's got a very family like atmosphere everybody's very close you can be very open with each other very comfortable it's it's a very loving caring environment right and drivers notice that when they come in and other and other staff do as well so when you look at today's uh ahead for your particular responsibilities and platform what are some of the things that you see in the next year like uh growth in Lanes growth and just talk a little bit about the future umors every day how I mean how varied it is um there's there's of course Misty she's been on here before she is actually the customer service manager and she's over that account I I help her I assist her and undergird her there um but it I every day it's like you'll see something pop up and it's like oh where did that come from I didn't realize we had a lane there I mean they're all over the place so um I I see that that grows a lot um HP Hood like I said we just recently picked up picked up two lanes on that um Massachusetts to California and then one from California back to the east coast so um I see us growing tremendously I mean it's it's really every day it's something new you know for people that aren't skilled and understanding the language when you talk about picking up a lane what what does that mean um where we actually start running a truck in a new like we for example most of our HP Hood loads are out of Winchester um and we we come up the East Coast but now Virginia yes Winchester Virginia and that but now we're going to Coast to Coast on those so um whereas we didn't have a truck running from California to Massachusetts or back now we do um and it's a regular thing so it's you know something we've got set up and where they're sending us loads a lot right and and so when you're when you're talking to customers what are some of the things that they're expecting from freightworks like what what they want us to be Dependable reliable truth tellers but you know when you're dealing with customers what are the things that you sense because you know they have people that they have to be responsible to and and we're actually making them look bad or look good right in many cases can you talk a little bit about those interactions like what is it they're looking for from us well um I feel like a lot of the customers want us to understand them um every customer is there pressure they do they do it and every customer is different and I've learned that and really like I said my two main customers are HP Hood and then I help Misty with comers but I I've had to understand have an understanding of all of our customers because we we help each other so in dealing with the customer service agents we all help we we'll jump in if we have to help with another customer um in doing that you understand that every customer is different um you may do one thing for this customer a certain way but then this other customer may not like that so you'll have to do it totally different so you have to understand how this customer is versus this customer I mean we've I experienced that just last week uh with you know dealing with a customer's portal and how the information is inserted into the portal or whatnot I mean you may do it a certain way for comores you do it that same way for HP Hood and it doesn't go over too well so you I feel like each customer wants to be understood and they want you to do what they want you to do how they want it done and I feel like as a customer service service agent you need to understand that you need to know how each customer is and you need to comply with that that's extremely important it's like every customer is like its own culture right yes and they've got their own way of doing things and you can't superimpose one customer's experience on right on on another you know we talk about this often it's so important uh and I talk to drivers about it freightworks is a very diverse company and we have people of different affiliations religiously and folks that follow no faith but the comp he was founded on biblical principles and those of us in any positions of leadership like you are people that have a faith commitment can you talk a little bit about how your faith informs what you do every day absolutely every day I am praying and crying out to God to help me to be what he wants me to be at work to I mean my main goal is to be a minister to minister to whoever I come into contact with rather that's somebody on the phone whether it's a customer whether it's someone sitting at the next the desk desk next to me in the office I want to be what what Jesus wants me to be to that person right to help that person or be a blessing to that person or whatever it may be my goal is to be a blessing of the planners to get whatever I can do done to help their job they have a very a very and I want to understand that and I want them to know that I understand that so although I'm having trying to please the customer I'm also wanting to help them um there's a there's a there's a fine line but there but you have to learn to walk it and to make sure that you're helping those on both sides because we're working together to accomplish one thing and that's you know we want to get that thing accomplished and everybody to be able to benefit from that yeah it's so interesting because when I talk to the drivers Jasmine uh they'll say you know Butch we came from a company where they said you're a family you won't be a number we'll treat you like a family will care for you we'll keep our promises and many of them say it just never happened and so when I tell them we're going to keep our promises they'll say I've had drivers say why and I've told them very directly because the God my understanding and the Jesus I serve tells us that we're to be truth-tellers with with each other so even for folks that don't have a faith commitment that come through these doors there's always the opportunity to share Jesus with them and we're unabashed you know I I tell people life of the mile delivered by freightworks freightworks is a company that's driven by biblical values and if you're somebody that has that in your heart and you have a desire to be part of a company that takes seriously the claims and commitments of Jesus and biblical values this is a wonderful company for you to come to and if you're not it's still a wonderful company to come to because you're going to find a caring and loving atmosphere what's it like for you to work with people that share the same kind of value that we have as followers of Jesus it's wonderful as we I mean we're able to share with each other you know we can say you know very easily say you know I was having a hard time with such and such I cried out to God and he helped me they understand that you know so it's a blessing to work with with you know people of the same Faith um I I counted as a privilege and an honor you know one of the things too just making a segue here that I found is that people that can multitask uh as you're required to do here at work it's often the case that they also multitask at home you've got wonderful children tell us a little bit about your family I do I uh my husband and I have a little boy he is 11 years old and then I have a little girl we have a little girl as well she just turned six they are big blessings um and yes we do multitask because we both my husband and I both are full-time we both work full-time so you know managing work and then coming home in the evenings and taking care of the children to make sure they have everything that they need and at the same time keeping the house up is it's a lot but you know it it has helped you know with being able to uh juggle everything that I we do juggle at work because there can be 50 things going on at one time and you can't forget one of them so you know same as when you're at home you know you may be in the middle school work and dinner and this but you don't forget to go and switch laundry out you know so it's it's very similar where did you grow up I grew up in Oklahoma um a small town called Muskogee it's about an hour from Tulsa um I moved here when I was about 15 to North Carolina do you miss Oklahoma ever I do not um I this is where God planted me and I'm very happy here that's that's really good now as you look at the the coming year course uh Freight markets changed so much and and rates are going down and I talk to the folks at brokerage and you know there's some stresses they're dealing with there as you look ahead this next year what are some of the personal goals that you have what would you like to grow and do better or you know what what's what's God put on your heart about the days ahead well I I believe that you know even with work and with my personal life um as we were talking about multitasking I would like to be able to do that more efficiently and making sure that things are done and that I stay in Grace and you know that everything that God wants us to get done gets done and that we you know I'm able to learn how to do that more efficiently um I my my schedule has actually changed so I'm we're learning to adjust I used to work second shift so and that would be from when to when from uh one it was kind of a split shift second shift 130 to 8 30 in the evening so now I come in at seven and I work until four so that's kind of shifted it's it's really great I mean I love the change but we're adjusting to that so um as we proceed you know just learning how to adjust that even more I'm gonna say this uh it's a not it's called a non-sequitur it doesn't relate to what you were just saying but my three teenage daughters all loved Estee Lauder they all did I I remember going to stores and then buying stuff did you learn anything from that experience uh that helps me where I am now yes I did uh because you you work with people um you you deal with the the people that I worked with then or my customers so I mean you're working directly exactly right exactly so you know I was on the phone with people I was in people's working with people face to face um and learning how to take care of their needs um finding out what their needs were and then learning how to address them so all that's customer service um which is exactly what I do here and and it really requires being a good listener doesn't it yes and a lot of people don't listen right no yeah you know we it's important to be a good listener you know back in Dallas a little story uh we went to Prestonwood Baptist Church for a time and a woman came in one time and sat in a row next to me and I introduced myself I said I'm Butch multi and she said my name is Mary Kay Mary Kay cosmetics you know and uh and and I remember her talking about how much she valued helping people look better and feel better and all of that and that's really the core of customer service isn't it me meeting their needs right well you know the mark of a good conversation is they come to an end this has gone really quickly so we've got an exit we're going to take here and even though you're in the company you have the opportunity to get a gift so I I do I I've never been a Home Shopping Network person or anything but we've got three little gifts so we got one is the freightworks one cap and by the way we're going to set up a merchandise store soon and we want you to be looking for that where you can get this merchandise uh this is the freightworks one logo of course the Sprite works one Studio around the corner from the driver's Lounge the other this went over really well and by the way I have no background in trucking Logistics none and and the drivers love to tell me that when I talk to them uh so this went over really well at the Mid-America truck show it's got the life of the mile logo it's got the Patriotic theme in the back and then in honor of our respect for winter this coming we've got this winter cap and it's got the Joe Velma like that it's got that life of the mile leather logo there so which one of those would you like I think I'll take this that is so great you know what these are have been going these have been going uh in our last couple of uh guests that we've had here this life of the mile delivered by freightworks you know Jasmine uh I'd love the fact that when we bring on staff they all have a different perspective but there's a common theme and the common theme is keep our promises speak the truth support and love other staff members and drivers and that certainly has come through and commercials is an extremely important client to us and for everything that you're doing there we're we're really grateful if somebody was interested in working at Frameworks like a driver or a potential staff member what would you say to them I would say that freightworks would become your home you would feel like you were finally at home you're finally where you've what you've always wanted in a job you just you found you would find it here um people we're all you feel is love and family and um I highly encourage you to to join our team that is that is so good this is life of the mile delivered by Freight works we come to you two times every single week we believe with God's help that it's the fastest growing podcast actually created by a trucking company we need you to like share engage make comments subscribe to the YouTube channel look for our blogs and our video shorts that we do every week as well and remember that as you engage it allows us to grow and have more opportunities for conversations like this if you're a prospective driver and you want to kick the tires on a company that really cares make sure you reach out to us one of our recruiters you know Isaac reg someone will speak to you and you can learn a little bit more about whether or not this is the kind of place that you want to be and become part of a team as Jasmine has been you know Jasmine Clark customer service specialist it's a joy to have you on today thank you we're really grateful and keep coming back and and seeing us every week twice a week here at life of the mile thanks for watching this episode you know life by the mile delivered by freightworks is one of the newest largest and fastest growing podcasts actually produced by a trucking company now we want you to like and share this episode if you'd like to see more episodes click here and make sure that you subscribe to this channel by clicking here we'll see you there

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