Entering New Logistics Markets with Steve Elwell

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Podcast Summary:

Welcome to the first episode of The Logistics of Logistics podcast! Today, host Joe Lynch interviews Steve Elwell, a consultant and an executive who helps businesses improve sales revenue. Over the course of his career, he launched over 30 products and services in industrial B2B and technology markets. He has been a CEO of 5 professional service, manufacturing, and technology companies. Today, he walks us through his start in the industry and shares a number of his valuable insights on new market entries.

Podcast Show Notes:

• 00:08 – Joe introduces Steve to the show
• 02:14 – How Steve started in logistics
  • It came as an outgrowth of a business development problem
• 04:36 – The impact of new market entries
  • Changes have forced players to re-evaluate their business
  • Steve shares challenge of entering a new market
• 08:00 – The framework for new market entry
  • "These things develop bottom-up"
  • Classify what you're trying to accomplish
  • Companies who lose customers look into entering new markets
• 12:28 – The challenge to ask the right questions
• 13:58 – Most businesses are adept in dealing with data
• 15:15 – Steve talks about partnering
  • Filling in a capability
  • The key is understanding the value you're giving to your partner
  • Why the leader tends to fail
  • "People think it's easier than it is"
• 19:40 – Another Risk Factor: Not knowing what you don't know
• 20:48 – What makes companies successful in entering new markets
  • Money
  • Good talent
  • Good leadership
  • Capabilities as a seller
  • Humility
• 25:18 – Indicators for knowing why you're entering a new market
  • Not doing well in current market VS wanting to explore
  • Real problems tend to be from the internal side
  • The only solution to the problems: ourselves
• 29:07 – Looking at sales as an operational exercise with variable inputs
  • Develop strategies for controlling inputs
• 30:27 – Listen to Steve's final pieces of advice

Topic Takeaways:

• Before entering a new market, always classify first what you're trying to accomplish.
• Ask the right questions.
• You don't know what you don't know.