Defining a qualified lead — Put That Coffee Down

When do you know your leads are good?

Source: FreightWaves

Thank you to our sponsor’zembles! You want to crush your numbers, so stop random prospecting. ‘zembles can tell you who is spending on shipping – and get you those leads instantly, taking your sales process from a 95% failure rate to a 50% success rate. Go to start.zembles.com/freetrial and sign up for a demo today.

A salesperson puts a lot of energy into prospecting your sales leads so when you get leads, you want to know they are good ones. But how do you prospect with precision to close those sales?

Kevin Hill and his co-host Chris Jolly, The Freight Coach, talk to Greg Johnson, COO of lead database provider ‘zembles, on Put That Coffee Down about how brokers can be more efficient in their prospecting. 

Hill said he remembers spending hours and hours prospecting through Google Maps, which was ineffective as well as time consuming. Jolly said he understood the true value of good leads when he made the shift from a large brokerage with unlimited resources to a startup with no resources at all. 

Jolly also said the size of your business has an influence on whether your leads are qualified or not, and cleaning up lead sources can support the bigger goal of increasing company revenue. 

‘Zembles Johnson has made appearances on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? and on an episode of PTCD aired during the FreightWaves Sales & Marketing Conference in early February. His main focus hasn’t changed: Your success as a business can be brought back to how much data you have at your fingertips. 

Johnson said “‘zembles is a tool in the arsenal,” for salespeople to reach for when it comes to researching where to put their maximum efforts. 

When it comes to finding data, Jolly said “information is at an overload” in this day and age and that there should be no excuse for not being able to reach out to a potential client, but Johnson said that refining that data is the most crucial way to increase prospecting efficiency. 

It’s not just about who you call, but the quality of where you prospect, and Johnson said a lead becomes qualified when a broker can pinpoint how well a lead fits the company’s goals. Once a broker can check off qualifications, he or she can then put the effort into sealing the deal.
 
You can find more Put That Coffee Down episodes and recaps for all our live podcasts here.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

More FreightWaves Podcasts

Subscribe to our Youtube

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Upcoming FreightWaves Events
Compliance

Brokerage Compliance Symposium

The day before F3. Every compliance issue you face - fraud exposure, carrier liability, FMCSA rules, cargo theft, insurance gaps - navigated by attorneys and operators defining best practices in a changing industry.

October 26, 2026
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN
Register Now
Awards

F3 Awards Dinner

The night before F3. FreightTech100 companies honored. FreightTech 25 and Shipper of Choice winners revealed live. Cocktail reception into dinner and live music - 300 industry leaders in one purpose-built room.

October 26, 2026
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN
Register Now
FreightTech

F3: Future of Freight Festival

Industry-defining keynotes, rapid-fire technology demos, and industry leaders networking in experiences across Chattanooga - plus the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner featuring the FreightTech and Shipper of Choice reveals.

October 27, 2026 – October 28, 2026
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN
Register Now
Compliance Brokerage Compliance Symposium Oct 26 • The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN

The day before F3. Every compliance issue you face - fraud exposure, carrier liability, FMCSA rules, cargo theft, insurance gaps - navigated by attorneys and operators defining best practices in a changing industry.

The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN Register Now
Awards F3 Awards Dinner Oct 26 • The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN

The night before F3. FreightTech100 companies honored. FreightTech 25 and Shipper of Choice winners revealed live. Cocktail reception into dinner and live music - 300 industry leaders in one purpose-built room.

The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN Register Now
FreightTech F3: Future of Freight Festival Oct 27 – Oct 28 • The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN

Industry-defining keynotes, rapid-fire technology demos, and industry leaders networking in experiences across Chattanooga - plus the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner featuring the FreightTech and Shipper of Choice reveals.

The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN Register Now

Kaylee Nix

Kaylee Nix is a meteorologist and reporter for FreightWaves. She joined the company in November of 2020 after spending two years as a broadcast meteorologist for a local television channel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Kaylee graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 and immediately made the Tennessee Valley her home. Kaylee creates written summaries of FreightWaves live podcasts and cultivates the social media for FreightWaves TV.