As all of us at Tallgrass Freight Co. work to keep us the best freight brokerage in the country, it’s important to celebrate! One of our favorite celebration traditions for our independent freight agent program is the annual Club 200 sales rewards trip to Las Vegas, and the 2023 trip was one for the books.
In order to be recognized as a member of Club 200, a Tallgrass agent needs to generate more than $200,000 in margin in a calendar year. To reach this milestone, agents typically bring in top-line revenue totaling over $1,000,000: so yeah, pretty celebration-worthy! This level of hard work is outstanding, and we’ve designed the perks of reaching Club 200 to reflect this same dedication.
To see what makes this such an unforgettable weekend, independent freight broker Lindsay M. shares what made her first Club 200 weekend unforgettable — and why she’s never been happier to be a Tallgrass Freight agent.
Lindsay’s Path to Tallgrass
Lindsay’s path to Club 200 starts with her path to Tallgrass. Freight and logistics is in Lindsay’s blood, spending much of her time growing up with her dad, Nick, at his trucking dock. He would always remind Lindsay of how successful she would be working in the logistics industry — And he was right!
“My dad was my rock for everything,” Lindsay says. “He was the ultimate cheerleader. He knew I would be good at freight before I even knew!”
Before she joined TGF as an independent freight agent, Lindsay worked as a carrier. Early on in this role, she connected with Damon Anderson, Founder and CEO of Tallgrass.
“I happened to call on a load that Tallgrass had posted and Damon was the one who answered the phone,” she says. “We hit it off instantly and, by the end of the phone call, he was offering me a job. I was stunned. And we just never lost touch after that!”
It took Lindsay a few more years to say yes, but she maintained her strong relationship with Damon and when the time was right, she joined the team as an independent freight agent. Ongoing feedback from Chloe Marshall, our Vice President of Growth and Development, helped Lindsay begin building her own book of business.
For the first few months, Lindsay and Chloe met weekly to review strategy and open leads; this type of personalized feedback helped Lindsay thrive. “I had Chloe and the rest of the Tallgrass team ready to help with anything I needed. Whatever questions I had, she was constantly available to support me. Having that support from Chloe and everyone at Tallgrass was a huge advantage.”
“I came to Tallgrass with a zero book and was able to make enough calls and bring in enough customers that I hit the 200 Club in my very first year – within seven months of starting,” she said. “Before I joined Tallgrass, I had picked Damon’s brain about how realistic it was for me to hit Club 200 in my first year. Damon had told me, ‘If anyone can do it, I know you can.’ That motivated me to work my butt off! He said it was possible, and now I see that it was..”
Work her butt off she did, and Lindsay was thrilled to achieve her goal of hitting Club 200!
Sin City? More like Celebration City!
The Club 200 trip is not a corporate retreat, nor is it an excuse to fill board rooms with our independent freight agents who would much rather be out exploring Vegas. Instead, it is a true reward: an opportunity for celebrating, relaxing and having fun.
“We weren’t expected to go out to Vegas and be involved with any meetings or anything work-related,” Lindsay says, with the hallmark of the trip a gourmet four-course team dinner at the one-and-only Stratosphere. While shop talk definitely was not required at the dinner, Lindsay said that our passionate freight agents still found themselves swapping stories from their respective businesses and learning more about the type of freight that other Tallgrass agents focus on.
“The Stratosphere was just a breathtaking scene,” Lindsay recalls. “Pictures don’t do it justice! And the four-course dinner was just amazing.”
Each Club 200 member gets to bring along a plus one to the big trip — so Lindsay and her husband vowed to make the Club 200 trip unforgettable. In addition to all the fun they had seeing the sights of Vegas, enjoying great dining and trying their luck at the casinos, Lindsay and her husband renewed their wedding vows! With Elvis as their officiant, it was an incredible opportunity to say “I Do” once again.
Support to Achieve Goals as an Independent Freight Agent
Every Tallgrass Freight agent is fully independent, yet also fully backed by our team’s camaraderie and tireless support. We provide incentives and other goalposts in order to offer our agents the opportunity to work as hard as they each choose to. This external encouragement, paired with Lindsay’s internal drive, has her aiming high during 2023.
“When you’re working as an independent freight agent, you have to be driven yourself,” Lindsay says. “But what Tallgrass does is allows you the opportunity to work as hard as you want, with goals like Club 200 set for you. These incentives motivate me to work even harder.”
“My goal is to double my business every year,” she says. “And with Tallgrass’s support, I’m already right on track to hit Club 200 again by the end of this year.” And once she hits Club 200 again? Lindsay can reach new heights with our Diamond Club and Elite Circle too!
Ready to help build the best freight brokerage in the country? Learn more about joining the Tallgrass Freight Co. independent agent network by connecting with our team today!