Lucas Zernicke: 'Setting sale’ on a new career at Schneider

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Schneider provides many options for career paths and mobility for our associates. At Schneider, associates have plenty of opportunities to explore new areas and advance in their careers.

Two years ago, Lucas Zernicke had no plans on becoming a Schneider Transportation Management (STM) inside sales representative. Now, he’s thriving in this role, and he believes it’s been the perfect path to meaningful development.

Here’s how Lucas “set sale” on his career in STM and how others can follow his example.

The voyage begins

Lucas’ father, Wade, is a long-tenured Business Development Director in Schneider’s Intermodal department, but Lucas still had to forge his own course and decide what profession he wanted to pursue. After earning his associate degree in supply chain management, Lucas took a customer service role at Schneider.

“That’s where my knowledge really started to expand,” Lucas said. “The first customer account I worked on was Target, which helped me because I used to work there, but from this side it was like a foreign language at the beginning."

After gaining a couple years of experience, Lucas took a career planning course through Schneider’s Learning and Development department to find out how else he might be able to use the skills and know-how he developed in customer service.

“That made me want to try a sales role where I could push myself and contribute to the organization in a different way,” he said. “I picked STM because it has such a broad range of modes and customers, and I could learn a lot very quickly.”

Testing the waters

When Lucas first heard about the STM inside sales representative role, he wasn’t sure it was right for him. So, he talked to his leader about it and arranged a sit-in with some STM associates to get a clearer picture.

“It helped me so much to understand what’s expected and what I would be getting into,” he said. “Something as simple as a sit-in can get your feet wet and make a role seem more accessible.”

Lucas is curious by nature, so he asked questions of STM leaders and sellers to gain as much knowledge as he could before applying. No matter how much he uncovered ahead of time, he knew he would still need to learn each day on the job.

That remains true to this day. Lucas’ responsibilities now include:

• Generating new business.
• Developing key contacts for sales opportunities.
• Managing existing accounts.

On top of that, Lucas has to be adaptable and handle exposure to unfamiliar things in stride.

“I had no idea what to do with less-than-truckload, flatbeds and a bunch of other stuff,” Lucas said. “I wasn’t completely starting from scratch because of my time in customer service, but I had to be agile while getting to know the new processes and equipment.”

In the same boat

When telling people about his transition to an STM seller role, there’s one thing Lucas always cites as the primary reason for his successful acclimation – he didn’t do it alone. STM inside sales representatives complete a two-week training program, getting up to speed in the classroom so they can hit the ground running.

“You get into the room for the first time with 10 or 15 other people, and you realize you’re not taking this on by yourself,” Lucas said. “You’re all in the same boat. It builds a foundation early on where you feel comfortable sharing knowledge, becoming friends, and depending on each other.”

As they settled in, Lucas and the other sellers in his cohort often gathered to discuss what was working for them or where they needed guidance. Throughout his time in STM, Lucas said he’s never encountered anyone unwilling to lend a hand or share their expertise for the good of the team.

“I love the culture here,” he said. “Every day I’m excited to work with the people around me. The leadership is awesome, and we’re always collaborating.”

Now, Lucas makes a point to stay in touch and spend time with the associates he befriended on his customer service team, all of whom have since moved to different roles within Schneider.

“It was an awesome team, and it shows how people can grow their careers here,” Lucas said. “We might be in new positions, but we stay connected. It’s another example of the culture at Schneider. I can’t speak highly enough of it.”