Going global

Memphis Business Journal - by Trey Heath Staff writer

Linda Snyder knows the power of three words. The president of freight forwarding company Diversified Global Logistics learned that lesson after she negotiated the purchase of the Memphis branch of Forward Logistics Group last year and was forced to change the name of the company.

"All of our customers knew us as Forward Logistics Group," she says. "We had to go and attain credit all over again like we were a new company."

Even though the acquisition meant no changes for customers -- DGL kept the same employees from top to bottom -- some customers dislike change.

"Everyone is a little skittish," says Bernie Snyder, vice president of DGL. "When people are shipping stuff halfway around the world, they get a little skittish if you are changing companies. We had to let them know from their standpoint that it was just a name change."

In the end, Linda Snyder says the name change helped make a new, stronger company.

DGL brought in $14.5 million in revenue last year, $2 million more than in 2006.

Those numbers didn't come without personal investments, however.

Linda Snyder was able to secure a Small Businesses Administration loan for 50% of the financing, another three-year loan for 30% of the financing from the company's seller, and 20% from the personal coffers of Linda and Bernie Snyder.

So far, their investment has paid off. DGL has grown 25% the last four years.

Despite the growth, Linda Snyder says her company had to learn not to put growth in front of customer service.

"No matter how much growth you have, that customer has to feel like they are the most important," she says. "If you get so busy that you can't take care of them and continue to do what you did to get to that area, than you are going to lose it."

Turning down new business for the sake of customer service and feasibility isn't easy -- a lesson learned during the acquisition, Bernie Snyder says. DGL had hoped to bring in a ground transportation element to the company, but in the end, decided against it.

"About two-thirds of the way through this we looked at it again and decided that it was probably not a good idea to do," Bernie Snyder says. "It actually ended up being a good thing for us because the numbers made our company look stronger without it."

Maintaining a customer service-first mentality has helped land customers such as Smith & Nephew and Medtronic Spinal & Biologics.

"They have done a good job for us and we are satisfied," says Bert Kelly, spokesman for Medtronic.

Satisfying customers has helped the company continue growth in its niche market -- oversized aviation and ground equipment.

One of the first steps DGL took in becoming its own company was to acquire sound financial experience.

Linda Snyder says as CFO, Mike McKellar helped provide insights into the financial side of running a business that her customer service-focused business style lacked.

"Where we were lacking was the financial side -- accounting and numbers," Linda Snyder says. "He hung in there with us for eight or nine months."

Although employees remain one of the most important assets of the company, the right technology has helped put customer service at the top.

When customers are dealing with something as complicated as international shipping, they want to know that you have the technology to support moving products around the world.

"People like to know where their freight is," Bernie Snyder says.

After using multiple systems to keep up with international, domestic, imports and exports, he says DGL combined its systems into one software program to operate more efficiently.

"You would have five or six different systems trying to tie it all together. Sometimes you would have to run two or three reports to see where (the freight) was," he says. "Now everything we got is integrated into one system. We can use the same amount of people and do more work without overtaxing them."

Operating more efficiently has put expansion on the horizon for DGL.

Linda Snyder says the company is looking at possible expansions in Kansas City, Nashville or St. Louis. But that decision won't happen without careful consideration of DGL's current customers and employees, McKellar says.

"A lot of things come across the desk with opportunities that lots of people might just jump on," he says. "But we all sit back and involve all the staff members and make a determination to see if it is really something we can do."

Diversified Global Logistics

President: Linda Snyder
Employees: 24
Address: 5375 Mineral Wells
Phone: (901) 360-0292
Web site: www.dglintl.com

theath@bizjournals.com | 259-1727

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