Northwest Arkansas Business Journal 2009 Fast 15: Allison Glahn Hardin
by February 23, 2009 12:00 am 651 views
Allison Glahn Hardin, 25
Business Development Manager
BNSF Logistics, Springdale
Claim to Fame: While developing new rail clients for BNSF, she hit her annual revenue goal in the first nine months of 2008.
Next Step: “I want to continue to focus on more complex, long-term rail solutions for our customers.”
Logistics is a complex business, and the more so the better for Allison Glahn Hardin.
A native of Joplin, Mo., Hardin was attracted to Northwest Arkansas – like so many others – by the Walton College of Business. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in marketing in 2006 and put that to good use right away helping BNSF roll out a new Web site at the end of 2007 with fully integrated marketing materials unified by a common brand theme.
She transitioned from marketing to sales and operations in April 2008, where she applied her skills to cold-calling, solidifying deals and learning the intricacies of the intermodal business.
The solutions Hardin pitches are often quite complex, involving over-the-road transportation by truck combined with the reach of rail infrastructure. She’s also accustomed to dealing with potential clients who’ve never used rail transport and sometimes need a little more convincing to change their business model.
“It’s a unique service we offer and it’s great to get them on board utilizing rail,” she said. “My goal is to focus on that type of business – anything that is unique and complex.”
Her first exposure to operations came in late 2007 when she took on a sales role to pitch automakers on the benefits of using rail cars for transport.
It was an experience that opened her eyes to a chance to advance at BNSF.
“I saw I could make a large contribution on the revenue side,” she said.
A golfer since age 5 and a big sports fan who keeps ESPN on “all the time,” Hardin spends a lot of time on the road attending conferences and visiting clients and potential clients. She’s found no substitute for personal communication even in a high-tech world where rail cars are tracked in real time on the Internet.
“Persistance is the key in sales,” she said. “If they don’t like an idea, you try to think of something that may work for them and follow up. If you keep making visits to customers, after a while you will probably get something.
“I do a lot by phone, but it’s always good to have face-to-face conversation to find out why they have hesitation or help them understand the business model better.”
(RELATED: Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 15 Young Pros on the Fast Track)