431 | The Hidden Work Behind Cross-Border Supply Chains | Daman Grewal

Daman Grewal grew a logistics company from $1 million to $24 million in four years, working across dispatch, safety, accounts receivable, and sales before he fully recognized the skills he was building. Now he runs Centurion Trucking, teaches sales through the free Logistics Sales platform, and is building a visibility tool for small and mid-sized carriers.

In this conversation, Daman breaks down why sales is really communication, how to question the belief that you “can’t afford to hire,” and what to do when a development vendor keeps promising progress without delivering the product. He also shares why service should come before the sale, how setbacks build resilience, and why better visibility can help smaller logistics companies compete with larger players.

Key Takeaways

00:00 Sales is applied communication

01:45 The complexity behind modern logistics

04:31 Lessons from starting work at 19

05:32 What happens when freight crosses borders

09:22 Why Logistics Sales was created

11:58 Discovering the value of sales work

14:26 Teaching sales across 65 countries

18:36 Rethinking the cost of hiring

20:50 “Is that really true?”

25:01 What COVID revealed about supply chains

28:18 Building visibility for trucking companies

33:33 What went wrong with the first development vendor

36:36 Rebuilding with an in-house team

39:12 Sales as service, not pressure

45:52 Consistency, mindset, and resilience

Tweetable Quotes

- “There’s nothing crazy about sales besides just the art of communication. And we all do it every day.” Daman Grewal [00:14]

- “When you don’t have any limitations per se, then sky’s the limit.” Daman Grewal [05:19]

- “If you bought it, a truck brought it.” Daman Grewal [06:02]

- “Every single business has a sales component.” Daman Grewal [10:45]

- “Let’s take the fear out of this whole thing. Let’s take the blocks away.” Daman Grewal [11:16]

- “Solve the problem first. Worry about everything later.” Daman Grewal [20:03]

- “Is that really true?” Daman Grewal [20:50]

- “You don’t realize that you can create opportunities.” Daman Grewal [23:18]

- “Everything, if you follow it to its origin, has a story.” Daman Grewal [27:54]

- “There’s no way that we can move forward” when trust is gone. Daman Grewal [36:29]

- “Everyone has to go through challenges.” Daman Grewal [37:01]

- “The person that’s been to zero has nothing to lose and everything to gain in life.” Daman Grewal [48:31]

- “Who’s the programmer?” Daman Grewal [49:26]

- “The only person that’s truly putting restrictions on ourselves is the person that’s looking in the mirror.” Daman Grewal [22:20]

- “If we do well, we want the people around us to do well.” Daman Grewal [40:40]

SaaS Leadership Lessons

1. Prove capability before funding development.

Ask vendors to demonstrate the core feature before committing further resources

2. Tie payments to milestones.

Daman Grewal stopped paying invoices when the team couldn’t show progress on the product’s main feature

3. Build for a clear customer segment.

His platform targets small and midsize logistics companies that lack the tools available to larger operators

4. Make visibility simple.

The product combines vehicles, providers, shipment tracking, and paperwork in one platform

5. Use transparency to retain customers.

Daman Grewal linked customer retention over 20 years to the visibility his company provided

6. Treat setbacks as information.

After changing vendors, he built an in-house team and kept moving forward [36:36]

Guest Resources

www.linkedin.com/in/daman-grewal-12424a16

www.LogisticsSales.com

https://www.facebook.com/centurion.trucking

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