Our conversation started with a question: "should we'? The upcoming opportunity was located in Guadalajara, Mexico. A location where our team has never appeared after our 20+ years in business. Over 2,100 miles divided our team and the latest International Fresh Produce Association's conference.
"Your success is our success" has been our motto since our latest rebrand in 2021. This statement is more than helping our partners build their business, it's a motto that reflects everything that we currently are. Everything we'd like to be moving forward. In order to be this brand, we must strive to accomplish new goals that can potentially take our brand to new heights. This was a conference that could help project LDi into where we needed to go to obtain growth. A new market, a new opportunity to network and build our brand. After all, we move loads all over the world (though we primarily focus in the US and Canada).
Hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel in Guadalajara, our company came prepared to network and showcase our solutions to all participating in the IFPA's latest event. Our team was able to meet some of the best in the industry and create prospects that focused on border logistics.
Questioning if this is the best move for our company? Last year, Mexico became the top trading partner with the bilateral trade totaling over $263 billion in just the first quarter! 2022 stats show that Mexico was the second highest US trading partner, totaling over $863 billion dollars in goods and services. Due to global tensions, it's fair to believe that the US and Mexico trading will continue to thrive.
Time will tell if the return on investment of the show paid dividends but it's tougher to put a total cost on branding and networking itself. Both branding and networking have a long-term intrinsic value. How often have you reached out to a potential lead where the timing didn't work out like you'd hoped? Sometimes, those same leads will come back to you and use your product or service. Keep your network open and reach out time and again to fully develop your relationships.
In essence: take the trip, build your brand, network often and focus on your company's growth. Keeping these tactics in mind will help expand your company across the board. Take a look at some of the fun had by our team in the gallery below.