‘No room for wimps at Buffalo’

Wolff spells out her staff recruiting policy CLIVE EMDON MARGRIT WOLFF has strong views on staffing. “I prefer people who are not from a freight background, so they don’t come with bad habits,” says the straight-talking MD of Buffalo Freight from her Booysens, Johannesburg base. “Building careers in freight is my passion.” Starting as a nurse, then becoming a secretary, an accountant and company secretary, and graduating to years in freight sales, Wolff has built her career in freight and now employs 55 people. “The mantra in our company is simple – people do not read, therefore you phone. People do not remember, therefore you confirm each call in writing. This was taught to me by the great Peter Desilla.” Wolff sets tough standards for good freight employees. “A ‘given’ in my company is honesty and integrity. The slightest deviation and they’re out. “Very good secretaries and PAs have the best skills in the field – they have empathy, caring, and they are really efficient. “Attention to detail is an essential skill. “A good memory is important. “And staff should be able to read and write and do arithmetic,” says Wolff. She introduced FTW to a range of employees – ex-secretaries, PAs, an attorney, a speech and hearing therapist and audiologist, commercial sales personnel, bookkeepers, and so on Wolff says she likes being challenged. “Some of my staff are confrontational. I like that. I don’t hire wimps.” Wolff started Buffalo Freight six years ago with one other person working from the spare bedroom in her home. Her clients became her partners. The company claims to be the second largest exporter to the US. It incorporates both air and sea freight for import and export cargoes and handles monthly seafreight groupage shipments of general merchandise from the UK, China, Hong Kong, and India. With a head office in Johannesburg and branch offices in Durban and Pretoria, Buffalo Freight plans to open an office in Cape Town later in the year.