How does a freight forwarder differentiate itself from its competitors?

 


Businesses have been striving to find newer ways to attract customers. Not surprisingly, the freight forwarding industry has been no exception to this trend. Lately, newer digital forwarders have been noticed and acknowledged by many customers. Digital forwarders are standing apart by offering a smoother experience with faster booking and timely alerts. This ease provided to customers is making traditional forwarders uncomfortable. They could risk losing customers to digital forwarders if they don't bring a similar or better experience to their customers.

The rise of e-Commerce has made customers expect their shipments to arrive faster and at a lower price. Differentiating on just price is not wise considering the thin profit margins that forwarders currently run on. To excel in the competition, forwarders must challenge traditional strategies and create new business models. Soon, differentiation will occur on 'how well' you serve customers rather than 'what all' you have to offer.

Present more value services

Importers and exporters are being demanded a faster response from their customers. So it is natural for forwarders to be asked the value-services offered. Even the information you provide when replying to quotes can portray importers and exporters a lot about your services. By enlisting a forwarders' service, shippers expect forwarders to handle everything on their behalf. Apart from providing cargo from origin to destination, shippers may also require services like: 

  • Transportation
  • Warehousing 
  • Accounting
  • Paying taxes

To up-sell one or more of these services can be well integrated into your sales process to place your company in a unique position in the market.

Costs matter - to you and the shippers

Be it a large player or a small-scale forwarder, the cost is important in the long run. Shippers want to pay the least, while forwarders want to earn a thicker margin. Visibility and access to your resources are needed to decide which assets and routes can fetch a win-win cost outcome.  

To arrive at the data to reply to a quotation an integrated freight management system is crucial. If all costs are not accounted for, taking on a new business could prove expensive. In the absence of an integrated solution, manual work to compile data from multiple departments may cause the loss of an opportunity. By separating the fixed costs from the ones that can be reduced, you can make stand-out offers to customers without hurting your bottom line.

Automation must lead the way

Known for heavily relying on manual labor freight forwarders have come a long way to overcome the hurdles. Technology replaces redundant tasks with automated handling, saving both time and errors. When your freight system takes up the task of auto-notifying stakeholders, your company benefits from productivity and efficiency. Among the auto-notifications is the cargo progress update sent directly to the shippers. On a broader level, shippers can track all booked shipments on a single screen too. A forwarder that reduces shippers' follow-ups for progress updates becomes a preferred one for future business. 

Providing a great customer experience is the key to differentiate from competitions 

An experience that makes the customers be at ease about their cargo is most important. Technology serves as a platform to streamline processes and create a great customer experience each time. Logi-Sys has been helping churn out the best customer experience for forwarders in over 45+ countries. Schedule a demo to learn more.

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