7 Freight Broker Challenges in Sales and Their Solutions

Efficiency is the key to success for freight brokers. They will inevitably face challenges when they’re facilitating shipments all over the country. Even the most minor setbacks can significantly impact their efficiency and, consequently, their bottom line. Despite having a team of seasoned industry experts, freight brokers require a structured approach to attract new customers and retain their existing client base. This structured approach is particularly crucial in sales and customer service, as it ensures that they deliver top-notch service to their clients and maintain a positive working relationship with them.

Look at the list of 7 common freight challenges below and how they can be transformed into opportunities for growth.

1. Ineffective Logistics Sales Strategy

Many freight brokers face tough competition when trying to acquire new logistics customers. Communicating their unique value proposition to potential clients can be challenging without a clear sales strategy.

Solution:

To address this challenge, implementing a freight CRM system is crucial. A logistics CRM provides brokers with tools and functionalities tailored to the industry’s specific needs, allowing them to manage leads from initial contact to conversion efficiently.

Brokers can also take a multi-channel logistics sales approach using various touchpoints such as phone, email, in-person meetings, and social media messages. By doing this simultaneously with logistics lead generation strategies, they can increase their market reach.

Industry networking events and webinars are also effective for building relationships and connecting with leads. Referral programs can expand logistics business, primarily if they work with clients in a specific niche.

Not every sales channel works for every lead, so brokers must continuously re-evaluate their methods and work with their sales team to ensure they’re not missing out on solid leads.

2. Lack of Qualified Leads

The freight brokerage industry is known for its competition, making finding leads challenging. However, the real hurdle is finding qualified leads with a higher chance of converting into customers.

Given the limited resources, it is crucial to focus on leads that fit the ideal customer profile and have a genuine need for the services or solutions offered. The sales team must also evaluate and certify the leads to be qualified and likely to progress through the sales process.

Solution:

Honing their marketing strategy can help businesses draw in more qualified leads and generate more sales. Utilizing targeted social media ads, PPC ads, and content marketing strategies can help the business get its brand name in front of companies already searching online for logistics services.

The business’s sales team will also require a strategy to qualify leads quickly and efficiently. Having a dedicated researcher to find and verify the required information can effectively remove the burden on high-cost salespeople. This allows the sales team to focus on high-quality leads and closing deals.

Brokers often encounter limited visibility into market opportunities and potential leads. However, the solution lies in implementing a logistics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system with a built-in sales pipeline. Such a CRM empowers brokers with valuable insights into customer behavior, industry trends, and competitive landscapes.

3. Inconsistent Communication with Leads

Managing communication with numerous leads can challenge freight brokers, mainly if they rely on manual communication processes. A lack of clarity in the sales pipeline view can cause this. As a result, brokers may find it challenging to maintain consistency in their interactions with prospective customers.

Effective and timely communication is vital for the success of any logistics project. Brokers must demonstrate their ability to handle clients’ projects by consistently communicating with them during sales. Failure to do so may result in losing leads to competitors. Shippers expect prompt communication, and a lack of responsiveness can affect the client’s trust in the broker’s ability to deliver.

Solution:

This is where a CRM for logistics can be invaluable. The software allows brokers to manage all communication with leads and existing customers in one place, including calls, emails, meetings, quotes, and more. The CRM also enables brokers to track the position of each lead in the sales pipeline and ensure that their team responds promptly to close the deal. It is advisable to opt for a CRM designed explicitly for freight brokers, with features that address these challenges and enable brokers to secure more shipments.

4. Slow Quote Turnaround Time

Manually generating quotes can be a time-consuming and error-prone task that some freight brokers struggle with due to the lack of proper tools to streamline the process. This can lead to providing unprofitable quotes, resulting in lower profit margins. When customers request quotes, they expect quick answers to make informed decisions. Delayed responses can lead to lost sales and unsatisfied customers.

Solution:

A freight broker CRM with a quoting tool solves this challenge. The software enables brokers to generate quotes in less than three minutes with just a few clicks. As a CRM, it already contains much lead or customer information, allowing brokers to view real-time market data and historical shipping prices to create more accurate quotes. This increases the chances of winning the deal. Having all the information in one place provides a complete picture of each client’s status within the business.

5. Overlooking Requests for Services

Freight brokers receive many service requests, which must be managed properly to avoid errors and missed opportunities. Managing these using manual processes and outdated systems can lead to oversights and delays. Without a system, communication between brokers, clients, and carriers may be fragmented or inefficient.

Solution:

To address this challenge, freight brokers must empower their sales representatives and customer service teams to respond to requests and concerns. They can leverage logistics technology to provide a prompt response.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can significantly improve the management of service requests for freight brokers. Having all emails, calls, and meetings in one platform will allow the team to avoid overlooking requests and ensure prompt response and resolution.

To keep customers coming back, freight brokers need to offer excellent logistics customer service.

6. Inability to Measure Team’s Performance

Without defined logistics key performance indicators (KPIs), it becomes difficult for brokers to assess team performance accurately. Brokers may lack access to logistics data and analytics tools that provide real-time insights into team performance. Without timely and accurate performance data, brokers cannot identify areas of improvement or track progress toward organizational goals.

Solution:

They need a way to measure your performance to continuously improve and grow their freight operations. This will help them identify what’s working well and what needs improvement.

Many freight brokers don’t have the tools to track their team’s performance, which makes it challenging to scale. Software tools such as a CRM in logistics and supply chain will allow you to view and track crucial 3PL sales KPIs as soon as you log in. It also contains dashboard features to arm your salespeople with the correct data to win more shipments.

Additionally, setting performance goals for your operations and customer service teams is essential to ensure they don’t fall behind.

7. Finding Great Sales Talent

The logistics industry requires unique skills to excel in sales, including industry knowledge, negotiation skills, relationship-building abilities, and strong communication skills. Finding the right sales talent is one of the biggest challenges that 3PL companies face.

Solution:

Although salespeople can be trained on the ins and outs of the freight industry, finding individuals with the right personality traits for sales can be challenging. Salespeople must be persistent and resilient to handle rejection and be friendly and empathetic to build trust with potential clients.

Conclusion

If freight brokers are not careful, they may encounter particular challenges that can hinder the acquisition and retention of new customers. To avoid these obstacles and improve efficiency, it is advised to create well-defined sales processes and adopt modern technology to enhance the efficiency of freight brokerage operations.

To stay ahead of the competition, consider using a CRM specifically designed for freight brokers.

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