Tips to acquire more forwarders partners

The last few years have been unusual for many companies, including freight businesses. It can be confusing to use and think of new strategies, especially in an industry that is used to doing things the traditional way, however, we have some tips to acquire more forwarders partners that can help you.

In a scenario marked by the impossibility of having meetings and conferences, the logistics and freight forwarding industry had to find new ways to acquire forwarder partners and expand a business.?

Handshakes and business trade shows have turned into face masks and videoconferences. The unwillingness to use traditional ways of making new partnerships, combined with the need to respond to unprecedented increases in freight rates, has motivated the use of new ways to acquire partners.

8 tips to acquire more forwarders partners

As we mentioned earlier, the traditional way of generating leads (trade shows, meetings, conferences, forums, etc.) is currently unavailable. Consequently, new trends in freight forwarding are emerging, especially through?digital transformation, for lead generation. So, it is time to change course and explore new paths.

Here are some tips to acquire more forwarders partners:

1 - Optimize your website

Your forwarder’s website is one of the most important assets in the digital landscape and, consequently, should be a considered point in freight marketing. Moreover, it is the way in which a potential partner can have the first contact with your company. Therefore, it must meet some basic requirements in order to attract potential partners.

This means that your page should have the right amount of information about your company (such as a brief presentation of the company, the services you offer, contacts, etc.), simple navigation, and communicate to your potential partner a clear message.?

Remember that your website is one of the main tools for converting leads into freight partners. Therefore, you must ensure that they can easily find everything they need.

2 - Invest in social media strategies

Using social media can bring many benefits to your company. This is because, with so many people online, you will certainly be able to reach an audience of forwarders interested in what you have to say and offer.

You can start by updating or creating (if you don’t already have one) the profile of your company on social media, such as Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram. This way, potential partners will know that your business is active and will be able to contact you through these profiles.

Besides that, make sure to create engaging content that “talks” to your target audience – in other words, the target market for freight forwarders – to attract them even more to your page, and consequently, to your business.

We have prepared a blog post explaining everything you need to know about a good social media strategy,?click here to read it.

And in case you want some inspiration, check out Parnity’s?Facebook,?Instagram,?Linkedin, and?Youtube?pages.

3 - Participate in Facebook and Linkedin groups

Participating in social media groups is another way to take advantage of the benefits that these platforms can bring to your business. Facebook and Linkedin groups, for example, are a great strategy for freight forwarding companies because they are a big opportunity to improve your networking, make new partnerships and keep updated with the latest industry news.

In a group, you can, for example, share not only your freight company’s materials with a larger audience of forwarders around the world but also news and insights into the industry to start discussions and engage with other group members.?

Here is a?Linkedin Group?and?Facebook Group?that you can join if you are interested.??

4 - Keep your sales team aligned with your marketing strategies

Speaking of social media, it is important to remember that a crucial step in acquiring new partners is to define a?marketing strategy for freight forwarding?company and make sure that it is aligned with the strategies of your sales team.?

This is because in a freight forwarder the sales process does not necessarily start with the sales department. So if your sales team is working on sending and answering emails and calls, your marketing team may work on other channels.

Developing a new partner requires an alignment of your entire team, as well as obtaining as much information as possible to build a complete freight forwarding sales strategy. So make sure you send the right message through your other channels.

5 - Ask your partners for referrals

In the same way that you consider the opinions of buyers before purchasing a new product, freight forwarders trust other freight forwarders and their opinions.?

Through your?freight partners’ recommendations?and feedback about your services, you increase the visibility of your forwarding company. And that’s because good feedback and referrals, attract more forwarders who will be talking about your company’s services.?

One of the best ways you can ask your forwarder partners for feedback is by sending them an email, but you can also ask them to fill out a survey and/or answer some questions about your services. Asking for feedback every 6 months or annually is a good option.

6 - Build a customer-centric strategy

Building a?relationship with your customers?and partners is the key to success in the logistics industry. So take the time to research your potential partners, ask questions, and prioritize listening over talking. Find out their needs and learn their challenges, so you can figure out where your services fit in.?

Your freight partners also provide business, so maintaining a good relationship with them is key to continuing to receive business. Again, ask for feedback and make sure your?partner’s journey?is the best it can be.

7 - Keep an eye on your competition

Just as in other industries, in the logistics industry, it is also crucial that you study your competition and your position in relation to the market. Be aware of what your competitors are doing and decide what your value proposition will be to differentiate your freight forwarder from the rest.

You can use your competitors’ strategies as inspiration, but remember that your strategy must fit your business. After all, you wouldn’t want to attract freight partners that don’t match your business needs, would you?

8 - Join a digital logistics network

There are many options for establishing new freight partnerships.

Perhaps the most effective way to acquire new forwarder partners and gain more business volume is to join a logistics network. This is because most of them require that forwarders provide certain documents in order to be accepted into the network. The global presence that some logistics networks offer also makes it easier to acquire new partners because allows freight forwarders to expand their business to other countries and cities.?

Parnity, for example, is a?digital logistics network?with more than 1,200 members and over 3,000 users in more than 174 countries, who make more than 2,500 quotes per month. In addition, all forwarders that are part of?Parnity?go through a transparent validation process, to make sure that they find only validated forwarders to partner with.

Now it’s up to you!

As you can see, there are many alternatives to acquiring forwarder partners that respect the restrictions imposed by the new scenario and keep everyone safe. And even though it’s not easy, using these tips to acquire more forwarders partners you can definitely make it.

But keep in mind that, establishing improvements within your freight forwarding strategy is not an easy and quick process. So, take your time and start slowly.

It’s better to do things right than to make a bunch of badly executed changes that won’t generate any results.