#transportation #freightforwarding #supplychain Pricing and value - haven't we figured this out yet?

The beauty of #globalization and #freightforwarding in 2024?

40 years into it this still absolutely boggles my mind as a reseller of asset based products - ocean freight, air freight, trucking and the education based intellectual brain-powered services such as transportation engineering, customs clearance and logistics project management.

Cost?

This really is a puzzle to me. About 30 years ago I started to look at mark ups and profits in a different way. A different method. A different way of reasoning.

What was that method which might be contrary to the "way we always do and did it?"

Pretty easy. Deliver value.

Talk to clients about our costs and determine what they would be willing to pay for my service. Honesty might be the word used to describe it best.

What's my #value ? What's the value of a #freightforwarder ?

After all, solutions don't just magically appear. Thought and experience in execution over the years can't be developed overnight.

It must count for something right?

Answer a question and get an immediate reply. Talk to your service provider for a price and offer it to client, sounds pretty easy?

An #honest discussion regarding my/our industry costs versus what they are willing to pay for the service should be had right?

So many variables in the execution of seamless supply chain flow now your head would spin - because #supplychain might be on many a mind post Covid and other "black swan" events?

Why aren't simplified pricing models discussed and offered more often?

I show you my cost, provide back up and WE decide on it's value as a %. This idea has to be worth something no?

I don't know. As the world gets more and more complicated, systemized, impersonal and crazy should we step back and look for a simpler solution.

I'm a realist and always have been an #advocate & #proponent for logistics #simplicity but it seems like it's only going to get more complicated and costly in the future. Easier for organizations to manage but much much more difficult to control.

If you want to change the way things are done now the answer might be to look at the past similar to #history. You might want to look into the past and ask yourself was it broken and if so with a absolute & resounding yes then (and then only) try to fix it.

Three things.

Leaders or followers? Stay quiet or speak up? Simplify or complicate? We all have choices.

In the words of an old boss who shall remain nameless, "just sayin" which is more than many others choose to do now a days.

IF you are saying our industry doesn't work in this way I beg to differ - I executed a wind project in this simple manner. I show you mine, you pay and I bill an agreed to %.

Easiest and most honest project to execute - no surprises, no disappointments. Happy service provider, happy client.

I've worked with clients 20+ years ago and had agreements in place with higher yields than normal market due to the novelle concept of honesty and value.

Try it, it might work for our troubled industry now!

Just sayin.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mike Weiner is a 40+ year career logistics professional focusing on collaborative solutions for regional and global stakeholders, EPCs and equipment manufacturers.

He is adding personal, fresh and innovative project management perspectives to a complex market through customer focused discussion and review.

Offering ANOTHER CHOICE for capital project logistics management, transportation/customs brokerage & supply chain services globally.

MEDIA NOTICE: Thoughts and expressions in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.