KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL OCEAN FREIGHT SELLING
By: Joe Quartarolo
The main purpose of this essay is to share some information based on our experience in
New York Metro in selling ocean freight successfully.
We have been focusing on the Trans Pacific Eastbound Trade (TPEB) for the following
reasons:
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Largest region of the world
China has become the largest trade partner with the USA and growing
Trade is based mostly on FOB which results in the consignee controlling the
freight.
This is a typical large volume trade
Customers looking to improve their supply chain.
When discussing with a potential TPEB customer, the following probing process will
help you in understanding more clearly how to develop a solution to close the account:
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How the customer does it today
What carriers are part of their supply chain.
Do they have direct service contracts or thru a forwarder
What criteria was used to select those carriers or forwarder
Does the customer wish to have some additional benefits from their current
relationship with the carriers and/or forwarder and if so, what would that be.
How many sailings per week they have today
What visibility they have today, who provides visibility
How important is visibility to the customer.
Who is the customs house broker
What does the customer perceive as their “perfect shipment”
What percentage of their total shipment arrives as the “perfect shipment”.
What is the objective of the customer for current fiscal year:
- reduce cost
- shorten transit time
- increase quality of service
- integration of supply chain elements
- reduce head count
- others
Commodities involved
Origins and destinations
Percentage of volume by origin / destination
Total annual volume
Is their business seasonal or constant during the year.
By asking above questions and engage the customer in an open discussion of their current
status of their supply chain, you are showing your interest and willingness to listen in
order to develop a more efficient solution.
Additionally, the information you gather will be very valuable to the ocean team to
develop a process which can deliver value in areas other than the actual cost of
transportation. In most cases, we tend to focus almost exclusively on their current cost
Of ocean freight transportation and unless your quote is lower it will prevent you from
walking away with the business, however, if you understand their current process it is
almost sure that you will find out areas of issues that are critical to the customer that need
to be addressed. We call it SOLUTION SELLING.
One must keep in mind the fact that the customer will only engage you on this critical
information if they trust you enough and he believes you can make it more efficient, thus
I recommend that you spend enough time in developing a strong relationship with the
customer and always show them that you are committed to deliver solutions to them.
The Ocean Team strongly believes that a successful and efficient program can be
developed for a potential customer to ensure value is delivered and to successfully close
the account.