Regardless of the niche, the primary concern of every business owner is maximizing profit. However, doing business in the shipping industry is a bit specific because the workload can vary during the year. You may encounter periods when you have more work than you can handle.
The question becomes how you can respond to an increased demand and secure maximized revenue for your company. Registering for an automatic quoting system can be of great help. Here is how automating quotations can facilitate increased sales and business growth.
Prevent Huge Workload from Affecting Your Business
In the business of freight forwarding, there are so-called peak seasons when the workload is considerably higher than normal. On those days (or weeks), you may have several huge projects that require maximum attention from a portion of your staff. It is only natural that you want to make sure everything goes smoothly with the projects you already agreed.
The problem is that it often leads to being understaffed in the area of providing quotes to potential clients. Although you would normally welcome new inquiries, in times of huge workload they can regrettably be a nightmare.
If you are processing each quote manually, you need to consult previous supplier rates, make calls to airlines or shipping lines to get their latest prices, and then estimate the margin based on the items the client needs to be delivered. It is only then when you can finally send your quote to the customers.
In times of peak seasons, it is difficult to find time to respond to all quotations on a day to day basis. That results in waiting lines which means that there is a risk of losing clients involved. This, in turn, decreases your potential profit and negatively affects the company’s growth.
Now, let’s imagine you are using an automatic quoting system. When a client sends a quotation request, the portal calculates everything and comes up with an offer instantly. It doesn’t matter if there are 2 or 2000 quotation requests, all potential clients will get immediate responses. This not only speeds up the process but also frees your staff to focus on other things, which can be important during peak seasons.
Deliver Quotes Around the Clock
There are freight forwarders who work 24/7, but most of them have regular working hours and are usually not available on weekends or holidays. When using an automatic quoting system, looking at the time is redundant. Whether it is noon or midnight, Saturday or holiday, the portal will deliver the quotation immediately.
You are just left with finalizing the details of the deal and answering any potential question that the client might have. This is the perfect solution when you are understaffed due to staff holidays, too. Your remaining employees will focus on cultivating relationships with clients and completing other assignments while the quoting system does the quotation job for them.
If it seems like an automatic quoting portal can only bring benefits to your company, it is because that is true. Implementing this business feature positively affects the office atmosphere, relationships with clients, as well as the company’s profit.
