10d • General discussion
Leverage your Connections
Leveraging connections in business is one of the most important things to do. But this isn't just about leveraging a customer referral to gain more business, or leveraging your experience to get a sale. It is important to build connections throughout every aspect of the industry and one of the biggest connections you can make as a freight broker is a reliable carrier that consistently runs the lanes your freight moves through. Market rates fluctuate week by week. Sometimes they go up and sometimes they go down. Having a list of reliable carriers helps keep consistency within your prices to your customers. If you develop a relationship with a carrier that commonly runs your freight lanes, there is a much higher chance of maintaining consistent rates for your customer. Carriers know the roller coaster of rates from week to week. But if you have a steady lane to offer, at a consistent price (as long as its not bottom dollar), you can often agree on the same rate from load to load on that lane. If the price is $100 higher on average for that lane this week they more than likely will be able to help you maintain the original price for your customer as long as the accommodation is reciprocal. When that price drops $100 from the last time they ran it for you don't go trying to crush them down just to make the extra profit. Keep them happy and offer them the same amount, they will remember it and will be a great partner to have in the future. Now this isn't always the case, and sometimes you do have to fluctuate on price. I've seen prices jump as high as $400 in a single week for the same lane. When this happens of course your going to need to make the appropriate adjustments. But in general building a carrier list of reliable business partners help not only maintain a consistent price for your customer, but also make the process of moving freight much more efficient, therefor increasing your profits without making more by increasing productivity and lowering the labor cost of moving that load. There are some lanes I have that move multiple loads per week, and I haven't had to use a load board for them in months. This is because I have a list of carriers that have proved themselves to be reliable and efficient, and they all get a call or text first before I ever post the load up. They have built their own lanes around my available freight as well further increasing their own profits because they can plan around the freight and schedule their return loads instead of going into an area blind with no previous freight connections of their own. I know I've touched base on this in the courses, but building a reliable carrier list especially on difficult lanes is one of the most important things you could ever do as a freight broker, especially with a relatively new customer.
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Leverage your Connections
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