4. Reasons Why Every Freight Forwarder Needs a Modern Air Freight Partner

Today's global air freight market is defined by increased speed and quality requirements, higher competition, added regulations, and more complex processes to secure space. Simply put, a modern air freight forwarding company must do more with less.

At present, air freight volumes are down globally so to grow a freight forwarder must increase their competitive quoting to secure more business. Bid, bid, bid and work hard to convert the quoting and deliver consistent performance to transform the opportunities into long-term partnerships and recurring business.

The Traditional Challenges Faced by Freight Forwarders

The traditional playbook informs an air freight forwarder to expand their inside sales teams and perhaps join agent network(s) to have the opportunity to bid on additional business. As the business expands, grow the air freight team to include specialized roles for operational and accounting functions.

These are tried-and-true focus areas but can be difficult to scale efficiently and use to expand profit. As the business grows, it is common for the specialized knowledge required to excel at air freight to become isolated within a select few people, overwhelming them with a tremendous load and responsibility.

Furthermore, the operational challenges of air freight are never-ending as every shipment is high-profile and very rarely does every shipment move without a hitch. A single typo in critical documents can stall a shipment for months or a minor misquote can turn a file drastically unprofitable. Often, in traditional air freight, there is much more potential downside risk in airfreight than upside so it’s vital to be precise.

The Digital Shift in Air Freight

A logical, quick-to-implement, digital strategy stands as the most effective way to navigate and attack the increasingly complex air freight market. If implemented correctly, digital tools can support a freight forwarder to quote more and more competitively, to standardize practices across wider teams, and to perform operational tasks more consistently.

There are many opportunities to start transforming your organization to the paradigms of the digital age. Each opportunity has its own cost vs benefit and it’s often useful to consider options based on potential Impact vs Complexity. A full replacement of a transport management system (TMS) can be considered an extremely impactful but perhaps complex undertaking.

However, there are many Quick Wins that can rapidly expand your digital footprint with minimal effort and resources. For example, working with a company like Pelicargo to instantly boost your quoting and bidding performance requires no implementation, training, or investment but can instantly increase your top line and bottom line by securing more shipments, through competitive quoting.

Pelicargo: A Beacon for Modern Freight Forwarders

Pelicargo is making waves in the digital transformation journey by offering a comprehensive air freight procurement solution that addresses the core challenge in the industry, winning more business. Our platform provides on-demand access to a wide range of services, from shopping, booking, tracking, all in one place. This not only increases efficiency but also reduces the time and costs associated with traditional freight forwarding processes.

For example, the Pelicargo platform offers automatic spot quotes, eliminating the lengthy wait times associated with traditional methods. This feature, coupled with their comprehensive booking tools, drives massive savings for small to medium freight forwarders.

The Tangible Benefits of a Modern Air Freight Partner

Our mission at Pelicargo is to break this status quo by freeing time, automating the tactics, and adding a deeper layer of intelligence to the quoting and booking process. In particular, by actively shopping the air freight spot market we source your best deals proactively and consistently. This difference provides you the competitive advantage to quote more and quote more aggressively.

The results so far have been impressive: we’re cutting the sales and booking cycle by hours and helping freight forwarders grow faster, without the typical risk, complexity, or additional resources.

Conclusion

From 2023 going forward, it is more critical than ever for Freight Forwarding companies to digitally transform in order to grow their business efficiently. It’s a competitive market so finding the competitive advantage is essential.

As your digital air freight partner, Pelicargo aims to be your competitive advantage.

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Discover the incredible convenience of Pelicargo today!