Maybe you focus on shipping and transporting refrigerated food items to warehouses and supermarkets, or perhaps your main goal is the electronic industry, or the truck battery manufacturer near you!
Perhaps you focus on shipping packages for online retailers or you want to do a business with intermodal companies only.
Regardless your choice of clients, you need to know few things up front like: do you seek a many smaller organizations or small number of large customers for your logistic business?
Furthermore, you should define who your primary market is, as well as if you are going to have any secondary markets.
When mapping out your marketing and sales strategies, keep in mind that your target market is basically every one or, at least everyone that have cause to move things from one location to another location.
Your logistic business is in business to move stuff and anyone who has stuff to move (organizations and individual) should be in your plan for doing business.
So, a logistics business should reach those in the industries of:
- Manufacturing;
- Supply Chain;
- Logistics;
- Transportation;
- Distribution;
- Freight;
- Merchants (importers, exporters, suppliers, wholesalers, traders, and dealers);
- Corporate organizations;
- Construction companies;
- The timber industry;
- Household;
- Small business owners.
So with other words, merchants, industrialist, farmers, contractors and a host of other people who have need to move goods and services from one location to another location are considered to fall within your target area.
Furthermore when considering whom you are trying to reach at a potential prospects’ company, typically, your target audience falls into two categories:
- Primary – the decision makers; and
- Secondary – the influence’s of the decision maker.
4. Identify The Competition Of Your Logistic Business
Identifying your competition is step one in this phrase. Once you know your competition you can develop tactics, which will position your company to compete with them.
You need to look at logistic business places and services that are offering similar services and are targeting similar clients. Most likely those are the people that you share the market with.
In order to compete with your competitors, you have to be one step ahead and use your full capacity.
You will probably find out that when it comes to online retailers, your opposing side is not another logistics company, but rather the postal service. Other potential clients may use their own shipping department or a commercial courier.
So all at all, you will have different competitors to overcome and top, but with a good strategy, you can clime on the top and stay there!
Threats to Your Logistic Business
And now, there are some things that you simply can’t fight, but rather you can try to overcome the obstacles and improve your self to match or top their level.
Some of the threats that you are likely going to face are the mature markets with long years of experience behind, the bad economy and economy downturn, etc.
But don’t lose your fighting spirit. You are there to stay against all odds! So roll your sleeves and start building a good strategy that will get you and keep you on the top!
Work on gaining big industry experience and solid reputation. Also work on:
- Honesty;
- Good network;
- Trust;
- Direct access to ports;
- Supply chain;
- Size and cost advantages for clients;
- Excellent relationship management;
- Strong management and operations;
- Transportation network serves;
- Customer loyalty and
- Building s strong reputation among domestic and international industry players.
All those things will help you gain a leading place in the logistic business and improve the overall standing point.
5. Identify Your Competitive Advantage (Stand out of the Crowd)
If you want customers to come to you instead of your competition, then you will have a full hands work.
You must think of a strategy that will work in yours as well as your clients’ benefits. Define what makes you a better logistics business choice for your target market.
Perhaps you offer lower prices, newer paper trucks or flatbed trucks used for the logistics, high technology tracking devices and best tools, or better service in any point of view.
More than clear is the fact that in order to run a successively logistic business you need to build a satisfactory clients database. You will need to not only win customers, but also to ensure that you retain them and make them lifetime loyal customers.
So, work on improving your customer experience and creating a good impression in order to generate repeated businesses from them.
Furthermore you should:
- Leverage on price to win over customers (your prices should be affordable and negotiable);
- Give out discounts to customers from time to time;
- Offer flexible payment options;
- Use effective customer relationship management (CRM) software to effectively manage your clientele base;
- When making decisions that directly affect your clients, ensure that you carry your clients along and they are on the same page;
- Offer incentives (bonus, rebates, discounts, etc.) to your customers;
- Organize promos at regular interval with various prizes to attract new customers and also to gain the loyalty of old customers.
- Try to give out gifts and souvenirs to clients during special celebrations through the year (such as Christmas, New Year, Independent and Thanksgiving celebration etc.)
- Make sure that your employees will be well taken care of (their welfare package to be among the best in the industry). With this you will achieve their loyalty and they will be more than willing to build the business with you and help you deliver your set goals and achieve all your objectives.
Another advantage that you are bringing to the logistic business industry by doing all of the above is the fact that this way you show them that you care.
Securing and retaining customers is the best ticket to successful logistic business or any other business in mater of fact, regardless if we are speaking about trucking company, fuel cards business, or just the moms and pops shop on the corner!
