As a freight broker, being able to retain clients is the most important factor to consider, and knowing how to find shippers as a freight broker is the make or break to achieving that goal. This is what ensures that revenue streams are constant, nurtures overall growth, and develops competitive advantage at the same time. With an established brokerage and direct shipper contracts, HMD Trucking, a prominent Chicago trucking company, knows what you’re struggling with. We would like to offer our insights so you may learn how to prospect for shippers and develop a successful freight brokerage. This guide will be helpful to all freight niche interests, be it dry van or flatbed hauling. You will gain insights on how to get the customers that your business desperately needs.
Contents:
The Core Challenge: Freight Broker Looking for Shippers
The competition in the freight brokerage market is quite steep. It is not enough to just provide transportation services; they need a solution. There is no shortage of problems in the market, and shippers need affordable and timely ways to transport goods, and it’s up to you to make them believe that you can deliver quality services that will prove to be the greatest asset for their business. Combining several approaches is the solution. It requires online materials, a solid professional network, and selling skills. Depend on yourself instead of load boards, change your mindset, and become an expert at finding shippers.
Before discussing details on tactics, consider the most important aspect of any relationship with a shipper: what do they want? Look at other businesses in the industry and analyze their competitors: how do they usually ship things? Research the specifics and figure out where they might have challenges. Are they facing any capacity issues? Do they need cheaper options? Are they looking to expand and explore other new locations? Understanding what their challenges are helps you position your offered solution in the best manner possible.
Finding Shippers as a Freight Broker: Shippers Tactics
For ease of understanding and practicality, below is a list of tried-and-true methods for finding shippers listed.
Using Online Tools
With the rise of the internet, practically everything is online nowadays. This means that freight brokers looking to sharpen their skills are able to utilize online databases and even set up profiles on professional networking sites. This drastic shift highlights the importance of online presence and having the ability to look for opportunities, as it has become essential for success in modern brokerage.
Clutch.co: Find Target Leads Effortlessly
Clutch.co is an effective online system with proprietary insights into thousands of companies across various industries. This website is helpful in finding reviews for other users and also has company rankings provided alongside their business profile, serving as a wonderful resource for finding leads for freight brokers. Clutch.co will help streamline your prospecting by providing essential details like company size, location, important contacts, and telephone numbers. Through filtering companies based on industry, location, or type of product offered, you can easily pinpoint potential shippers to take up your brokerage services.
As a B2B ratings and reviews website that links businesses to providers, clutch.co works for freight brokers in the following ways:
- Targeted search enables you to find shippers within your area of competence.
- Review analysis helps you understand the needs of your clients.
- Identifying decision-makers ensures you have the right contacts.
- Building credibility enables you to market yourself through several testimonials.
For instance, if you specialize in refrigerated goods, you can search Clutch for "food manufacturers" in your target zone and identify review-based leads mentioning transport or temperature-controlled shipping.
Google: The Essential Search Engine
Do not underestimate the accuracy of a well-directed search on Google when finding shippers as a freight broker. Utilize the following phrases to search:
- “manufacturers of [industry] in [city/state].”
- “[product] distributors near me,” or “[region] suppliers of [product].”
Search for their company websites and obtain the necessary details from the search results, including their contact information. Use Google Maps to locate warehouses and distribution centers in your area, for these buildings are excellent opportunities to sell your services.
MacRae’s Blue Book And Thomasnet.com: Freight Brokers' Database Resource
One of the most useful resources for freight brokers looking at how to get customers as a freight broker are databases like MacRae’s Blue Book and Thomasnet.com. Unlike generic search engines, these databases contain information about manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, their products, shipping locations, and even contacts. As an example, the keyword "plastics" and other similar terms can be entered in Thomasnet.com, and potentially hundreds of leads can be found. This drastically improves the efficiency of prospecting.
LinkedIn: Connect with Industry Leaders
LinkedIn makes it relatively simple to network with industry stakeholders in logistics and supply chain. Try looking up “Shipping Manager”, “Logistics Coordinator” or “Supply Chain Director”. In addition to creating a good professional image participate in industry groups and forums and share credible content so you are viewed as a thought leader in your area of specialization.
Receiving and providing referrals in LinkedIn has its benefits and advantages for you and your network. If you prefer a more targeted approach to generating B2B leads, then LinkedIn Sales Navigator may be helpful. This tool includes options to search through advanced filters, pre-selected prospective clients, and insights about potential shippers to help you identify the right decision-makers within the industries you are interested in. With the use of Sales Navigator, you are in a good position to look for and reach promising leads for your freight brokerage.
Targeting the Agricultural Sector: Using USDA Business Listings
For some audiences, the online resource that is the USDA Business Listings may be particularly useful. The agricultural segment is always very relevant, so the farming and food production industries are always great prospects for freight brokers. You are able to obtain information on farms, farmers’ markets, and food distributors in the U.S., and this is exactly what the USDA Business Listings database contains. Help farmers and businesses to market their goods, because they offer a wide range of products, from fruits and vegetables to dairy and livestock, and also provide current delivery options and contacts.
Looking at the websites of these associations is particularly useful because they can provide great leads for freight broker businesses within specific focuses. Like many industries, freight brokering has trade associations, and you can also find directories organized by members. As an example, for those looking into hauling steel, there is the Steel Manufacturers Association.
Unlocking Shipper Connections with ZoomInfo
Let’s jump right into another powerful tool that enhances your ability to seek and establish your shipper connections: ZoomInfo. This tool is almost synonymous with increased productivity. In contrast to a mere directory, it still keeps intricately detailed information about the companies and their professional hierarchies. This is something to definitely consider if you want leads that freight brokers would keenly pursue.
As for ZoomInfo, it has the best selection of business information and is reputed for defending its credibility. The difference here, however, is that ZoomInfo does not simply hand out names and addresses of companies. Instead, you'll often find:
- Direct access to key contacts: Possesses direct lines and validated contact emails of important people in the departments of shipping, logistics, and procurement. Just picture not having to deal with the receptionist merely giving off the extensions for the freight office, rather conversing with the manager directly.
The platform also offers advanced filters for detailed searches. You do not search merely by sector; now you can:
- Refine your search with precision: Filter by the company’s number of employees, profits, geographical region, and even the specific type of technology employed by the company. All this broadens your options while allowing you to maintain precision with the ideal prospect outlines.
- Gain deeper company insights: It gives its customers profile reports providing information for furthering the potential business relations with organizational structures, their latest updates, and potential shipping solutions you can offer.
It is important to remember that ZoomInfo is a subscription-based service, meaning it comes with a price: the basic plan is $75 per month, the Pro plan is $3500 per year.
Yet, for most freight brokers who are looking to seriously scale their business and constantly generate quality leads, the detailed contact information and search capabilities ZoomInfo offers can be very cost-effective, allowing you to:
- Save valuable time: You will save countless hours of tedious research.
- Connect efficiently: You will be able to easily contact the shippers that need your services.
As a side note, the data accuracy can be different from tool to tool, so always conduct proper research. But all in all, ZoomInfo has the potential to revolutionize your ability to find shippers.
Drip Campaigns and Email Marketing
Nurturing and building relationships with potential shippers is not an easy process; it often involves ongoing interactions over a considerable duration of time. Email marketing and automated drip campaigns will become powerful tools to help you nurture leads and position yourself as a reliable partner over time. Unlike traditional marketing and ads, automated marketing tools nurture prospective buyers by providing valuable information. Success is only a matter of time. And with drip email sequences, you will build it step by step. Instead of pushing for a sale upfront, offer value in the form of insights, case studies, or tailored solutions to their shipping problems.
For example, if your leads are in the technology sector, it would be a good idea to send a sequence of emails relating to your brokerage’s coping strategies with fragile electronics. Create emails about your company that share relevant facts like industry experience, the company's competitive edge, and the value offered to a potential client. Email marketing targets a specific audience. In this case, imagine the client with whom you would want to share the email and the content that would create real value for them. Personalization is key for effective email marketing. Divide your email list by industry and location for better messaging.
Cold Calling and Warm Calling
Categorized as the least productive method of reaching out to potential clients, cold calling can actually be very useful if executed properly. One tip is to do research prior to reaching out and identify the individuals you would be contacting, the type of business they are running, and figure out what gaps your services could possibly fill. Prepare a small but detailed outline that places your brokerage in the best light. Always have questions ready that invite the potential clients to be a part of business conversations like, “Are you currently utilizing the services of a freight broker?” or “Do you experience shipping-related challenges with your broker?
Having responsive information with regards to your rates, carrier network, and number of operational years can tilt the decision in your favor. If prepared properly, these aspects can go a long way in making a positive impact. When discussing brokerage requirements, you may use simple to understand language, but ensure that the instructions are accurate and precise.
Warm Calling: The Smarter Cold Call
Rather than calling each and every business, do your homework first. Determine whether the businesses are expanding, offering new products, or have ongoing supply chain issues, as they are likely looking for new brokerage services. This raises the chance of them responding positively. Warm calling, which involves research on the client’s prerequisites or previous interest in dealing with the business, greatly boosts the chances of transforming leads into customers.
Offline Strategies and Networking
The online world has numerous advantages, but one should also consider meeting people in person or use traditional networking techniques that are just as useful. Talking to potential shippers face-to-face at various industry conferences or using your established contacts goes a long way into establishing strong, lasting business relationships.
Targeting Smaller Businesses
Small-scale manufacturers and distributors are likely to be underresourced when it comes to logistics as compared to big corporations. This is a good set of candidates that will make your brokerage services prosper. Your brokerage is likely to attract these businesses with personalized service and flexible shipping choices that larger, inflexible competitors cannot offer.
How to Find Shippers Using Trade Shows and Networking Events?
As a freight broker, you can find shippers during trade shows and networking events that are specifically related to a particular industry. Personal meetings create new connections, trust, and allow shippers to market their services directly. Attending events found on sites like Events in America and meeting face-to-face with decision-makers builds trust and paves the way for future collaboration.
Use What You Have
Never ignore the impact made by your existing network. Current clients and past customers who have had a positive working relationship with your brokerage will aid in referrals, which can directly give you new contacts with shippers. Getting referred by a customer to a client is often the simplest way one can access great leads as a freight broker.
Talk to your current partners, such as carriers and other logistics companies. They might have access to new shippers, or they might even introduce them to you. Working together helps everyone!
Referral Incentives
With the aid of your current customers, you can easily refer new clients if you offer a reward. Referrals from clients are extremely influential and increase lead quality.
Reconnect With Past Clients
Reaching out to former customers can breathe life into partnerships. Why a relationship was ended can be a compelling conversation to address your service issues or get it otherwise improved. Most importantly, those conversations can lead to brainstorming new possibilities, be it coming back directly or through referrals.
Content Marketing and Thought Leadership
A great way to harness potential shippers is by issuer branding yourself or your company as a subject matter expert in the freight industry. Trust will be established by sharing valuable information, hence helping you become the authority resource on their shipping needs.
Publishing Valuable Content
Become an industry figure by writing valuable content like blogs, articles, or case studies to showcase your knowledge and expertise, which in turn will bring potential clients to your site.
Social Media Activity
Engage in social media to share valuable insights, news, or information relevant to shippers and the industry as a whole.
Website Optimization
Make your website contain relevant materials that are easy to find, simple to use without guidance, provide relevant information, and are optimized to get the maximum reach from search engines. So shippers can effortlessly reach you and understand your working model.
How to Get Customers as a Freight Broker: Turning Leads Into Clients
Landing leads turns out to just be the first half of the battle. In the freight broker industry, turning leads into recurring clients is a whole separate challenge that needs a systematic approach.
- Building Trust: One delicate area to consider is making genuine relationships where you have to listen. Enhance people with remarkable services and focus on utilizing the tools in your arsenal, like honesty and responsiveness.
- Provide Great Rates: Aim for new clients’ prospects and focus on offering lower than market rates. Quality does not have to be sacrificed as long as the offer is value-laden alongside pricing. Reliability, experience, and excellent customer care should be highlighted.
- Show Your Skills: Claiming expertise is easy. Proving them is where the test lies. Differentiate yourself by demonstrating in-depth knowledge around regulations describing the sector, and solutions for difficult logistic problems.
- Beyond Amazing Customer Services: Clients have escalated needs and clients have escalated expectations. Whip up a notch or go beyond amazing. The chance of loyalty and purchasing in the future increases multifold.
- Readiness: Customers have needs that require immediate attention. Meeting clients halfway with prompt responses extends further than answering emails to addressing changes of situation, uploading relevant information online, and resolving issues promptly.
Challenges and Solutions for Each of Them
Achieving success in brokerage isn’t easy, and navigating through planned or unplanned setbacks is an ache every entrepreneur faces. Identifying potential problems before they arise and planning ahead on how to tackle them increases your chances of success.
- Competitive Adversity: Understand that no matter how hard you try, all clients will not be converted, and that’s perfectly okay. Mistakes are made by even the best; however, the magic lies in perseverance.
- Competition: The brokerage freight market has tough competition. Set yourself apart with great service, a specialty market, or an effective website.
- Shipper Creditworthiness: Always assess the creditworthiness of potential shippers before accepting their credit terms. This reduces your risk of payment delays or defaults.
- Building a Carrier Network: Selecting and verifying trustworthy carriers is important to fulfilling quality service expectations from your shippers. It is important to develop effective communication with the carriers to maintain performance and compliance with your requirements.
Final Thoughts on Finding Shippers as a Freight Broker
Incorporating conventional sales techniques with today's technological advancements is the ideal blend for a freight broker looking for shippers. Whether using Clutch.co, cold calling, or social media strategies, adopting multiple approaches will ensure quality leads. By continuously improving their methods to be responsive to prospects’ needs, brokers will build a network of dependable, long-term partners, as HMD Trucking does.
