In the world of freight forwarding and logistics, one’s network has always been an important factor. A good network not only opens up doors for us but also builds brand value. With time, the traditional business approach has changed nearly 360 degrees.
How the game has changed over time in freight forwarding.
Years back, the focus was to develop exclusive partnerships with overseas offices. However, now it is the other way around, everyone is focusing on adding more and more. It has become a real numbers game for most organizations globally. Due to this craze of networking, there is a separate industry which is formed around logistics businesses: freight forwarding networking. Some organizations even take this as pride to mention that they are part of these networking companies.
Is freight forwarding networking helping or hurting the industry?
With such heavy involvement in networking, we ask many questions: are we not losing our own identity? Are we not losing the personal touch with our exclusive understanding? Are we not losing our ground to commit our client based on our agent’s support? There are many questions, but answers are not defined with measures.
However, if we start thinking the other way, it is building our business more and more, it is expanding our network more than before, how are we going to balance this journey? Where is the approach of direct customer business? Or is this another potential revenue making side of business
One of the negative impacts of freight forwarding networking is that many companies are enrolling in networks not just for business, but to help build credit facility. Is this right model for business owners? Time will tell.
Another area to ask questions is whether or not networking is helping or hurting day-to-day work. What is the impact of networking businesses together in our day-to-day work? How much does it really contribute to us? It is very important for every single company to understand how the network is really helping. It is important to evaluate our strength and potential and benefits from this perspective.
Should you be networking in the freight forwarding industry?
If one has to decide whether they should spend time on networking events or not in freight forwarding, the best way that can be described as below:
- New companies must try enrolling more into networks to expand their identity fast.
- Existing companies looking to develop a new market may also take a step into this direction for the time being.
- Established companies may limit their enrollment in networking groups, but to increase brand value, a few may engage in networking.
- Evaluate your own potential and strength and enroll in highly-focused networks to gain maximum benefit.
