When did the freight market become commoditised?

Probably when, in the absence of any effective differentiation, buyers believed that freight products had become indistinguishable in terms of tangible features and capabilities.

Long established though it is, this commoditisation is as much a psychological state as a physical one.

Freight forwarders, in particular, will recognise the commoditised market; one in which buyers display rampant skepticism, fixed behaviours and minimal expectations.

It all leads to a strong preference for swift and effortless transactions, regardless of product differentiation.

The key for forwarders, in diminishing this commodity status, is not what they do to their freight services – it’s what they do to their customer.

They need to find a way to re-engage a buyer who is past caring.

Commoditised customers choose on the basis of price because they have become convinced that the options available are fundamentally the same and any minor differences among them are minimal and therefore not worth investigating.

They stopped asking “Which of these will add value to my supply chain?”

That’s why turning off commoditisation is so difficult.

It’s a hard problem to overcome because fresh rounds of innovation go unnoticed, and well-formulated marketing messages are not received.

This will remain true until forwarders start to do things that make shippers sit up and take notice.

And the best way to do that?

Take the one thing buy klonopin india they’re focused on – the price of your offering – and alter it in a surprising or challenging way.

To be effective you’ll need to get the marketers involved, because the success of this move will depend on the customers perceiving the new value.

Value pricing
Concentrate on the value provided.
It’s not freight; it’s a secure supply chain
It’s not transport; it’s satisfied customers and repeat orders
Find out what supply chain worries the owners and MD’s have and sell into that need

Bundling
Augment your value proposition, beyond the freight product, by “bundling” related or even unrelated products and services into a single offer.

In other words, there is more to the offer than the commoditised freight product, thereby allowing greater differentiation.

The extra customer value that comes with bundling can be measured in the greater speed and convenience of working with a single supplier

Engagement
By understanding the key drivers of your customer’s business success, you will uncover opportunities for delivering new customer benefits.

Formulate strategies that deliver those added benefits and document customer success to secure internal buy-in and external credibility.

Customer success with you is key.

Any unsupported attempt to differentiate a firm’s products or services will be viewed by the market as nothing more than marketing hype.

And that’s no way to fight commoditisation!