Marketing is often wrapped in hype, but at its core, it serves one purpose: driving sales. Yet many freight forwarders unintentionally weaken their own marketing efforts, reducing sales effectiveness by as much as 30-70%, extending the sales cycle, and eroding profit margins.

The sole reason you market your business is to boost sales, and you can do this in several ways:

1. Expanding your sales efforts by increasing your team’s resources

2. Improving your conversion rates by entering the sales cycle earlier

3. Focusing on value-added selling instead of competing on price

4. A combination of the above

However, many forwarders hinder their success with marketing strategies that lengthen sales cycles and chip away at margins. Here are the three main culprits:

1. Falling into the quote trap

There will always be situations where a spot rate is necessary. But when you default to saying, “I’ll give you a quote,” instead of leading the conversation or collaborating with the client, you’re heading straight for the ‘quote trap’. This approach reduces your service to a mere commodity.

When you rely on quoting alone, you’re making three key mistakes:

• You may offer information that your client doesn’t fully understand.

• You’re not focusing on the results your client is aiming for.

• You miss the chance to highlight what sets you apart from the competition.

Rather than letting cost dictate the conversation, work with your clients to understand their challenges and help them solve them. Position yourself as a solution provider, not just a price on a quote.

2. Prioritising awareness over engagement

Many businesses see marketing as a tool for building brand awareness through ad campaigns and eye-catching techniques. While this may work for large corporations, SME forwarders with limited marketing budgets need a different approach.

In B2B sales, which tend to be more complex and involve greater risk, marketing should focus on engagement rather than just awareness. Your marketing needs to provoke thought, educate your prospects, and influence their decisions, all while complementing your sales efforts.

When marketing is done right, it helps cultivate relationships with potential clients. Unfortunately, most forwarders fail to take this approach, placing too much pressure on their sales teams. In today’s noisy, complex market, sales teams can’t compete effectively without support from marketing. This imbalance leads to a 30-70% reduction in effectiveness, increased sales costs, and shrinking margins.

3. Shouting instead of sharing

Trust in businesses is at an all-time low. Prospects have been overwhelmed with sales pitches for so long that they’ve stopped listening. You now face a choice: keep telling potential clients how great you are, or offer them valuable insights that allow them to draw that conclusion themselves.

This is where content comes in—a powerful tool that many forwarders are under-utilising. Sharing useful content builds trust, credibility, and engagement with your target audience.

To make your content strategy work:

• Be crystal clear on what differentiates your business and who your target customers are.

• Identify the pain points or challenges that will push your clients to take action.

• Develop compelling stories around these issues that capture attention and open doors.

• Commit to a consistent, ongoing programme of sharing these stories and engaging with your market.

Avoid the quote trap

If you want to stop competing solely on price and start leading conversations with value, now is the time to rethink your marketing strategy. Avoid falling into the quote trap and put engagement, trust, and value at the forefront of your marketing efforts.

Email us today to arrange a free consultation and start driving better sales outcomes.