A better understanding of these factors would benefit freight forwarders as they seek to improve their approach to business by allowing them to understand how they can attract customers and how the relationships they subsequently build can lead to increased profitability and business growth. Freight forwarders can therefore play a key role in providing transport services, along with the accompanying verification of documentation that foreign trade will require. New customers, especially in developing economies, tend to expect an increased level of support from freight forwarders in managing their operations.
A particular challenge for forwarders is that increased competition leads to lower rates, and forwarders can no longer maintain the upper hand over customers in terms of volume. A better understanding of these factors would benefit freight forwarders as they look to improve their own approach to business, as it would enable them to understand how to attract customers and how the relationships they subsequently build can lead to greater profitability and business growth.
LITERATURE
Freight Forwarder Definition
These include the transportation, regrouping, storage, management, packaging and distribution of cargo, as well as assistance and advisory services related to the issuance and management of documents, customs facilities, declaration of cargo to the authorities, insurance of goods, collection and payment of goods. (European Commission, 2001). Thus it can be concluded that a forwarding company is the one responsible for the export or import of goods. May provide transportation or negotiate between the shipper, the transportation provider, and the customs agencies involved.
Through logistics administration and preparation of the necessary paperwork, the freight forwarder will offer savings in both cost and time, facilitating the business operations of import/export customers.
Potential Clients
Note: Numbers refer to the scale on the left, while percentages refer to the scale on the right. Unregistered Ordinary Partnership: This is an informal unregistered form of partnership between two or more individuals. Ordinary Registered Partnership: This is a partnership between two or more individuals where the contract, management, purposes and capital input are clearly declared to the Ministry of Commerce at the registration stage.
Limited partnership: Managers in a limited partnership are liable for any debts incurred, while the liability of non-managers is limited to the value of any capital contribution withdrawn. Limited liability company: This is a form of company that requires three or more individuals to divide the business capital into shares of equal nominal value.
Proposed Framework and Principal Factors
- Reliability
- Assurance
- Tangibility
- Empathy
- Responsiveness
- Cost of Service
Studies in Thailand show that the reputation of the forwarders has little impact on the decision-making approach of Thai import/export companies, and that the customers prefer to focus on the service quality provided by the forwarder throughout the entire logistics process (Wongthatsanekorn) and Arunpornphaisai, 2013). Offering the same service to all customers will no longer be sufficient, as the needs of the different customers are not the same. However, as customized services become more popular, their delivery requires freight forwarders to have a better understanding of how the customers value the different elements of the service they receive.
However, participants were also asked to specify the characteristics that would be important for the ideal freight forwarding company, to ensure that the factors listed were accurate and representative of the participants' views. Assurance is the term given to a forwarder's ability to inspire confidence in its service and is achieved through its knowledge and customer service (Parasuraman et al. Aktas and Ulengin (2005) suggested that assurance can refer to the “prestige of the carrier”, with the reputation of the freight forwarding company playing a key role in establishing this prestige.
The concept of tangibility includes physical equipment or facilities, personnel and means of communication used by the freight forwarder (Parasuraman et al. In the SERVQUAL model proposed by Parasuraman, it becomes clear that the freight forwarder must use various resources and means to provided the service, and these will be described as tangible components Empathy is a term that refers to the care and attention that freight forwarding pays to individual customers.
Kokkinis, Mihiotis and Pappis (2006) found that the service offered is usually best when a close relationship is established between the freight forwarder and the customer, as this facilitates the exchange of information so that each can better understand the needs and motivations of the other party. . Studies by Murphy et al. 1991) and Murphy and Daley (2001) compared the opinions of customers with those of freight forwarders and found that freight forwarders considered cost to be the most important factor in the decision, while customers viewed preference as the opposite. time and quality as their key issues. At this stage, the customer uses his preferred criteria to evaluate each of the service provider candidates before deciding on the most suitable choice according to these preferences.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Selected Participants
Medium: These participants had some level of practical experience in international trade, and therefore a moderate level of knowledge and skills in this area. Expert: the participants have a sufficiently high level of skills, knowledge and experience so that they are able to handle all freight logistics situations without the need for professional help.
Data Collection and Interview Structure
The participants therefore became familiar with the factors and characteristics and were able to better explain their choice of a forwarder.
Interview Questions
Guarantee: Reputation, Tracking service availability, Goods arrive undamaged, Experienced staff, One stop service, High quality service. Responsiveness: Quick response to requests or problems, Global service, Updated prices, Own worldwide network, Availability of units and. consolidation, diversity of services, responsiveness of services, willingness of staff to serve.
FINDINGS
- Reliability
- Assurance
- Tangibility
- Empathy
- Responsiveness
- Cost
- Financial Stability
Another aspect that was frequently raised by many of the participants was the consistency of the service. A company's reputation was one of the most important aspects of security discussed during the interview sessions. More than half of the participants indicated that the knowledge and expertise of the employees is the fundamental basis for a good forwarder.
When designing the interview questionnaire, the researcher expected that this aspect would be specified by at least 80 percent of the participants. Many of the participants stated that this aspect is the minimum acceptable standard for any freight forwarder, so they didn't really think much about it. About a third of total participants believed that a forwarder's responsiveness in all circumstances is an indispensable factor in determining the success of their business.
Most of the participants said that they were not looking for the cheapest shipping rates, but rather the most reasonable ones. They will then need to calculate the actual shipping costs for the price and profit margin of the items they are selling. In some cases, 15 to 25 percent of the order value compared to shipping costs was found to be a fair price level.
Most of the participants claimed that freight forwarders often use technical terms and jargon in their offers. From their point of view, the financial stability of the freight forwarder is a very important factor when choosing a freight forwarder. The scope of the study was limited only to the pre-transaction phase where they studied the factors that occur before the actual transaction takes place.
CONCLUSION
Conclusions and Recommendations
Some of these participants even mentioned that they value simplicity enough to pay more for it. While some freight forwarders may think that having an online tracking system for customers to monitor their shipments is simple, many customers see it as rocket science. A quick, painless call to your customers to give the latest status update on their shipments can make the job simpler.
So when freight forwarders approach customers with minimal experience in international trade and lower levels of related skills and knowledge, it's important to keep the process simple at every step. Customers with different backgrounds, education, training and work experience have different needs and value different things. To understand what customers expect, it is necessary to view the industry from their perspective.
Freight forwarders must therefore try to see themselves from the customers' perspective rather than simply perceiving a reflection of their own service performance goals. Describe your ideal customers – age, education, work experience and an overview of what they do and what is important to them in doing business. A completed customer profile will be useful in helping freight forwarders develop the type of content that will appeal to each customer group/type (beginner, intermediate or expert).
According to Ciotti (2013), there are distinct categories of content: the first type has the most simplified information and advice and can be easily consumed and understood; the alternative is content packed with information and in-. Identifying which type of approach works best for each customer allows a freight forwarder to define a clear approach to deliver the message and content to specific customers.
Limitations
Future Research
Wongthatsanekorn, W., Arunpornphaisai, S., "Shipper and Forwarder Criteria for Selecting a Carrier." Journal of Supply Chain Management: Research &.
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Interview Form
Part Two: Definition/Basic Understanding . 2) Can you give a definition of 'cargo carrier' and its roles in your own words and understanding. A freight forwarder is a company that arranges the import and export of goods by acting as an intermediary between a shipment/consignee and various transport carriers and customs (as well as many other government agencies that control the import/export of goods between countries) . A good freight forwarder helps to minimize time and costs, as well as to avoid potential complications from both importers/exporters".
What do you think are the key factors you consider when choosing a freight forwarder?.
