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Third Party Logistics Provider In Singapore
Posted By: dk* on 8/3/2005 3:41 AM (CST) 500 Points
Managing a Japanese Third Party Logistics Company in Singapore in Air/Sea Import/Export, Malaysian Trucking and Logistics/Supply Chain Management Solutions.

In Singapore, we are competing with both USA/European MNCs as well as local companies providing the services mentioned above.

My question is what kind of branding and competitive advantage strategy can be use to made our company services known to the singapore market and compete with our industrial colleagues (competitors) from a Business to Business avenue.

Now our company is only depending on our current japanese customers, which is not safe as they are also now looking at cost effective alternatives....

Your advice would be appreciated.

p.s. Last year, our P & L stands at: SING$2 Million deficit.

Posted by: AndrewS Member Response
8/3/2005 9:08 AM (CST)
There is some great advice here: http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=8883#56767
 
Posted by: AndrewS Accepted Answer
8/3/2005 9:13 AM (CST)
In general you need to full understand:

market segments (buying practices, customer profiles, trends, size, location etc)

Positioning (your competitions positioning, your positioning and your position)

Differentiators (price, quality, customer service, leadership, heritage etc etc)

All this starts to indicate what your brand personality, what your brand structure should look like, and how you manage your brand.

You should also now start to understand what your brand promise is.
Now you need to deliver on this promise, and thats what your brand is all about!

Hope this helps

Good Luck
 
Posted by: dk* Author Response
8/4/2005 3:32 AM (CST)
Thanks for the tips on Marketing Strategies etc....and do you have any examples to give....as I noticed in many Supply Chain articles normally read operational ideas but not much on logistics sales.....anyone have any ideas how to go about doing logistics sales effectively besides of course advertising in relevant publications which does not seems effective in my country.
 
Posted by: AndrewS Member Response
8/4/2005 8:57 AM (CST)
The most cost effective way is for you to fully understand your existing customers.
If you analyse them and fully understand them, you quickly build a profile of what a perfect customer would look like.

Then search the market for customers that look like your best ones today! Easier said than done I know.

ACCOUNT PLANNING:
Make you for your biggest customers you have some account planning in place, so you know what that particular customer wants and how to get it.
This will help you focus on individual accounts and help the business focus its resources on your top customers.

WEBSITE:
Make sure you have one and that its compelling, get feedback from potential customers, or some device to get emails and addresses for prospects.

TESTIMONIALS:
Get existing customers that are happy with your service to provide testimonials on just how good you are, these can be reproduced on your website, and other promotional material.

HOSPITALITY:
Use hospitality wisely, it can be expensive, but extremely cost effective if you use it well and it brings in business. If you can tie it to "cost of sale" it might be able to come from a sales budget rather than marketing budget.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL:
Look closely at your promotional material and make sure your sales team are proud to use it.

Good Luck
 
Posted by: dk* Author Response
8/11/2005 11:25 PM (CST)
Dear Andrew, thanks for your suggestions and advices.
How about "niche markets" what is your understanding if we want to go into niche markets and sepcialisation of our logistics services. Do you think it will be better for business growth? Any other suggestions, then?
rgds
david
 
Posted by: Puru Gupta Accepted Answer
8/16/2005 3:27 PM (CST)
David,
Great points by Andrew so far. A few suggestions and pointers from my side -

(a) In the logisitics market, based on my limited experience, Branding per se has little meaning,
UNLESS you get affiliated to a company/sector/Industry.
In such a scenario, going for a "niche market" makes much more sense, IFF you intend to have tie-ups with a few companies, and provide dedicated customized services to them

(b) Currently, you have the Japanese Customers with you primarily, which implies that there is not a strong differentiator you have been able to establish in the market, and it is the networking which has driven YOUR market so far.
But an advantage of this is that you can leverage this network to enhance your market share. Piggyback on the existing clientele

(c) Concentrate on a few Companies to start with. Once you establish credibility in the market - leverage this to extend to other parts of the Industry

This is what is generally done in a B2B environment. Networking is essentially the key, and instrumental in providing a competitive edge in the market!

Hope this helps!
Regards,
Puru
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Accepted Answer
8/17/2005 4:10 AM (CST)
hi david

great response from Andrew. from my experience i would add the following on his input.

1. most of the logistics providers/freight forwarders are always concentrated by industry. some are specialist for Ready-Made Garments (RMG), some are experts in moving Odd-Size Cargo, some only do business in Flower/Books industry etc.

2. You currently have Japanese clients but you have not mentioned whether you have any specialization for a specific industry. i suggest you to be specialized in a select number of industries, this will also develop your "niche".

3. alternatively, you can be specialized in regions of world i.e. EU countries, North America etc. are you already specialized in Japan market?? are your all Japanese clients sending their exports to and from Japan?? if yes, then i ask you to add mainland China on top of China to leverage your Japan connection.

4. In logistics industry, "Ring-Fencing Ability" is an important differentiating factor among competitors. you have to have the necessary infrustructure to meet all kinds of needs of your customers like Air-Sea and Sea-Air Consolidation etc. if you can demonstrate the the capability of arranging a Charter Flight for a client, that will increase your credibility and also you can be sure your client will remain loyal (trust me, we have done that here for a client and he hasnt left us since).

5. you have to integrate your current capacities like trucking facility to provide better service to clients.

6. Network and relationships are very important for branding your company. contratry to some comment, Branding can be done in B2B environment but that happens, IMHO, by riding on someone's back. you can do it by 2 ways

6.a) you become the exclusive agent/representative of any world-renowned logistics company like BAX Global or DHL Danzas etc. as a result of this you will get nomination business from these parents.

6.b) if you can get the business of renowned clients like Carrefour or Walmart or IBM etc.

once you have got any of the two you can capitalize on that experience/exposure and relationship to get new business and build your brand.

Once you have the above mentioned and add with those mentioned by Andrew, i am sure you can leverage your current situation.

btw, pls check the following link to a recent article in Marketingprofs.com on B2B business marketing.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/5/thull5.asp

hope this helps.

cheers!!
 
Posted by: anthonii_truong* Accepted Answer
8/18/2005 9:25 PM (CST)
Key to success.

If your business is not doing as well as you expect and the roi on advertising in trade publication is not positive, then I think your marketing sucks.

I really suggest reading "YOUR MARKETING SUCKS" BY MARK STEVENS.

Also, check your sales team. With big business, clients come from relationship. Is your sales team seasoned and connected with the client? Are they developing relationship and meeting new people? Are they hanging out where the clients are?

Especially in Asian countries, relationship plays a very crucial role. If you deliver exceptional service, deliver outstanding customer satisfaction with a sales team that foster a close relationship with clients and prospects, business should pick up.

When everything is equal, it is the relationship and the trust that makes the sale.

If you'd like more ideas on how to build relationship with clients, let me know.
 
Posted by: Sanjeev Kumar Vyas Accepted Answer
8/19/2005 8:19 AM (CST)
Well being in a niche market has its advantages and has its disadvantages too (like almost everything in life)

What kind of niche do you think you can handle? and what makes youcompany good in that niche? Is it a big enough market for you to operat in?

Currently you can ask your customer to tell you how you can serve them better and ask them for leads and testimonials. This will tell you if you are doing a good job. If not then you will need to improve your quality before going furthur.
 
Posted by: khall* Accepted Answer
8/19/2005 1:08 PM (CST)
I agree with the comment above about determining your niche market and your very targeted prospects. What does your company excel in that others find difficult to replicate?

If your Japanese customers are looking for cost effective solutions, then you have not adequately provided value to them. It is imperative that you solve a problem for them or make their jobs easier and help them be successful. If you can do those things, price will become less and less an issue.
 
Posted by: Shelley, MProfs Moderator Response
8/27/2005 6:07 AM (CST)
I am closing your question since there has been no activity in over a week and it's getting stale. Next time you post something on our forum, please have the courtesy to reward the contributions of participants in a timely manner.

Thanks for participating anyway, everyone!


p.s. The only clever thing about the Mark Stevens book is its title.

 


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