Overview
Over the past few years, enterprise freight forwarders have invested millions of dollars into building digital engagement platforms to enhance the shipper experience. As the adoption of these platforms has increased among large freight forwarders, a common scenario has emerged: traditional freight forwarders lose key customers to enterprise forwarders with modern digital tools (e.g. fast growing newcomers Flexport, or established enterprises that have made significant investments in R&D).
But there’s another side to the story. A side we’re hearing about more and more, where more traditional forwarders adapt, evolve, and fight back.
This is one of those stories. An example of how, after losing a long-time customer to an up-and-coming digital forwarder, a mid-market forwarder combined a revamped digital platform with world-class customer service to not only win the churned account back, but expand it to new heights.
Background
Air and Ground World Transport (AGWorld) is a San Francisco based international freight forwarder with 17 offices globally. Established in 1996, they’ve grown steadily over the years, focusing on high-tech, retail, and a specialization in air freight from Asia to the United States and Europe.
“We pride ourselves on providing a one-stop-shop for our shippers and on investing our time and resources into great customer service.” – Shirley Yeung, COO
As you’ll see below, Shirley Yeung, AGWorld’s COO, who has been with the company for 24 years, led the charge to revamp their digital offering to win back a multi-million dollar account.
The Problem – Losing a $2.5M+ Account
As a service-based industry, freight forwarding businesses are built on great customer experiences and deep relationships. Prior to Logixboard, AGWorld had adopted various digital tools to provide visibility into shipments, including CargoWise WebTracker and Centrolene. Unfortunately, these solutions weren’t meeting customer expectations.
As a result, a long-time customer — a California-based bike company that was driving millions per year in revenue— began to move their business to an up-and-coming, digital-first freight forwarder.
“We were losing a portion of this customer’s business because they saw our competitor’s solution as much more digitized and modern.”- Shirley Yeung, COO
With the account at risk, Shirley and the AG World team decided to rethink their approach to digitization and customer experience.
The Solution – Revamping Digitization to Win Back A Key Customer
After partnering with Logixboard, AG World was able to get up and running with a cutting-edge, white-labeled digital portal in under three weeks. One of the first things they did was show it to their churning customer.
The result? AG World was able to not only win-back their business and loyalty, but start taking away shipments from their competitor to grow the account beyond what it had been before.
“They absolutely love the platform. Having a digital platform that was on-par or better than the offering of the big players gave us a lot of confidence. Although there were a number of factors that went into winning their business back, having a best-in-class digital portal was a critical part of the deal. Having modern, easy-to-use tools is an essential part of providing a great customer experience.” – Shirley Yeung, COO
Conclusion
The AG World team has embraced digitization to enhance their industry-leading focus on customer experience. With Logixboard, they continue to drive consistent revenue growth and customer loyalty today.
As shippers continue to expect greater levels of transparency and real-time insights into their supply chain, adopting a digital platform becomes an easy and impactful way to differentiate yourself and stay ahead of the competition.
If you’re a freight forwarder interested in learning more about how you can digitally transform your business, contact [email protected] or book a demo today!
