It is not a secret that the modern day logistics is dealing with very complicated business management processes. Logistics companies need to analyze the information about thousands of clients around the world and effectively manage the routes that extends through several continents. How to find the best solution to run these complex procedures? Every larger logistics company has the same brain teaser.

Looking for an easy solution

Just a few years ago, an international freight forwarding company “Baltic transline” got stuck on the same business management question. The company offers a wide range of services which includes cargo collection, transportation between the terminals and delivery. The company operates in the Baltic States region as well as the Scandinavian countries, CIS, also in the Central and West Europe’s markets. “After the successful phase of development into the foreign markets, we gained more clients but their expectations have increased as well. Also, the need has arisen not only to monitor the effectiveness but also to follow the market trends. We have all kind of clients – from the leaders of the market to freshly made start-ups, so we needed a tool which adapts to the needs of every client”, – tells Mr. Marius Dūdėnas, the spokesman of “Baltic transline”. The interviewer highlights that they were looking for an easily managed tool which could help to fix all the complex issues. “From a technical point of view, the new tool had to help, rather to cause problems”, – he says. After considering the simplicity and provided opportunities, “Baltic transline” decided to try sales management system (CRM) created by Teamgate, which was installed in Spring, 2013.

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The speed and quality of data analysis

Adolis Jančiauskas, a sales manager at Teamgate, observes that Logistics business sector is indeed very dynamic, having frequent changes in the market and huge competition. The clients are usually from different countries so their business habits are different as well, which makes the whole process even more complex and interesting.

“In order not to get involved into the so-called “price wars”, you need to see the full picture of the client. It helps to understand the needs better and to give the right solution on time. Also it is very important to give each client enough attention to ensure his loyalty. It is really hard or nearly impossible to do all of it without having the right tools”, – says A. Jančiauskas.

Exactly for this reason the “Excel” tables are no longer enough to store all the relevant data about the clients. “When working with loads of data, sooner or later the main disadvantage of the “Excel” tables becomes quite clear – it takes ages to find the information you need. These tables are designed to help you calculate, not to store other clients’ data. Anyway, the habit of working with the “Excel” tables could be explained that simply there were no decent client management tools some time ago”, – says A. Jančiauskas.

How does the most suitable CRM look like?

Marius Dūdėnas highlights that they are using the “Teamgate” system for three years now and their business development and customer service divisions especially values it for its simple control and the opportunities to easily plan and track all the actions. “One of the great features is that the system lets you not only to maintain a close connection between the company and its clients but also to react to the market changes, as well as to measure the effectiveness and results of the employees even more objectively”, – says M. Dūdėnas. 

Adolis Jančiauskas admits that the “Teamgate” tool is a perfect fit for the specifics of logistics industry because of wide functionality and simplicity. “It is really hard to find both functional and handy tools in the market. Functionality and simplicity also means a straightforward CRM installation process, team engagement and successful automation of the processes”, – says A. Jančiauskas.  An important role is held by analysis tools which helps to track how the goals are implemented and to identify where there is a need to improve. “Companies usually pay little attention to this but you must keep in mind that the business can only grow when it can clearly see this kind of data”, – points out the sales manager of “Teamgate”. He also pays attention that the “Teamgate” tool can also offer even more functions which are vital to the transportation industry – flexible additional information field management that allows to collect other specific data about the destinations of export and import, types of cargo and clients’ list filters under various criteria.

The interest grows quickly

While talking about more general hot CRM trends, the sales manager of “Teamgate” notes that the interest in CRM solutions is increasing among the logistics companies in Lithuania. And there is a probability that this kind of interest will only grow in the future.

“The procedure of switching to CRM occurs gradually – when the organization grows, the number of employees and clients increases, therefore there is a desire to track the information from different angles. At this exact point it could be really hard to find the relevant information fast enough. When the same problem occurs for a couple of times, you start looking for a way to make this process easier. This happens frequently enough in our business and we see it as one of the cases when companies start to show interest in CRM solutions”, – tells Adolis Jančiauskas.

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