If you are in the export or import business, then you understand how complicated the whole shipping process can actually be. Customs, cargo safety, finding best routes – those are only some of the things that need to be considered when international shipping is in question. And those are also some of the things that you, as a business owner, don’t have time to handle. It can all get very overwhelming, can’t it?
Luckily, there are people who have all the time in the world to take care of this for you. Well, okay, they also have other things in their lives to worry about, but all I’m saying is that they have dedicated their professional lives to organizing the necessary transportation and seeing it through so that everything can run smoothly. As explained here, the people I am talking about use their skills and their knowledge in order to make sure that your particular cargo gets transported from one particular point to another without running into any issues.
Those people are called freight forwarders or shipping brokers and if your business has to do with import and export, then you definitely need their services. I suppose that there might be some business owners claiming that they can do all of this on their own and a small percentage of them might even be able to manage it. Still, if you don’t devote enough time to organizing everything, chances are that you will have unhappy clients and customers on the other side of it all.
Shipments can get delayed, damaged, or even lost and this is especially a risk for those businesses that refuse to invest in freight forwarding services. So, before you decide whether you want to use these services or not, let me give you a few great reasons why you should. After that, I’ll also give you a few useful tips on how to find the perfect New Zealand companies to hire as your freight forwarders.
Nothing Can Top Experience
As already mentioned, you might be one of those who believe they can do it all on their own. The harsh truth is that nobody can do everything alone and that some things are much better off left to professionals. Freight forwarding is one of those things. Let’s face it. You simply don’t have the experience necessary in order to organize and handle the whole situation in the best possible way.
Guess who has that experience? I suppose that is a pretty obvious guess, isn’t it? Shipping brokers, i.e. freight forwarders in New Zealand definitely have what it takes to handle any shipping situation perfectly and ensure that your cargo reaches the desired destination not only safely and without any damages, but also on time. No amount of effort you put into this can top the experience they already have in the international shipping arena. Why don’t you use their experience to your advantage?
Here’s what else makes a great freight forwarder: https://www.chrobinson.com/blog/what-makes-a-great-freight-forwarder/
It Takes Stress Out of The Equation
Imagine yourself trying to organize just one international shipment. Think about all the logistics, don’t forget to consider routes and make sure to understand how booking cargo space works. It might take a while, but you will probably get there eventually and have your first shipment safely and securely sent out. Okay, it might be a bit delayed, but you are sure your customers will forgive you, right? Now, imagine having to do this for, say, hundreds of shipments a week.
The mere thought of it makes you frustrated and stressed out, doesn’t it? Not to mention the fact that your customers might forgive you one delay, but they definitely won’t accept constant delays and keep on doing business with you. How stressed do you think you will be once you start losing customers? I believe you don’t even want to think about it.
Organizing international shipments is, without a doubt, stressful. You need everything to be precise and perfect and that can certainly cause you to lose some nerves in the process. That is, unless you hire a freight forwarder to do the job for you. These professionals really do take the stress out of this equation, by simply assuming responsibility for all the stages in the shipping process. They are the ones who organize it, meaning that there is no way you will get stressed out with the whole process.
It Shows You Are Serious and Professional
As I have briefly indicated above, customers don’t like delayed shipments. It shows them that you are not very professional, which further indicates that you aren’t serious in the job that you are doing and the business you are running. Let me now ask you one simple question. Would you rather work with people who are serious and committed to the business they are running or with those who don’t really care about getting the job done perfectly?
I believe I can guess your answer to that question. So, since you want to work with serious professionals, why don’t you extend that practice towards becoming a serious professional? Your first step towards becoming a recognized and renowned brand is, of course, hiring a freight forwarding company that will show that you are an expert in your line of business and that no physical borders can stop you from providing your customers with the best possible services.
How to Find the Right Company in New Zealand?
While we are on the topic of serious professionals, let us now learn how to find great freight forwarders in New Zealand that will also be professional and serious at what they do. Once you start searching, you will be presented with a lot of choices and it will be your responsibility to ensure that you are making the perfect choice and working with the best people. All you have to do is take a couple of important factors into account.
First of all, there’s experience. I have already explained above that nothing can top the experience of these experts, but this doesn’t mean that just any company you come across will be experienced enough. Quite on the contrary, you might easily stumble upon inexperienced people trying to pose as experts. Don’t fall for that trap and check how long the company you are thinking of hiring has been in business and how much they actually know about the job they are doing.
Secondly, there’s reputation. A particular firm might have been in business for quite a while but you might hear some negative things about it when you start asking around. That should definitely be a cause for concern, since you don’t want to work with people that nobody in the business actually respects. Instead, you want a company with stellar reputation, because that’s how you will be sure that they will do a perfect job.
Lastly, make sure to take the prices and the fees into consideration. I suppose I don’t need to emphasize that this is only one of the factors and that it certainly isn’t the most important one. Nevertheless, you should still take it into account, so that you can get the best services at the best possible prices.
