合同物流是指物流公司通过整合内、外部物流资源，为服务需求方提供包括仓储管理、运输管理、增值服务等在内的一种物流服务形式，服务需求方和作为服务提供方的物流公司通过签署合同约定服务价格、服务水平、服务期限、付款方式等。很多国际知名的物流公司都会将业务划分成合同物流和国际货代两个业务单元，其中合同物流的营业收入虽常常不及货代，但因其具有营收稳定，不易亏损（战略性亏损除外），业务粘性强等特点，所以越来越受到重视。合同物流无论报价、方案还是操作都具有定制化的特点，因此其业务开发方法与以标准化为特点的货代服务有很大区别，对于业务开发人员的要求也不相同。这也解释了为什么同样以拿生意为目标，货代常称之为Sales，而合同物流常称之为Business Developer。笔者在从业过程中常碰到一些新入行的BD员工对于如何开展工作比较迷茫，本文尝试归纳了一些合同物流业务开发过程中需要注意的内容，希望达到帮新人指路的目的。注意积累Sales Leads
无论对于何种业务的开发，不管销售产品还是服务，掌握销售线索（Sales Leads）都是成功获取生意的第一步，也是极为重要的一步。作为合同物流业务的开发人员，一定要对任何销售线索保持饥渴感，在物流这个充分竞争的行业，机会稍纵即逝，有时候晚几天获取一个销售线索，意味着招标窗口已关闭，再次打开可能在三或五年以后。从销售的角度来讲，可以通过参加供应链行业会议、论坛等方式大量拓展人脉，进而通过与这些需求方的物流或采购负责人保持沟通以及时获取有效的销售机会，也可以通过LinkedIn等渠道寻找到目标客户的关键人，进而建立联系后开发销售机会。对于一些规模较大的物流公司，其市场部门也可在各大平台（如微信公众号、FB、LinkedIn等）定期发送展示公司能力的视频或文章，不但可以提升公司影响力，而且可以为公司引流，以期形成销售线索。由此，通过推和拉的作用，物流公司将形成源源不断的客户资源和销售线索。有效利用CRM
俗话说：“好的习惯是成功的一半。”对于合同物流的业务开发人员来说，主动地、定期地、习惯性地记录和更新销售过程是必须养成的习惯。在不远的过去，他们通过纸笔方式手工记录和更新，后来通过利用Excel表格极大提升了记录效率和检索便利性，到现在各种CRM出现后，更是极大助力了物流公司的销售管理。不少CRM甚至可以根据物流公司的需求以拖拽模块的方式搭建适合自身管理需要的个性化系统。但万变不离其宗，无论表格还是CRM，本质都是帮助业务开发人员记录信息，形成合理的Sales Pipeline，并通过经常对Sales Pipeline的回顾，及时发现生意机会，推进落地。同时，从公司管理角度而言，这些客户信息和历史跟进记录也是公司需要沉淀下来的财富。目前市场上有很多CRM可供选择，比如国际公司常用的Salesforce, Sugar等，以及国内企业常用的销帮帮等。不论哪种CRM，只要公司决定上马，业务开发团队必须使用，且可考虑将CRM的维护效果与业务开发人员的绩效相关联。积累行业Know-how
前文有述，定制化是合同物流有别于其他物流服务的一个鲜明特点。虽然每个需求方都有其个性化的定制需求，但是在同一个行业内，这些个性化的定制需求往往表现出很多共性。比如消费电子行业的客户对于产品外包装是否有瑕疵极为苛刻，这就需要物流公司在库内操作时和运输时务必小心处理或做好防护；又如汽车零备件行业在提送货时经常需要飞翼车，并且常涉及到周转箱的回收；再如配送商超时，须考虑到车辆排队，开箱清点，签收单据的特殊要求……业务开发人员需要深入了解这些行业对于物流服务的要求，并理解背后的原因，才能获得客户的信服和深入沟通的机会。另外，深耕某一个或有限的几个行业也有利于业务开发人员在这些行业的人脉积累。所以很多物流公司的业务开发团队也是按照行业进行划分的，所谓“伤其十指不如断其一指”。建立有效的内部协同
合同物流业务开发的一个比较常见的过程是：业务开发人员获取到客户的物流需求，并与客户澄清具体要求；项目经理负责研究需求，匹配内外部资源，设计方案和生成成本模型，协助项目落地；系统支持人员负责设置与需求相适应的系统；操作团队确保日常操作的平顺。对于一些较重要的客户，还会设置项目团队负责横向沟通，处理客户投诉，提出优化建议，维护客情关系等。这些节点环环相扣，每一个节点的缺失都会导致生意引入失败。在这个过程中，业务开发人员要有强烈的Business Owner的态度和责任感，主动与其他环节沟通或定期发起内部会议，确保业务的正常推进。虽然报价是否具有竞争力在客户选择合作伙伴时占有毋庸置疑的权重，但一份出彩的方案、一个可靠的系统、日常规范和高效的操作却往往能扳回报价的劣势，助力生意的获取。这些都离不开合同物流团队内部有效的协同。关注现有客户挖潜
我们说过，合同物流生意的一个重要特质就是具有很大的粘性。这个粘性不但体现在一旦签订服务合约，物流公司和客户会保持相对长久稳定的合作，而且体现在它比较容易为物流公司带来延伸的生意。比如通过已经合作的仓储生意所体现出的优质服务，比较容易说服客户将合作延伸到国内运输、货代等领域，或者将合作延伸到其他区域。另外，有时所服务客户的收货人也是一笔潜在的财富，他们会因在收货时感受到的物流公司的规范管理和上佳服务，将自己的物流也委托其操作。合同物流业务开发人员要善于发现这些机会，勤于沟通。要知道，这些销售机会一旦发生，其达成率要远远高于从零开发的一个新机会。
当然，业务开发本就是一个极为灵活的过程，除以上所述几点之外，业务开发人员还需对于合同物流的方案设计、成本模型、操作管理等有基本的认知。同时注意涉猎涉及供应链的知识，比如AI、自动化设备、某些行业特殊的政策和资质要求等。另外，公司介绍的讲解，方案的陈述等也是必须练就的基本功。凡此种种，目标都是为了在客户面前体现出专业性，并最终赢得生意。（文中图片全部摘自网络，如有不妥，请联系告知）
5 Tips To Develop Contract Logistics Businesses
Contract logistics means that the logistics company provides services such as warehouse management, transportation management, value-added services to the service demander via integrating internal and external logistics resources. The service demander and the logistics company as the service provider (LSP) agree on the service price, service level, service term, payment term, etc. by contract signing.Many well-known international logistics companies pide their businesses into two business units: contract logistics and international freight forwarding. Although the revenue of contract logistics is ordinarily lower than that of freight forwarding, More and more attentions have been paid on it due to its stable revenue, reliable profitability (except for strategic loss), and business stickiness. Contract logistics differentiate itself as customization in terms of quotation, proposal and operation. Therefore, its business developing method is somehow different from the freight forwarding service characterized by standardization, and the requirements for business developers are also different.Through combing the contract logistics business development experience for many years, 5 tips have been summarized by the writer in this article.1. Sustained Sales Leads Accumulation
No matter what kind of business is to be developed, or whether products or services to be sold, mastering sales leads is the first and extremely important step to successfully obtain businesses. As a BD of contract logistics, he/she must be hungry for any sales leads. In the fully competitive industry of logistics, opportunities are fleeting. Sometimes, obtaining a sales lead a few days later means that the tender window has been closed, and opportunity will have been lost within 3 to 5 years.From the perspective of BD, we can expand our contacts by participating in supply chain conferences and forums, and then grasp effective sales opportunities by keep in touch with these contacts in a timely manner. We can also find the key persons of target customers through LinkedIn and other channels, and then develop sales opportunities after establishing contacts with them. In some logistics companies, marketing departments can also regularly issue videos or articles showing the company's capabilities on various platforms (such as wechat official account, FB, LinkedIn, etc.), which can not only enhance the company's influence, but also support BD on sales leads acquirement. Thus, the logistics company will generate an stream of customer resources and sales leads.2. Effective use of CRM
For BD of contract logistics, it is important to form the habit of actively, regularly recording and updating the sales process. In the past, they recorded and updated manually by paper and pen. Later, they greatly improved the efficiency by using Excel. Now, with the emergence of CRMs, BDs have strongly been supported by using them. Many CRMs can even realize personalized systems set up by dragging modules according to the needs of users. The essence of them is to help BDs to record information, maintain the reasonable sales pipeline, and find business opportunities in a timely manner through regular review of the sales pipeline. At the same time, from the perspective of company management, these customer information and historical follow-up records are also the wealth that the company needs to deposit.At present, there are many CRMs in the market, such as salesforce and sugar commonly used by international companies, and xbongbong used by domestic enterprises. No matter what kind of CRM, as long as the company decides to launch it, the BD team must use it. The maintaining effect can also acts as one of the factors to judge the BD’s performance.3. Accumulate industry know-how
As mentioned above, customization is a distinctive feature of contract logistics that is different from other logistics services. Although each customer has its own personalized customization service needs, these needs often show some commonalities in the same industry. For example, customers in the consumer electronics vertical are extremely strict about whether there are defects in the outer packaging of products when receiving goods, which requires the logistics company to handle the products carefully when operating either in the warehouse or during transportation; Another example is that the customers in auto parts vertical often need fly-wing vehicles when picking up or delivering goods, and often involves the return of turnover boxes; when handling supermarket distribution, the special requirements of vehicle queuing, unpacking and counting must be considered.BDs need to deeply understand the requirements of these verticals for logistics services and understand the reasons behind them, in order to gain customers' trust and opportunities for in-depth communication. In addition, focusing on one or limited verticals also helps BDs to accumulate contacts in these industries. Therefore, the BD teams of many logistics companies are also pided by verticals.4. Establish effective cross-function synergy
A common process of contract logistics business development is: BD obtains the service needs of customers and clarify specific requirements with customers; The project manager is responsible for needs analysis, matching internal and external resources, designing tailor-made solution and generating cost model, then assisting in project implementation; The business application manager is responsible for setting the system suitable for the operation; The operation team ensures smooth daily operation. For some key accounts, the project team will be built to be responsible for horizontal communication, dealing with customer complaints, raising optimization suggestions, maintaining customer relations, etc. These functions are linked with each other, and the absence of each one will lead to the failure of business acquisition. In this process, BD should have a strong “business owner” attitude, actively communicate with other functions or regularly initiate internal meetings to ensure the business is moving forward smoothly and every team mumber is kept on the same page.Although the competitive quotation is undoubtedly the very important factor during LSP selection, a brilliant solution, a reliable system, or reliable daily operation can often help to reverse the disadvantage of the quotation for winning the business.5. Further development of existing customers
As we said, an important characteristic of the contract logistics business is its stickiness. This stickiness is not only reflected in the relatively long-term and stable cooperation between the LSP and the customer once the contract is signed, but also reflected in the fact that it is easier to bring extended business to the LSP. For example, it is easier to persuade customers to extend their cooperation to domestic transportation, freight forwarding and other fields, or to extend their cooperation to other regions through the high-quality services provided by the warehousing operation. In addition, sometimes the consignee of the customer is also a potential wealth. When they feel the good quality during goods receiving operated by LSP, they are more easily to trust it and think of cooperating with it.Contract logistics BDs should keep eyes on these opportunities and be diligent in communication. Once these sales opportunities occur, they are more likely to be won than a new opportunity.
Of course, business development is an extremely flexible process. In addition to the points stated above, BDs also need to have a basic understanding of the solution design, cost model and operation process of contract logistics. At the same time, pay attention to the knowledge related to the supply chain, such as AI, warehouse automation, regulation and certification required in some industries. Moreover, the company profile introducing and the solution presenting are also basic skills that must be borne. Aim is to show professionalism to customers and ultimately winning businesses.(All the pictures in this article are quoted from internet. Any inappropriateness, please contact author.)
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