Are You Building Strong Client Relationships? Learn how brokers and their clients can benefit from effective communication and collaboration.

In the intricate network of the transportation industry, brokers must develop robust relationships with their clients to build a solid foundation for a successful operation. Effective communication and collaboration between brokers and their clients are the cornerstones of a thriving business that brings mutual benefits. Let’s delve into the significance of building strong relationships and explore key strategies to achieve effective communication and collaboration. 

The Importance of Building Strong Client Relationships 

Strategies for Effective Communication and Collaboration 

Collaborative Approaches for Long-Term Success 

Building strong relationships with your clients requires dedication, active engagement, and a genuine commitment to collaboration. Derek Schlecker, Account Executive at Tabi Connect, offers this valuable advice to keep in mind when forming relationships: “Freight brokers must stay close to their shippers because silence often signals trouble. When shippers go quiet, it’s a red flag that something might be off. To truly add value, brokers should always be in the loop, hearing both the good and the bad. Open and honest communication is the lifeblood of a strong shipper partnership.” 

At Tabi, we follow these principles closely, ensuring that our relationships with clients are built on trust, effective communication, and a deep understanding of their needs. We listen to our customers’ needs and work with them to fix the issues specific to their business and help them grow. Success in transportation is a collaborative effort, and strong relationships are the bedrock of that collaboration. Investing in these relationships ensures that the returns will undoubtedly be rewarding. 

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

The essential guide to successful automation by understanding and addressing several factors that impact its effectiveness in five steps.

Automation has become a cornerstone of modern business operations, promising increased efficiency and streamlined processes. However, achieving successful automation requires more than just implementing technology. It involves understanding and addressing several critical factors that impact its effectiveness. Here are five essential considerations for ensuring the success of your automation projects. 

1. Automation Isn’t Set It & Forget It 

A common misconception about automation is that once it is set up, it will operate flawlessly without further intervention. In reality, automation requires ongoing management and optimization. Systems need to be regularly reviewed and updated to adapt to changing business needs, market conditions, and technological advancements. By staying proactive and engaged with the automation process, businesses can ensure that their systems continue to deliver value over time. 

2. User Adoption Begins with User Trust 

For automation to be successful, user adoption is crucial. However, user adoption is not simply about introducing a new tool—it’s about building trust. Users must believe in the reliability and effectiveness of the automation system. This trust is established through transparent communication, effective training, and demonstrating the system’s reliability in real-world scenarios. When users feel confident in the technology, they are more likely to embrace and utilize it fully. 

3. Users Don’t Trust What They Can’t See 

Transparency is a key factor in gaining user trust. Many users struggle to trust automation systems if they cannot see the inner workings or understand the processes behind them. Providing visibility into how automation functions, including real-time data and outputs, helps users gain confidence in the system. When users can observe and verify the system’s performance, they are more likely to trust and rely on it for their daily tasks. 

4. Automation Projects Fail Because They’re Not Owned by Users 

Successful automation projects involve more than just implementing technology—they require user ownership. When automation projects are imposed from the top down without involving end-users, they often face resistance and lack of buy-in. Engaging users early in the process, allowing them to provide input, and ensuring they are actively involved in the implementation can significantly enhance the likelihood of success. Users who feel a sense of ownership are more invested in making the system work effectively. 

5. ROI Extends Much Further Than Time Saved 

The return on investment (ROI) from automation projects is often perceived solely in terms of time saved. However, the benefits of automation extend beyond just efficiency gains. ROI also includes improvements in accuracy, scalability, and overall business agility. By considering the broader impacts of automation, such as enhanced data visibility and the ability to respond swiftly to market changes, businesses can better appreciate the full value of their automation investments. 

Conclusion:

Successfully implementing automation requires more than just installing a system; it involves ensuring ongoing maintenance, building user trust, providing visibility, securing user ownership, and recognizing the full range of benefits. At Tabi Connect, we specialize in helping businesses navigate these complexities and achieve seamless automation. Our solutions are designed to enhance efficiency, boost user adoption, and deliver measurable ROI. If you’re looking to transform your automation processes and unlock their full potential, we’re here to help. Contact us to discover how Tabi Connect can support your automation journey. 

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Learn how support tickets are handled at Tabi Connect to keep your operations smooth and efficient, from initial contact to resolution.

At Tabi Connect, we take customer support seriously because we know it’s important to keep everything running smoothly. Here’s a straightforward look at how we handle support issues.

When You Have a Problem

If something goes wrong, you start by sending us an email with the details. If you’re used to our system, you might use our ticketing system instead, which helps us keep track of all the issues.

First Steps to Fixing the Issue

Our service desk checks out your issue first. If it’s something technical, they send it up to a team that knows more about the problem.

Getting the Right People on It

For big problems, our expert developers, like Adriana and Stacey, step in to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it. They really know their stuff and help sort things out fast.

How We Sort and Fix Problems

We put every problem into categories:

How Long It Takes to Fix Things

We try to fix things quickly:

Keeping Things Running Well

We handle between 24 to 50 tickets each day, with most problems solved in about 34 hours on average. We work hard to fix things fast to keep your business moving without trouble.

Always Getting Better

Every time we help someone, we learn a bit more about how to do things better. We keep track of everything so we can keep improving and make sure our system works well for everyone.

Our Promise

We’re here to make sure your experience is good and that problems get fixed fast. Thanks for choosing Tabi Connect for your business.

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Freight Brokerage Strategy: A step-by-step guide to success and growth for every freight brokerage business

Strategic planning is a fundamental element of a successful freight brokerage business. It involves setting clear goals, developing effective strategies, and outlining specific tactics. Creating a strategic plan tailored to the freight brokerage industry is more straightforward than it may seem, as long as you follow some key steps. In this blog, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide to creating a strategic plan to set your freight brokerage up for long-term success. 

Step 1: Define Your Freight Brokerage Mission and Vision  

The first step in creating a strategic plan for your freight brokerage is to define your mission and vision. Your mission statement should articulate what your brokerage does, who it serves, and how it operates. Scott Hadley, VP of Partnerships at Tabi Connect, emphasizes the importance of this clarity, stating, “As a leader, be honest with yourself and employees through your mission and vision statements. For example, if you state community involvement is a core purpose but do nothing to help better the community, it can have a very negative impact when the company carries that expectation but fails to deliver.” Your vision statement, in contrast, should describe where you aim to position your brokerage in the future. These statements provide the foundation for your strategic plan and guide your decision-making process. 

Mission: Define the core purpose of your freight brokerage. Why does it exist? What value does it bring to shippers and carriers?  

Vision: Envision where you want your freight brokerage to be in the future. What are your long-term goals and aspirations in the logistics industry?  

Step 2: Conduct a SWOT Analysis  

The next step is to conduct a SWOT analysis specific to your freight brokerage. This entails identifying your brokerage’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the logistics market. By doing so, you’ll gain a better understanding of your brokerage’s current position and pinpoint areas for improvement.  

Strengths: Recognize what your brokerage excels at and what differentiates it from the competition.  

Weaknesses: Identify areas where your brokerage needs improvement.  

Opportunities: Explore external factors that can be leveraged for growth and success in the freight brokerage sector.  

Threats: Identify external challenges and potential obstacles to your brokerage’s success.  

Step 3: Set Freight Brokerage Goals and Objectives  

Using your mission, vision, and SWOT analysis as a foundation, you can now set specific goals and objectives for your freight brokerage. It’s crucial to ensure your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). This ensures that they are realistic and attainable.  

SMART goals provide a framework for setting clear and achievable objectives. Each element has its significance:  

Step 4: Develop Freight Brokerage Strategies and Tactics  

Now that your goals and objectives are in place, you can develop strategies and tactics to achieve them. Strategies are broad, long-term approaches that guide decision-making, while tactics are specific, short-term actions that implement your strategies. Scott Hadley advises, “When crafting your strategies and tactics, you must make sure to take internal and external context into account. Strategies and tactics that are not aligned with your company’s systems, skills, and abilities and not willing to invest in those areas to achieve them, or too short-sighted to current market conditions and not taking into account what is coming, you will do more harm than good and set the business up for frustrations, growth stalls, and potential failure.” Here are some examples of strategies and tactics: 

Tactic: Create a carrier retention program, offering incentives and benefits to loyal carriers.  

Tactic: Establish a direct line of communication with preferred carriers to secure capacity during peak demand periods.  

Tactic: Conduct regular feedback sessions with carriers to improve working relationships and address any concerns.  

Tactic: Conduct a comprehensive review of internal processes and identify bottlenecks.  

Tactic: Implement Lean Six Sigma principles to eliminate waste and optimize operations.  

Tactic: Train staff in time management and organizational skills to enhance productivity.  

Step 5: Create a Freight Brokerage Action Plan  

The final step in creating a strategic plan for your freight brokerage is to create an action plan. This plan outlines the steps required to implement your tactics and achieve your goals. It should include task timelines, deadlines, and responsibilities.  

Conclusion:  

By following these five steps, outlined with insights from Scott Hadley, our VP of Partnerships, you can create a tailored strategic plan for your freight brokerage, setting it up for long-term success in the competitive logistics industry. Regularly review and update your plan to ensure its relevance and practicality. With a well-crafted strategic plan, your freight brokerage can easily rise to new heights and achieve its goals in the dynamic world of logistics. 

As a final piece of advice, Scott Hadley stresses the importance of financial discipline: “All of the above will go to waste if you do not practice financial discipline. Markets change and cycles are becoming more unpredictable. When times are good, stash the cash to be insulated when times are tough.” 

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Tabi Connect External Portal makes it easier for your customers to access your rates, while also automating additional costs and margins.

Designed to cater to your customers who seek to retrieve your rates seamlessly, without the need for emails or phone inquiries.

Enhance accessibility to your rates for customers, while also ensuring automated inclusion of additional costs and margins. The external portal provides:

Real-Time Access to Quotes

Shippers can provide brokers with rapid quotes. Decision-making is accelerated, and more competitive pricing is made possible.

Effectiveness and Time Savings

Brokers save time when the quoting process is automated. Brokers can concentrate on other crucial duties by not having to physically contact shippers to request pricing.

Enhanced Precision
Errors that can occur from manual data entering are reduced with automated quotes. This results in fewer errors and more precise pricing.

Enhanced Transparency
Shippers and brokers have same access to pricing data. By doing this, the parties’ confidence is increased and transparency is encouraged.

Scalability
Brokers can handle more quote requests thanks to the API without having to work as hard. Brokers are able to expand their businesses more effectively as a result.

Integration and Personalization
The API can be tailored to meet particular company needs and linked with currently in place systems. This is user-friendly and flexible.

Improved Communication
Better connections and more efficient communication are fostered by having direct access to shippers via the API. Better conditions and more service may result from this.

Analytics and Data Insights
The platform offers insightful data and analytics. This facilitates trend identification, operational optimization, and decision-making for brokers.

Competitive Advantage
Brokers gain a competitive advantage in the market by having access to reliable, real-time quotes. It enables them to provide their customers with better deals.

Cost Savings
The expenses connected with manual quoting procedures are decreased via automation. This enhances cost-effectiveness overall.

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

The Tabi Connect Pilot Program offers brokers and carriers a 30-day free trial on over 60 + different platforms. 

Tabi Connect is offering a special 30-day pilot program for brokers and carriers on over 60 + different platforms.  During this time, we will waive DPD costs so you can see the benefits before you buy.

Pilot Program Details

You can run a 30-day pilot with multiple shippers across different platforms. Thanks to our partnerships with e2open and Blue Yonder, the main API cost is waived. This allows you to test their dynamic API rating and ensure you get a return on investment (ROI) before making a long-term commitment.

Financial Benefits

We offer a special pricing plan where you only pay per shipper connection. This makes it easier for shippers to start using the DPD service and helps more people adopt it.

Key Features

Join Us

Try our pilot program to see how Tabi Connect can improve your business. It’s a risk-free way to test our platform and see the benefits for yourself.

Sign up today and start your 30-day pilot program with Tabi Connect!

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Tabi Connect Team’s Trip to Chicago was an excellent way to show off Tabi Connect’s benefits, catch up with old friends and meet new people.

The trip to Chicago was exciting and hectic for our Tabi Connect crew! Here’s a thorough analysis of our actions:
Our journey began with a meeting with prospective new customers. Derek Schlecker, Brian Pilkinton, and Dan Hellmann were present to demonstrate how Tabi Connect can benefit companies. We gave an example of how our technology can boost revenue, expedite response times, and automate tedious operations. These discussions were an excellent way to show off Tabi Connect’s benefits and investigate new avenues.

We spent time catching up with old friends and acquaintances from work, in addition to meeting new ones. Our current relationships have been strengthened greatly by these meetings. We exchanged information on our most recent advancements and talked about potential future partnerships.

Our trip’s highlight was organizing a Happy Hour at Federales Restaurant. The Tabi Connect team had a terrific opportunity to unwind and spend some time together. We spent a great day getting to know each other, exchanging knowledge, and enjoying ourselves. Laughter and lively discussions filled, the occasion and left a lasting impression on everyone in attendance.

Our getaway to Chicago was a huge success all around. We strengthened our relationships with current friends and contacts and made connections with prospective new clients, among other accomplishments. Our trip was made much more delightful by the social and entertaining element that the Happy Hour event brought to it. We’re really anticipating both our upcoming breaks and more occasions like this one!

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Curious about maximizing margins in freight brokerage? find here how brokers can thrive with effective strategies and insights.

In the fast-paced world of freight brokerage, mastering the art of maximizing margins is essential for sustainable growth and profitability. This blog explores essential strategies and insights that empower brokers to achieve this goal effectively, ensuring they thrive in a dynamic industry environment. 

  1. Balancing Margins Across Customer and Carrier Relationships. This fundamental strategy revolves around balancing margins from both customer and carrier perspectives. The emphasis is on incremental improvements, such as negotiating an additional $10 per load. While this might seem trivial on a per-transaction basis, cumulatively, these small gains significantly enhance overall profitability. 
  1. Utilizing Gamification to Drive Performance. One innovative approach is the use of gamification within brokerage teams. By transforming margin enhancement into a competitive game—where teams are incentivized based on achieving higher margins—brokers can boost motivation and productivity. However, it’s crucial to set realistic targets to maintain team morale and prevent demotivation. 
  1. Harnessing Data for Informed Decision-Making. Data is a critical asset for optimizing negotiation outcomes. Insights derived from analytics enable brokers to uncover trends that impact margins, such as optimal delivery times or cost drivers related to appointment schedules. Armed with this knowledge, brokers can negotiate more effectively and provide strategic insights to customers, thereby strengthening relationships. 
  1. Emphasizing Fundamental Negotiation Skills. The importance of fundamental negotiation skills is underscored for both carrier and customer sales. Effectively communicating value propositions and adherence to structured processes ensures consistency and efficiency across brokerage operations. This approach minimizes the risk of disjointed efforts and promotes a unified strategy towards margin enhancement. 
  1. Adopting a Consultative Approach. A consultative approach to customer relationships is advocated as a means to differentiate brokerage services. By deeply understanding customer needs and offering tailored solutions supported by data insights, brokers can add significant value. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also cultivates long-term loyalty and trust. 
  1. Commitment to Continuous Learning Continuous learning is a cornerstone for success in freight brokerage. Ongoing training, workshops, and access to industry resources empower teams to stay abreast of best practices and market dynamics. This commitment to skill development ensures brokers are well-equipped to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities in an evolving marketplace. 

Conclusion: Strategies for Sustainable Growth 

In conclusion, achieving sustainable margin growth in freight brokerage demands a holistic approach. By integrating strategic negotiation, data-driven decision-making, fundamental skill development and a consultative customer focus, brokers can optimize profitability and foster a culture of innovation within their teams. 

Brokers who implement these proven strategies and insights position themselves for long-term success and resilience in a competitive industry landscape and, as they continue to refine these approaches, are better equipped to effectively meet the dynamic demands of the freight brokerage market. 

For more information on how technology solutions can transform your business, schedule a call here, visit our website here or send us an email to sales@tabiconnect.com !

Golf with Tabi Connect at the Denver Transportation Club! Check-in with our team to see how you can also hit the links and have fun with us.

Prepare yourself for an enjoyable round of golf with us on June 27th at the Denver Transportation Club Golf Tournament, sponsored by Tabi Connect! It would be great to see you there. Make sure to locate our team and say hello when you get here. This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone in the transportation industry to step out of the office and enjoy a day on the golf course.

Dan Hellmann from Tabi Connect team will be there, and we’re looking forward to meeting you. When you arrive, make sure to check in with us. We’d love to chat about how our services can benefit your business.

These golf tournaments offer an excellent opportunity to unwind, socialize, and discuss work in a relaxed atmosphere. Whether you’re a skilled player or just having a nice time, this is a great opportunity to socialize and learn more about Tabi Connect.

It’s all about having fun and coming up with fresh ideas for collaboration. So get your golf clubs and come spend a day focused on having fun and having meaningful talks.

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!

Tabi Connect at TIA Capital Ideas was a success. We met old friends, made new connections, and had a blast at the golf event.

The Tabi Connect team had a fantastic experience at the TIA Capital Ideas Conference in 2024! We met up with some old friends and made some new ones at the great event. We also had a great time at the golf outing, which was a nice diversion from the hectic conference agenda.

We participated in a number of workshops where we gained fresh perspectives and knowledge to apply back to our team. It was wonderful to see so many individuals committed to improving the logistics sector.

This is a way for us to talk more about the conference we attended, the people we met, and the things we learned in this blog post. We appreciate your presence as we reflect on the TIA Capital Ideas 2024!

Schedule a call here to learn more about this or visit our website here!