In a recent webinar hosted by Adrian Gonzalez of Talking Logistics, Trucker Tools’ founder and CEO Prasad Gollapalli joined Russ Felker, CTO of GlobalTranz, to discuss how GlobalTranz has prioritized the enhancement of shipper and carrier relationships with its digital transformation efforts with Trucker Tools’ technology. The webinar, entitled Scaling Your Technology Up to Enhance Customer Engagement, includes insights on how GlobalTranz has leveraged this technology to build stronger customer relationships and offer value to carriers. In the webinar, the panel also delved into what strategies you should employ as a broker or 3PL when choosing a technology vendor.
Make Customer, Carrier Relationships a Top Focus
GlobalTranz is a full service transportation and logistics provider that has been named a top 10 third-party logistics provider by Inbound Logistics for several consecutive years in a row. The company offers multimodal shipping and managed logistics services to its 25,000+ shipper customers. According to Felker, the company has always been focused on leading through technology and using technology to improve environments for shippers, carriers and staff.
“Working across brokerage and managed transportation, we really want to become that fourth party, outsourced logistics provider for our customers,” said Felker. “That’s forced us to take a deeper look at technology and how we can leverage technology across different activities to bring a better experience to our customers, carriers and partners. We’ve been doing a lot of that over the last year, especially.”
“Working across brokerage and managed transportation, we really want to become that fourth party, outsourced logistics provider for our customers,” said Felker. “That’s forced us to take a deeper look at technology and how we can leverage technology across different activities to bring a better experience to our customers, carriers and partners. We’ve been doing a lot of that over the last year, especially.”
Prioritize Technology That Will Create Value
Today and in the Future
In the webinar, Felker shared that GlobalTranz considers two things when making decisions about technology: what’s the short-term value created by implementing the technology and what long-term impacts will the technology have on operations and partners. Instead of being solely focused on immediate cost-savings, you must also think about how your technology choices today will affect your business and your relationships with shippers and carriers in the future, says Felker.
“ROI (return on investment) was always your bell weather for prioritizing technology in the past, but there’s been a change that’s come into clearer focus,” Felker said. “There’s been a lot of things that people have invested in and have prioritized over the years that have had a very top line, obvious front-facing value. But you also have to look at other things that don’t necessarily translate right to ‘I saved this amount of time for this person or this amount of money.’ There are new ways of using technology and applying that technology to get better outcomes for everybody. Companies have started to recognize that those underlying investments are some of the things that have to be prioritized alongside of the front facing things that you can’t ignore either. You have to ask, ‘Where is the value being created and how do I make sure that I’m not just creating value today, but setting myself up to create value later?’”
Choose a Tech Vendor Whose Trajectory Will Match
Yours
The panel also discussed how important it is for brokers and 3PLs to choose the right technology partner. According to Felker, GlobalTranz has partnered with Trucker Tools in part due to Trucker Tools’ ability to not only provide data points, but also to help the company and its partners understand the broader context of what’s happening in their supply chains. With Trucker Tools, GlobalTranz can easily share information with shippers and carriers that helps each optimize their operations for greater success.
According to Gollapalli, starting a new partnership with a technology vendor should include talking openly about your goals and learning more about the technology company’s roadmap for the future. You must ensure that your long-term plans align with the technology vendor’s long-term plans if you want it to be a lasting, productive relationship and investment.
“Like any relationship, it’s not going to be perfect,” Gollapalli shared. “When you’re a broker choosing a technology vendor, you have to remember that you’re both moving targets. A broker is growing and their requirements are changing and the technology solution is evolving. If you look at them in a stand still moment, they might be perfect, but as both evolve, it has to stay perfect. That is the key.”
“Like any relationship, it’s not going to be perfect,” Gollapalli shared. “When you’re a broker choosing a technology vendor, you have to remember that you’re both moving targets. A broker is growing and their requirements are changing and the technology solution is evolving. If you look at them in a stand still moment, they might be perfect, but as both evolve, it has to stay perfect. That is the key.”
Gollapalli recommends creating touchpoints with technology partners to encourage ongoing communication and make certain that your interests remain aligned. This should include conversations on a regular basis about what’s working and what’s not about the partnership and solution(s) provided. Gollapalli said that these recurring communications help the technology vendor know where to add new tools, make new investments in technology and increase support — which ultimately creates value for you in the future.
For more on the webinar, read Scaling Your Technology Up to Enhance Customer Engagement.
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