How Auto Transport Brokers Can Prepare for 2023

As the new year begins, now is the optimal time to step things up with one’s business and re-evaluate what is working well and what may need some additional care or attention. With an increasingly competitive marketplace, brokers need to do everything in their power if they want to earn the business of auto auctions and dealerships. With that said, even the most successful businesses in the industry aren’t perfect, as there is always some room for improvement. Here are a few strategies that auto transport brokers can try to help prepare for 2023!

Level-up Your Marketing

In our modern tech-driven world, all successful businesses should have an online presence of some sort, regardless of the industry. A website and social media are must-haves, as well as branding.

But a large part of effective marketing is through providing value to your customers, even before they purchase your service or product. This can be achieved through an online blog as well as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on your website. By creating content that provides customers’ commonly asked questions and concerns, it will help establish your business as trusted. And of course, whenever you create content, be sure to include some sort of call to action (CTA) at the bottom of the page. Alongside this content, you should provide customer testimonials, which will help solidify your business as credible and trustworthy.

Strengthen Your Network of Carriers

You’re really only as good as the Carriers that you work with – if you constantly find yourself working with car haulers that are late to pickups and deliveries, are unresponsive, or otherwise behave unprofessionally, drop them and the platform you find them on. Sub-par Carriers reflect poorly on yourself and your business as a whole, and could have a negative impact on your brokerage. Instead, work with Carriers who prove themselves to be more responsible.

This could very well mean switching to an entirely different load board. While cheaper load boards certainly allow your business to save money, working with lesser experienced or unvetted Carriers could do more harm in the long run. For example, Central Dispatch lacks any true vetting policy; users can simply upload documents to the platform without ever being checked. Users are also capable of leaving reviews without a proof of a translation in the system, which makes reviews on the platform untrustworthy. 

On the other hand, Super Loadboard is far more trustworthy, as it features a more in-depth rating system, a large pool of Verified drivers who have been pre-vetted, and a great marketplace for growing your network of Carriers quickly and effectively.

Creating an Amazon-Like Experience

Fine-tuning the customer experience is a fundamental part of all delivery services, regardless of what you’re shipping. And with businesses like Amazon setting the bar exceedingly high for customer service quality, the need to build an experience for customers is now no longer a specialty but an expectation. Thankfully, advanced TMS platforms like Super Dispatch feature some highly advanced tools that can allow your business to provide a higher level experience than ever before.

Your business can provide a great customer experience through the use of customer portals, which allows the customer to view details related to their orders, and even regularly check on their delivery status. Sharable GPS tracking links can also improve your customer experience by allowing customers to view the locations of their orders. Additionally, Super Dispatch also has an advanced inspection photos feature, which allows customers to file damage claims with ease.

Upgrade to an Advanced TMS

Transportation Management Systems are pretty much a requirement for any auto transport broker in 2023, but not all TMS software is built equal. If you’ve been using the same system for years and it seems like it just isn’t cutting it anymore, then it might be time to upgrade your software. Great TMS software should allow you to easily and effectively manage and track your loads, offer powerful API integrations in order to maximize your efficiency, and decrease manual workflow.

Not all TMS software is capable of this, as many systems are fairly outdated and lack the same level of polish and functionality. If you have any doubts at all about your TMS software, then consider upgrading ASAP.

Super Dispatch’s all-in-one platform is one of the most advanced and feature-rich systems on the market, packing in both an advanced Shipper TMS and load board into one single package. Request a demo today to try it out for yourself!

Published on December 27, 2022