The Client

The Client is a Singapore-based third-party logistics (3PL) provider that offers warehousing, distribution, transportation, and freight management services primarily to freight forwarders and shippers. The company also provides value-added services including crating, labeling, sorting, sub-assembly, and fumigation.

The Challenge

Third-party logistics (3PL) is the process of outsourcing part or all of a business’s supply chain and logistics operations to another company. As supply chains become more complex, many shippers now find it more cost-effective to work with 3PL service providers that take care of transport, warehousing, customs brokerage, and freight forwarding—instead of doing these activities in-house.

In Singapore, the 3PL market makes up over $3 billion (or 12%) of the country’s logistics industry, with the majority of providers competing in saturated segments such as automotive, retail, and electronics. For its part, the Client chiefly targets international freight forwarders and shippers from a wide range of industries.

As part of its effort to improve the company’s market position, the Client looked into expanding the outbound component of its customer acquisition program. The bulk of its lead generation initiatives were mostly tied up in inbound tactics, but the Client wanted a more proactive approach and a bigger role for outbound in its marketing mix.

The Client teamed up with Callbox to deploy an outbound prospecting program that would complement the company’s current marketing efforts. Under its existing strategy, the Client averaged 8 to 10 appointments each month, and the company wanted Callbox’s help to develop a new lead source and increase the flow of qualified prospects into their pipeline.

The Callbox Solution

Callbox and the Client worked out a plan for a three-month appointment setting campaign. The strategy implemented an outreach cadence that combined targeted email touches and live phone conversations with the main goal of identifying and scheduling qualified prospects for an introductory meeting with the company’s reps.

Appointment Setting

1. Callbox helped the Client refine its target customer profile and ideal decision makers so that the Callbox team could compile a complete and accurate campaign contact list.
2. Calling agents received basic product training on the Client’s specialized logistics solutions, since the Client wanted the team to gain some level of technical familiarity with its offerings.
3. Callbox and the Client put together the call script which was tailored to identify fit and to generate in-person/phone meetings with qualified prospects.

Email Marketing

1. The campaign relied on targeted emails to initiate contact and to nurture prospects throughout the outreach cycle.
2. Emails helped the campaign team prioritize which prospects to engage and to maximize conversions through timely responses.
3. Callbox crafted and tested the templates, landing pages, and other campaign materials used in email marketing. The team maintained delivery, open, click-through, and bounce rates within the set benchmarks.

Results

The three-month campaign met all the Client’s expectations, particularly in terms of the number of qualified appointments delivered and net new prospects added into the Client’s pipeline:

• 45 qualified appointments
• 193 marketing-qualified leads (MQLs)
• 24 sales-qualified leads (SQLs)

The first few touches in the campaign were spent warming up the target prospects and learning about their current logistics processes. Accordingly, it was only near the end of the first month when the campaign started converting prospects into leads and appointments.

The 45 total appointments generated in the three-month outbound campaign meant that the Client’s reps were now handling 2.5 times more sales meetings. The Client was very pleased with the results that they renewed for another campaign, targeting freight forwarders and shippers outside of Singapore.

At time of writing, the new campaign is in its 6th month, and the Client has added Callbox as a long-term marketing partner for its outbound prospecting initiatives.