Mainfreight: Understanding the Air & Ocean Division

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Thanks for joining. I'm eager to gain a deeper understanding of Mainfreight's Air & Ocean division. Let's start with a simple question. You arrive in the US to start this division and I'm your first customer, how would you approach doing business with me?

The first challenge was explaining who we are to customers. Not many people had heard of Mainfreight, and I assume that's still the case. It was strange for me because everyone knew Mainfreight in New Zealand. Not many people knew it was a global company, but they certainly knew it as a business. So, the first challenge was explaining who we are. Then, it was about proving ourselves and getting a chance. Usually, this was done through rates. In this business, you try not to sell rates but service. You try to convince customers that we're a better company and that we'll do more for them. But at the end of the day, especially in the early days, we had to offer the right rate to attract customers, prove our value, and then try to increase the margin.

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You gather freight data and notice there is some freight that is interesting. Let's consider a more challenging example where you haven't been introduced by an existing client. What happens next?

Our approach is about offering a point of difference, a unique selling proposition. For us, that revolves around our team. We have always been clear that we may not be the cheapest option, and we don't aim to be.

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You gather freight data and notice there is some freight that is interesting. Let's consider a more challenging example where you haven't been introduced by an existing client. What happens next?

Carriers enjoy dealing with Mainfreight because we're not a large German forwarder. We ensure there's a real person behind the phone and email for the customer. We tailor our reporting to the customer's needs. Essentially, we strive to do everything that our larger competitors don't. We found that customers who switched to us from larger competitors didn't appreciate being just another cog in their machine. They were forced to fit into a pre-existing box. We, on the other hand, were happy to create a bespoke solution for the customer, and we were nimble enough to do so.

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