Backsolicitation

I think the practice is less than ethical. It's one thing for sales staff to be engaging with customers and offering services out, but when one works as a subcontractor for another party, there is an implied agreement of confidentiality. Those rules have to be respected.
 
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As follow up. The Owner was going to "interview" the driver and get back to us. No response as of yet. I am thinking this is an admission of guilt as if he was innocent he would have gotten back ASAP but he knows he was caught "red handed" and the situation has back fired on him. What really drives me mad is there was no reason for this at all. He was paid exactly what he requested and we gave him first right of refusal on every one that came up. We work hard to build relationships ( as noted by the customer calling us to let us know what was going on ) and he just threw it all away. Very frustrating.
 
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Do all the right things and protect yourself with your clients and carriers, go out and visit your carriers, make them your partners in business. There will always be those days your go to guys are booked and you have to use someone new, be fair and hopefully you will be treated same back and no matter what the time crunch is DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE.

Double brokers; back door soliciting will not go away someone will always try the easy path. All you can do is protect yourself best you can and run an ethical business and hopefully your customers will stay with you.

Don't waste your time and energy on carriers or brokers or customers they are not; find new ones that are!

All's fair in love and war, enjoy the battle fields folks!

Cheers
 
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Rob said:
So shall us carriers put the names out of brokers who are into our direct customers on a weekly basis trying to take our customer freight away by dropping cards and packages saying how much better they could service them?
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that's called fair competition, it's not a lead they got from you, they just got it. when you send a truck in, then that lead should not be worked by the carrier...

as for working with other brokers, that's a relationship game, and I know you don't understand it, but it works when well executed and people are on the up & up.
 
We keep on talking about that carrier that back-solicited from your Customer, but you must have one hell of a good Relationship with him to actually call you and say that the ''Carrier'' asked him for freight directly.
 
Yes we have a great working relationship. We look after them and they look after us. We have been with this customer for years and they are not only loyal, they are very ethical too and they were put off by the unethical behavior of the carrier so looks doubly bad on them.
 
Rob said:
Mike,

Small companies like myself the owners dispatch buy and sell freight load, drive, bill, safety and compliance ect etc.

All of my drivers have business cards for myself and my brother.

The cards are for people that ask for them that are looking for jobs or if the driver has a problem they are instructed to keep there mouths shut hand them a card and say call this number.

They are not to back solicit as in all honesty I really do not want to deal with a customer that is all about rate the same as if a brokers first question is rate then chances are I will not be dealing with them.
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Thanks Rob, this is exactly what I was trying to convey earlier, that it's not uncommon for drivers to be handing out the owners business cards. Our drivers all carry my card, BUT, we also explain and make it very clear when it is, and when it isn't acceptable to be handing over a card to somebody.
 
The question here was "What would you do?"

If you feel and truly believe that they made a blatant attempt to swipe the future freight out from under your control.

If they make no effort to repair any of the relationship between you. Rest assured, they'll do it again. If that's the case; add them to your DNU / Block them on the Link / Out them here (if you choose but members will hopefully form their own opinions of the carrier based on their own experiences).

If they do attempt to repair the damage... perhaps they deserve a second chance (but that lies with you and whomever is your superior).

That's where I'd be at on this.
 
In a perfect ethical world all parties (brokers, carriers, shippers, recievers,drivers,salesmen) would all play by the same rules. But we all know thats not the case. It all omes down to relationships and whether you want to build them or kill them.
Ethics sometimes take a back seat to dollars for some people.
 
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Well morning Folks....no reply and it's been a week so I guess he doesn't care about the issue. If you want the possibility of back solicitation give your freight to Randy at Newmarket Equipment.
PR
 
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As a small carrier I can see how big the problem is for a broker. When I was driving I was doing everything possible to be as nice and polite with the customer. If a broker doesn't want me to call the customer and get into some kind of relationship with him, he doesn't put his number on the confirmation amd does all the arrangements. Some people don't do their job properly so I have to do it. And what can I do if for the next load they call me directly?
 
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Back soliciting only harms the carrier. Here is why.

-For argument sake, let's say the broker in question gives the carrier in question 20k per year in revenue
-The shipper in question ships 20k per year for this particular lane that is being back solicited
-The shipper lets the broker know about the back solicitation if they have a good relationship
-The broker does not use the carrier anymore and the carrier now loses 20k of business per year going forward from the broker.
-If the shipper accepts the back solicitation...guess what! The next carrier that comes along a month later with a better rate gets the business.
-Now the carrier is left with nothing. He loses the broker's business and the shipper's business. Times this by the many times the carrier has back solicited and he is left with a poor reputation and a dwindling business.
 
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Freight,

While I agree I must add it hurts everyone because it drivers rates down. The last thing the industry as a whole needs is rate cutting but it still happens everyday. I just wish brokers and carriers alike would tell these shippers that are constantly looking for rates on every lane every time the load goes to go pound salt. But alas that will not happen because the rate shopping brokers of the world seem to like driving me nuts calling me asking for pricing on the same lane time and time again. I guess they think I will have a relapse or moment of weakness!!
 
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Freight17 said:
Back soliciting only harms the carrier. Here is why.

-For argument sake, let's say the broker in question gives the carrier in question 20k per year in revenue
-The shipper in question ships 20k per year for this particular lane that is being back solicited
-The shipper lets the broker know about the back solicitation if they have a good relationship
-The broker does not use the carrier anymore and the carrier now loses 20k of business per year going forward from the broker.
-If the shipper accepts the back solicitation...guess what! The next carrier that comes along a month later with a better rate gets the business.
-Now the carrier is left with nothing. He loses the broker's business and the shipper's business. Times this by the many times the carrier has back solicited and he is left with a poor reputation and a dwindling business.
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when you sell on price you end up losing on price. as you wrote, it's a lose-lose for everyone.
 
When a broker sends us a laundry list of destinations to price out our response is you tell us what you are paying and we will tell you if that works for us. A lot of them do not like it but we know we are not going to be the cheapest (also not the most expensive) so we see no freight for work that in reality they should be able to price themselves. Which if you do not already know what the rate to Atlanta or Indy or Philly is then really you should not be in this business.
 
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Shippers are constantly looking for cheaper rates. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been approached for rates on a load/ lane just delivered. If the broker is in good standing I just tell them I'm happy working for the broker BECAUSE I don't back solicit, they usually reply with this has nothing to do with the broker I'm ( customer) asking you direct. My price if quoted is usually way higher than they're presently paying and they walk away mumbling. My drivers where always told don't back-solicit but if customer asks for a card give them one and tell them can call us for rates. More often than not it's the shipper/receiver stirring the pot not the carrier. Just My Two Cents
 
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When there is back-solicitation that is being engaged by the shipper/receiver, it actually reflects most badly on the shipper/receiver ... I agree. But confidentiality has to be kept.
 
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