Forwarder offers travel incentive for volume shipments

‘The more you ship the more points you accumulate’ Leonard Neill THE FREQUENT Flyer concept has moved into clearing and forwarding with the introduction of a Frequent Shipper programme by Broli International. “We find in every walk of business life people want some sort of incentive to do the job better. So we struck on this idea of a points system which we allocate to consignments handled on behalf of our clients which earns them special travel arrangements,” says Peter Broli, chief of the East Rand company. There are no discounts on freight charges, he insists. Rather, companies enjoy the ongoing benefits of the programme he devised with wife Deirdre, a former SAA air hostess who also worked in the forwarding industry before joining her husband’s company “It’s a simple basis. The more you export or import through our service, the more points you accumulate. That adds up to rewards in the form of air tickets which come out of our company’s coffers.” Quarterly statements are dispatched to clients who have accounts with the Broli group, advising them of their points. The company, which started in 1998, launched the new incentive programme in November and reports good response from clients to date. “We find that good rates are one factor of this business, but nothing is greater than good service and this is what is impressed upon our staff, which now numbers 12, at regular meetings,” says Broli. He started the company when a contact at Plascon Paints suggested that his wife go into forwarding on her own rather than work for another organisation. “We took the cue from them and have served them ever since.” Situated in Benoni North, the company has a shared warehouse facility in Pomona with 800sqm of space available. It is shared with a packaging company which can assist with the repacking of parcels that have not been satisfactorily secured.