LinkedIn brings in new business for freight industry

More than 85% of the global freight industry professionals surveyed by FTW have said that correctly using tools provided on the professional networking sight, LinkedIn, can lead to identifying new business opportunities – and in some cases, even directly generating sales from leads identified via groups on the site. “I have made a few big sales for our company from LinkedIn leads generated from my network of 5 300+ top managers and directors, local and international,” said Winfreight and Warehouse’s Mike Shraga. But he adds that he is not convinced that the logistics industry in general knows how to make full use of the site. Another anonymous LinkedIn user says he doesn’t believe the freight industry in South Africa has caught on to the social media phenomenon in general and believes those who are on the site are not using it optimally. Rena Cockayne from World Class Shipping (WCS) says the company uses the platform to connect with people, both personal and professional, who share the same interests. “We also use it to find reliable and trustworthy agents in other countries to facilitate our shipping consignments and build new connections,” she said. Her company also uses the site for news updates. “Recruitment is what LinkedIn is best for – both for job seeking and finding candidates – plus seeing what your industry peers are up to and what new projects are on the cards,” says Joel Higgins of Bellville Rodair International. Mach Trade Wings says knowledge-sharing on LinkedIn could be a powerful tool for the industry. “We mostly use it to identify agents we would like to interact with, depending on our requirements at the time but that seems to be a very limited, constrained use of the platform.” The downside At least 50% of users polled lamented the fact that while industry groups did offer great networking opportunities and a platform for sharing information, they became frustrated with the shameless “business punting and advertising” in which many group users participated. • NOTE: FTW has started the Southern African Freight & Trading Community page to be used as an open forum where key industry issues affecting importers, exporters and their service providers can be discussed, debated and shared. We’d love to hear your views on this and other articles in this week’s FTW. CAPTION FTW has started the Southern African Freight & Trading Community page on LinkedIn to be used as an open forum.