Is your freight dispatcher business in the growth or expansion mode? If so, it’s time to check the performance of your company overall. If you do not have a business plan, consider this freight dispatcher business plan as a comprehensive guide. Metrics, which are the performance indicators of a business, are essential to understand where your business is moving forward and where it might need improvements. Following are key metrics for your freight dispatch business:
1. Sales Revenue
One of the crucial metrics to measure is that of revenue generated by the freight dispatcher business. This is an evaluation of sales that demonstrates how your freight dispatcher services are performing and whether those efforts are successful. The measurement of this metric is found in calculating the income from client purchases minus the cost associated with undeliverable services. If sales revenue is low in comparison to the losses incurred, you’ll want to consider making improvements.
How to Improve: If improvement is needed to raise sales revenue, increase the number of sales via expanding marketing strategies, increasing sales staff or offering discounts to entice clients to buy (although this is a risky strategy lest the clients expect the lower threshold going forward).
2. Gross Margin
This measurement is one that indicates how much of each dollar goes toward profit and other expenses or costs. It can be calculated by subtracting the cost of services from the total sales revenue. Divide the resulting number by the total sales revenue to get the percentage indicator of a high or low profit margin.
How to Improve: If your results indicate a low profit margin, below 50% for example, you’ll want to consider increasing profitability by lowering the cost of your services or increasing your sales prices.
3. Net Profit Margin
This essential metric indicates whether a business can generate profits in contrast to its revenue. To obtain an accurate picture of this metric, subtract all sales expenses for one month from the monthly revenue in the same month to determine the profit earned that month.
How to Improve: If you need to improve your net profit margin, you’ll want to consider long-term growth as your goal. Either increase the revenue or lower the cost of production or sales.
4. Website Traffic
Measuring the number of visitors to your website will depend on how much your freight dispatcher business relies on online services. If clients are making reservations or purchasing services online, you’ll certainly want to measure this metric. To calculate, you’ll track your website traffic for one month (use a marketing tool to do so). Compare the total amount of traffic against the new customers obtained during the same month. To optimize your online presence, it’s essential to regularly analyze website traffic using tools to monitor the performance of websites, helping you make informed decisions about content and user experience improvements.
How to Improve: There are a few ways to improve your website traffic, if your business is handled online. You may want to consider improving the search engine optimization (SEO) keywords on your site, enhance the website functionality, or increase the budget for social media marketing.
5. Lead Conversion Rate
This interesting metric measures the number of contacts by potential clients via the website, email or phone that turn into purchasers of your freight dispatcher services. If leads or conversations aren’t being converted into sales, consider improving your services overall.
How to Improve: Step up your service offerings, build an excellent sales staff, improve your website, improve dispatching processes.
6. Customer Acquisition Cost
New customers are sometimes acquired through sales efforts, marketing campaigns or simply by word of mouth. In the freight dispatcher industry, client referrals and excellent communication services are two ways dispatchers acquire new customers. To measure this metric, calculate the cost by dividing the marketing expenses for a month by how many new clients the company acquired during that same month.
How to Improve: If your business needs to improve in acquiring new customers, you’ll want to consider training or retraining staff members to increase the service levels offered. Leads who can become customers are to be carefully encouraged by the communication offered. If needed, work to improve the marketing campaigns and new customer encouragements.
7. Employee Satisfaction
Interestingly, one of the most compelling measurements is found in anonymous surveys or polls presented to staff members. If employees offer low scores for the freight dispatcher service overall, changes need to be made to encourage them.
How to Improve: Encourage all employees to attend training for customer service. Increase the sales staff and employ trainers who can properly direct staff to move from making the sales offer to closing the sales offer.
These seven indicators or metrics will offer the information needed for your freight dispatcher business to learn whether profits are high, employees are satisfied, customers are returning or these areas need improvement. Either way, the company will have the opportunity to improve and that’s what takes a company to long-term growth.
