Transparency is the bedrock for good business, especially in the logistics space where consultants’ fees are based entirely on a shared-savings model. Most consultants lack the tools and sophisticated technology to support doing business the right way. Instead, they end up billing the total amount of refunds or report the total amount of savings. This surface-level reporting prevents the shipper from getting a fair look at its savings and making proper carrier agreement adjustments.
The market is saturated with consultants that are unable to properly calculate the true savings secured for services like contract negotiation, modal optimization, and carrier agreement compliance. Are you experiencing this service currently? If you are, there’s still hope.
Check out the reasons why you should think twice before paying that logistics invoice.
Why you should think twice before paying your logistics consulting invoice
Better terms
Most auditors and consultants have rigid terms set in place for their parcel managed services. Share A Refund understands that companies need flexible terms that meet specific business objectives. It’s a priority at Share A Refund for the customer to decide the pricing structure that makes sense for their business.
Customers can choose between fixed-fee or performance-based pricing for the Carrier Agreement Optimization service. The performance-based pricing option includes split of the savings that are discussed and agreed upon between Share A Refund and the customer. The fixed-fee is a set amount that’s paid each month. Of course, all fees are based on the added savings secured. There are no made up numbers here. There’s evidence of every savings, down to the penny.
Invoicing plays another role in proper carrier agreement optimization. When it comes to invoicing, are you invoiced according to changes in billed, actual, dimensional or minimum weight? If so the consultant must provide a report of changes in billed type, list weight, and discounts on every single shipment. Can your consultant furnish reports that showcase this amount of detail? If your consultant is struggling to provide comprehensive reports, don’t pay that invoice!
Read more: Why shippers choose Share A Refund
Superior data manipulation
Spreadsheets won’t cut it anymore. It’s a major red flag if the consultant uses spreadsheets to show changes in spend. The complex analysis required to evaluate the financial impact of even the most minor change in a carrier contract exceeds the capabilities of Excel. Excel can’t decipher data to the extent that Share A Refund can.
Share A Refund developed proprietary software from years of experience in the logistics industry. Accessing, manipulating and computing data at this level is hard to duplicate by other auditors. If spreadsheets are the basis of analysis and consulting advice, don’t pay that invoice.
Better cross-carrier analysis
Share A Refund has engineered thousands of shipping profiles and related carrier agreements. The Share A Refund Auditing Team has exposure to every carrier contract under the sun. Most consultants don’t have the capacity to perform a robust cross-carrier analysis. They lack the data and skills to be able to compare a current UPS contract to FedEx contract rates.
Share A Refund takes a deep dive into your shipping profile categorizing each transportation charge by service type, weight, zone distribution, number of packages shipped, list rate, observed rate, and other components. These transportation charges are then leveraged to show you potential UPS and FedEx agreements.
Flexible project engagement
A three-way NDA is a recommended best practice when three different companies are involved in business discussions. This allows all parties involved in the negotiations and confidential discussions the assurance that information disclosed will not be used improperly. Some auditors prefer to hide in the dark and avoid signing a three-way NDA. Share A Refund doesn’t operate that way. If your auditor refuses to sign a three-way NDA, you might want to consider finding an auditor that champions transparency.
Savings Report by cost component
Do you receive a summary of savings or do you receive a report of savings by cost component for every single shipment? There is a massive difference between the two.
Example report from another auditor
Example Savings Report from Share A Refund
Do you notice the difference? Savings should be acutely itemized, not collectively lumped together. Because carriers invoice according to each component cost billed to a shipment (such as transportation charges, fuel surcharges, and accessorials) the auditor should offer the same level of detail. Each line is a potential for savings in Carrier Agreement Optimization and must be assessed individually, on a per line items basis, to calculate the savings secured on a given shipment.
The sophisticated technology built into Share A Refund details savings by cost component billed to each shipment, which gives you full transparency on how much savings was realized to the penny on any component charge. No two shipments are treated alike with Share A Refund. Other consultants don’t want their customers to decipher where the savings are coming from. Do you have proof of savings in meticulous detail? If the consultant doesn’t report savings by cost component on each and every single shipment, don’t pay that invoice!
Share A Refund is the solution for shipping smarter
If you are a shipper that receives a monthly invoice for thousands of dollars from a logistics consultant without the granular details on the origin of savings, you deserve better. Logistics consultants use faulty math in their calculations and, because proof of individual savings are not readily available, you are left being charged unfairly.
Hidden agendas don’t exist at Share A Refund. Prevent your business from becoming a target of a consultant’s excessive service fees and overcharges. Share A Refund shows companies exactly what should be paid on existing transportation management contracts and how to reduce spend with the tools and experience needed to manage scaled parcel networks like a champion.
