A container agent is a person who acts as an intermediary between shippers and carriers. Apart from acting as an intermediary, the agent davenport laroche is also responsible for arranging for a good rate, fast delivery of goods, transportation charges, proper loading and unloading of stock, documentation and all the paper work related to consignment. To be a freight agent is undoubtedly a challenging job because it requires special skill set and overcoming day-to-day challenges that you encounter on and off the seaport.
Pre-requisites to become a Container agent:
Gain some inter personal and general skills:
- In order to be an established agent, it is essential that you possess some basic skills just like in any other field. Basic mathematics skills like easy calculation of additions, multiplications, divisions and some fundamental reasoning about profits and losses should be mandatory as these are the things that one will have to use on a regular basis.
- Also other skills like basic business handling like attracting customers , pleasing them with sweet gestures, problem solving tactics in case of issues, constant up gradations of market, good knowledge of market ups and downs and above all a restless endeavour for perfection are the basic etiquette for any successful business.
Communication skills:
Large parts of your operations are done by phone or email these days. Hence good communication plays a vital role in maintaining good relations with customers. It is common to have various kinds of customers and to have mixed experiences with them. But an ideal business person forecasts all these problems and tries to resolve them with his/her decent communication skills.
Attend classes: There are institutes offering freight brokerage classes in many cities. Try to attend to some in order to possess the actual credentials of the job. Some Freight brokerage schools like Freight Broker Boot camp and Transportation Training Group organise freight training coaching classes
Select a company: Registering your company is a crucial process as it requires lot of legal procedures. To know whether the name you have chosen already exists enquire with US patent office or Trademarks office.
Apart from the above, finding good carriers, getting broker authority and developing a strong business plan also help you in becoming a strong agent.