“How can this deep-dive cost nothing?”
Welcome to “how can this thing cost nothing,” the second in our two-part blog series describing IL2000’s unique approach to supply chain analysis. In the first blog post, we talked about the process. We explained what happens during an IL2000 supply chain analysis and what it can do for you. If you haven’t read that yet, you’ll find it here. It’s useful info (not that we’re biased or anything).
In our last thrilling episode
In the last thrilling blog post, we described what happens during IL2000’s supply chain analysis process. Please indulge us with a three-point recap (we’d add some harp music and a fuzzy camera filter here, but that’d blow our marketing budget, so you’ll just have to use your imagination):
1. This analysis is a huge undertaking
Think hundreds of hours. A team of veteran supply chain experts will invest real energy and real-time into your freight operation to gain a clear and strategic vision of how your supply chain operates now, and how it could operate in a perfectly optimized logistics universe.
2. You get a real freight savings estimate at the end of it
At the end of that analysis, we’ll give you a freight savings dollar figure. Big whoop, you may be thinking, we can get that from any 3PL with a five-buck skillset and a ten-buck website. The difference is that our number isn’t some wibbly wobbly estimate and an oily grin. We give you a legit projected freight savings figure based on real data. And we’ll guarantee those realized savings in a contract. Other 3PLs can’t give you an absolutely known quantity. We absolutely can.
3. And you get something more: insight
More than a dollar figure, though, we offer you deep insight. Our team will prepare a comprehensive transportation optimization plan for your company that will unlock achievable efficiency gains across the length and breadth of your company’s operations.
Take a look at our BI white paper to learn more about how IL2000 transforms data into insight into clarity.
Nutshelling it
So let’s distill that down to a nutritious tripartite nugget of refined crystalline understanding. With IL2000’s supply chain analysis, you get:
Vast industry expertise locked on you.
A quantified guarantee of actual freight savings.
An actionable plan to fundamentally transform your supply chain.
Let’s Talk Turkey. How is all that free?
And here’s where we get to the bit that, quite frankly, confuses the helicopters out of many companies when they first fire up a conversation with us.
^^^ All of that stuff up there? ^^^ You get it at no cost, and with no obligation.
Without a hint of hype, a typical supply chain analysis for a smaller potential client will cost IL2000 something close to $20,000. For a large company with a complex supply chain, our outlay gets closer to six figures. And, of course, because you’re a sensible reader seeking sensible solutions, your likely first reaction to this “free” claim of ours is staunch skepticism. How could that possibly cost nothing? What’s the catch? What’s the trick?
The trick is that there is no trick.
We need to perform this analysis for three critical and overlapping reasons.
- The data we derive from this analysis is the only way we can prove to you, our potential client, that we can deliver dollar results for you that no other 3PL can touch.
- Our analysis gives us supreme confidence in quantifying exactly how much we can save for you in freight costs, validating that we both stand to profit from a long-term relationship.
- Companies almost always begin their search for a 3PL because they have a specific supply chain problem to solve. Software doesn’t solve complex problems; people do. By performing a supply chain analysis, we gain an opportunity to reveal to our potential client one of IL2000’s greatest strengths: the enormous brains trust at our disposal.
Proof, profits, and problem-solving (oh my).
Let’s take a closer look at each of these to nail down why our “free” supply chain analysis is no marketing ploy, but rather the leading edge of a lasting win-win for your company and ours.
Proof
Picture these two scenarios:
- Scenario A: 3PL comes to you with good news. They think they can probably save you some level of money on your freight outlay.
- Scenario B: 3PL presents a slide deck. Slide one says this: “We can save you 15% per year on your freight.” Slides two to seven show you exactly how 3PL made that calculation with a detailed breakdown of true landed cost, least cost carrier up-to-the-minute data on on-time performance, and a handful of insider metrics. The last slide is the simplest. Work with us and we’ll guarantee you these savings. Contractually.
Our gambit is that over 90% of you will choose option B, simply because that 3PL came to you with something unfakably, unshakably valuable: proof.
So let’s say a company like IL2000 really wants your business. Should we lean into slick marketing, sharper sales collateral and more-cleverer writers? Or should we capitalize on our standing army of freight specialists who can combine their knowledge to show you — nay, prove to you — how much money in freight we can win back for you each year?
Proof: A 35% more reliable, 10% cheaper supply chain.
Proof: $400k saved yearly in freight costs.
Proof: A costly supply chain transformed into a 10% profit center.
The same proof that gives you peace of mind gives our approach an unassailable edge. And this is reason one why perform this analysis at no cost. It’s in our best interests as well as yours.
Profits
Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Opportunity.
What does that look like to us? Right at the center of our vision as a company is this idea of seeing those opportunities, throwing on some figurative overalls, and making it happen – both for you, our client, as well as for IL2000 as a commercial enterprise.
IL2000’s goal is to turn a profit — a considerable one at that. And the volatility of the logistics industry tends to punish those who don’t play by the numbers.
Certainty.
Certainty, then. That's a big part of this. "Knowing something for sure" is a crucial ingredient of longevity in any supply chain-dependent industry, and it’s our deep dive into a prospective client’s data that gives us the certainty we need to pursue a mutually profitable partnership.
On completing our analysis of our supply chain, we’re able to guarantee you a certain level of savings. The flip side to that coin is we’re able to guarantee ourselves the revenue IL2000 can secure through partnering with you.
Partnership.
Reason two, then, for why we offer our supply chain analysis at no cost and no obligation? It paves the way for partnership. The knowledge we gain benefits us as well as you.
(While we’re talking about profits, a quick double-dip on fees)
OK, I know we’re trying to keep this conversation to three points, and with blogs as with hummus, it’s rude to double-dip. But while we’re talking about profits, it’s important to clue you in on how fees work at IL2000.
We don’t charge them.
If you were to sign with us and become one of our well-looked-after clients, you wouldn't pay a dime for our consulting services or our TMS. Nor will we attach a fee to any other transportation management service we offer down the line. We make our money from moving your freight, which we have proven we can do with less cost to you through this analysis. This is why this step is just as critically important to us as it is to you.
Problem-solving
Many companies come to us with a specific problem to solve. They may know exactly what that problem looks like but lack the resources to solve it. More often though, this company will have only a vague understanding of the form, texture, and substance of that lurking challenge.
A typical 3PL won’t have answers for you — for a wide range of reasons, but foremost among them is that these companies aren’t that kind of operation.
They sell transportation management software (TMS).
Then they’ll implement that software across your company.
Then they'll present you with with a limited suite of configuration options.
You'll end up with a small, inflexible menu of supporting services, and a distinct lack of answers. Ultimately, a software-driven 3PL will be as in-the-dark about the dynamics of your supply chain problem as you are.
IL2000 offers a powerful and custonizable TMS too. The difference is that we designed this tool — from base code to user interface — to be intricately malleable. You don’t conform to it. It conforms to you.
Our real product, the thing that drives our business model, is brain juice … imagination elixir … the supple can-do gestalt versatility of applied mental bandwidth. The collective problem-solving energy generated by the brains in our company positions IL2000 to solve some of the world’s toughest supply chain problems. And all we need to leverage that unique and irreplaceable advantage is a chunk of your freight data.
So again, it comes back to a win-win. We win by showing you our unique strength and differentiating ourselves from the crowd. You win by gaining access to expert insight you will not find anywhere else. IL2000’s supply chain analysis equips us with unique inroads to help companies solve their specific, intractable supply chain problems. The process also positions us to hand-pick the right long-term partnerships.
Talk? Let’s!
So there you have it. This, in a slightly chatty nutshell, is why our no-obligation supply chain deep-dive into your data costs nothing. It gives your company and ours something important.
You get proof we can transform your supply chain, a guarantee of revenue increases, and real answers to real problems. We gain a blueprint for a profitable partnership with your company — where your financial interests and ours are one.
This is the bit where we put in the button. Click it, drop some deets, and you’ll be on your way to getting real supply chain answers.
