Customer specific pricing (CSP) has been around the LTL Industry since deregulation back in the 80’s. In the era of 3PL’s, general pricing programs or blanket programs have provided an opportunity for customers of various sizes to have access to competitive pricing with technology to boot. When Priority1 has a customer that doesn’t quite fit out blanket program, I get excited to share our program that fits their specific need. It’s like something old that becomes new again.
In the past few years, Priority1 has developed an Enterprise Program to equip our team to provide options for those customers that have needs outside our general pricing program. Once these customers are identified that’s when the fun starts.
In the early days, we may receive an LOA, a few invoices, and a request to give it our best shot. A lot has changed since then. Before we will take on a new Enterprise account the first thing our team will ask for is DATA. I like to think of data as building material, the agreement as a blueprint, and the LOA as the building permit. Once we receive the data we can determine how big or small the project will be.
The amount of data we receive is the difference between building a mansion or a doll house. A building project was the best analogy that I could think of that fits an Enterprise project or customer specific pricing. You cannot build a house without a solid foundation, material, and tools to complete the job. So next time you have a customer that has outgrown your current pricing program. Think about building a program with Priority1 as the foundation, all we need is the material (DATA), blueprint (Agreement) and the building permit (LOA) to get the job started.
Will Sison, Director of Pricing
