Customer Support Software Featured Articles

Ocean cargo carriers are leaking revenue. And while it would be worse if there were a water leak, losing money can still cause a business at sea to flounder.

For many cargo carriers, the solution comes in the form of customer support software, such as Accenture’s (News - Alert) new version of its Ocean Pricing Software, part of the Accenture Freight and Logistics Software. Ocean Cargo Pricing software 6.8 is intended to reduce operational costs, plug revenue leaks, and streamline customer service.

Updates to the software make it easier for sales teams to easily and efficiently generate quotes and draft contracts, using market rates, and still taking special surcharges into account. For an ocean cargo carrier, these include transporting to certain areas or sailing into certain waters, transporting goods that may require more overseeing than others, or loading up certain container types. Being able to generate circumspect quotes quickly allows for quicker responses to customer requests.

“For ocean cargo carriers, using technology to revitalize the quote-to-cash process is a critical component to increasing visibility and enabling better decision-making,” said Malcolm McNamara, global managing director of Accenture Freight and Logistics Software. “Our newest release of Ocean Cargo Pricing is designed to provide more accurate pricing models, which will help carriers adapt to market changes and stay competitive.”

In addition to creating reliable, accurate pricing models, Ocean Cargo Pricing Software version 6.8 saves shipping companies money by adapting as customer specific add-ons and surcharges arise over time. This agility and responsiveness is made possible by a flexible model that makes it easier to maintain rates at each stage of the customer transaction. Essentially, this ensures that companies deploying ocean cargo carriers are paid what they’re owed—even when circumstances change at a moment’s notice.

Pricing software is important for any company that handles complicated customer pricing models. And in an industry where a revenue matrix can be as unpredictable as the sea, a solution such as Accenture’s is the closest thing companies have to a reliable pricing beacon.