Quickly shipping your product to your client is expected. It doesn’t matter if you’re B2B or B2C, speed is of the essence. And if you don’t give your client speed (logistical), your competitor is already dealing it while stealing your clients.

Maybe you started as a small local company. You might have a delivery van and a driver. You relied on the postal service to ship products.

Now your business is booming. You’re branching out to multiple locations and you have clients all over the United States and soon the world.

You can’t keep relying on the postal service forever. And you can’t keep renting out storage units either.

But you don’t have the capital to buy and run your own warehouse. Neither do you have the funds to build a shipping fleet or hire drivers or warehouse personnel.

How are you going to expand? It’s simple. You outsource.

Here’s why you should use a 3PL logistics provider.

1. They’re More Efficient Than You

Even when you were using a local van driver, how efficient was your delivery service? And then you know the efficiency of the U.S. Postal Service…

When choosing a 3PL provider, you would be remiss to ignore their efficiency. They bring to the table more experience than you could ever gather. Their technology will always be better than you could access, and they can scale quicker than you could on your own.

They have the infrastructure and all you have to do is plug into it. They take care of the rest.

2. All the Technology

Are you able to buy a robotic forklift? How about enough to run a warehouse efficiently? Can you keep an entire warehouse team synchronized and on track with mobile technology?

How much do you know about artificial intelligence and machine learning? The best logistics companies use AI and ML to augment their shipping lines.

Do you understand blockchain? If you want to run a major logistics company in 2020, you will likely keep important data archived and safe through blockchain.

All these technologies cost money. They require expertise which also costs money. When you hire a logistics provider, you’re saving money by outsourcing to a team with the technology and knowledge to operate a large operation.

3. Limited Risk

When you’re the one pulling all the levers, you’re responsible for what happens to what you’re controlling. Even if there’s a disconnect.

When you put those levers in the hands of professional lever-pullers, you can wash your hands of what happens. And you can rest assured the expert lever-pullers know what they’re doing.

Not only do the lever-pullers know what they’re doing, they can predict what’s going to happen. They’ve been gathering data on logistics for some time now. Predictive models and machine learning algorithms help prepare logistics teams for any eventuality.

This includes environment conditions, demand, location of demand, and any infrastructure disruption. By outsourcing, you’re minimizing the risk of downtime and supply chain disruption.

4. Refocus on Your Business

While logistics is an important part of your business, it isn’t the entirety of your business. Which would you rather spend time on, logistics or building your business and the inherent relationships therein?

Now, ask yourself, how much time do you have during your day for business? How much time during the week? How much of that time are you willing to devote to running logistics?

Even if you aren’t going to be the one heading logistics, do you want to use the resources necessary to hire a new manager? You could use those resources better in growing your business.

Outsourcing frees up time to focus on your business.

5. 3PLs Are Scalable

Your business will grow exponentially over the coming years. Even if you could rent a warehouse, hire a team, build a fleet, etc, how long until your configuration becomes too small for your demand? Will you have the ability to scale to demand?

With 3PL, you can increase or decrease your logistics according to demand. In high seasons, you can use more resources and during famine, you can scale back.

You will waste less money during the low times and be able to redistribute your budget for high times.

3PL is your most flexible option.

6. Access to a Large Network

How does Amazon do it? You order something and it shows up at your door two days later.

The answer is two-fold: machine learning and a vast logistics network. They’re able to predict what you might buy next and ship it to a warehouse near you.

Can you replicate this efficiency? Likely not. But a 3PL can at least get you close.

With a 3PL, you can quickly build a network of warehouses. You will have a dependable crew of drivers and staff who will reliably track and ship products to your clients.

7. Increase in Customer Satisfaction

With companies like Amazon and Walmart, you need to impress clients with your fast delivery times. If you don’t, you will lose clients to your competitors.

A 3PL will ensure customer satisfaction through streamlined supply lines, safe and secure delivery, and customer feedback. Data utilization will increase the likelihood nothing goes wrong. And when something does go wrong, they will have a solution before the disaster arrives.

Are you looking to increase customer satisfaction ten-fold? Outsource to a 3PL company. You won’t look back.

Quit Relying on the Postal Service

You can’t keep relying on the postal service for the entirety of your career. It’s time to start giving your logistics a boost.

Your clients will be satisfied.