Contract logistics providers · Logistics
Get on the shortlist before the RFQ is written, then answer it like an operator.
A consumer durables maker near Hosur runs its own warehouse and a handful of hired trucks. The CFO asks why inventory costs keep climbing, so the supply chain head sends an RFI to five providers. Two reply with a deck about a pan-India network; one sends a plain note on how its nearest site would run on the first day, and that note makes the shortlist.
A 90-minute audit call and a written, scored report. Turnaround, reporting and term are agreed in writing after the audit.
In one paragraph
Contract logistics providers run warehousing, inventory, transport and value-added work for one shipper under a multi-year agreement. Marketing puts you on the supply chain head's shortlist before the RFQ is written. Sales is the site visit, the client's data, the pricing model and the contract. That takes months. GullySales builds the pages, the proposal routine and the follow-up.
Contract logistics is sold slowly: an RFI, a site visit, the client's data, a design and a price, then a contract that may run for years. Most providers run the floor well and sell badly. Proposals are rebuilt from the last deck, nobody records who sent which RFQ, and after submission the only follow-up is one call asking for feedback.
Last updated 6 Oct 2026.
How buyers decide
How contract logistics providers are chosen.
The supply chain or logistics head runs the evaluation. Procurement runs the RFQ and the rate comparison, the CFO looks at cost and contract risk, and the plant or sales head cares about service levels. Where a consultant writes the RFQ, the shortlist is half made before you hear of it.
Buyers shortlist from providers they already know, from peers at other plants, from LinkedIn and from a search for a named capability in a named corridor, such as dedicated warehousing near Sriperumbudur or in-plant logistics around Chakan. The comparison is specific: the site, the warehouse system and how it connects to their ERP, inventory accuracy records and the pricing model. Labour compliance papers get asked for early, because the client's audit team wants to see who works on its stock and whether they are registered.
The site visit and the reference call decide it. The client's operations people walk the floor, look at racking, docks and safety, and ask the site head how a bad day is handled. Contracts run for years and re-tenders come round, so the account you hold is also your next sale.
The problem
What usually goes wrong for contract logistics providers.
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“We hear about the RFQ when it is already written”
A consultant or the client's own team drafted it around the incumbent's site, and you are invited to fill a sheet for a race that has a favourite.
“Every proposal starts from last year's deck”
Operations and sales rebuild the same answers on racking, systems and compliance each time. Two bids from the same firm describe the same service in different words.
“Procurement cannot compare our price”
The pricing model gets one line in the proposal, so the buyer flattens it to a rate per pallet position and picks the lowest, which is not what you offered.
“References are arranged in a scramble”
A buyer asks to call a client and the evening goes on finding someone who agreed. Nobody asked for consent when the contract was signed.
“The proposal goes quiet after submission”
Clarification rounds, a visit by the client's team and a commercial negotiation run for weeks, and the only follow-up is a call asking if there is news.
“A contract anniversary passes without a conversation”
Volumes grow, a new SKU line starts or the client plans another plant, and the first you hear of it is the re-tender notice.
What we do
What we do for contract logistics providers.
Everything included for contract logistics providers, and the result each part is there to produce.
An RFI response library
Standard, dated answers on your sites, warehouse system, integration, labour compliance, safety, insurance and references, each with a named owner who keeps it current.
Result: Every bid carries the same answers, and sales stops asking operations the same questions.
Capability pages written for the supply chain head
A page for each service and each industry you serve, covering the site, the throughput it handles, the systems and the papers a buyer checks.
Result: A search for a capability in a corridor lands on a page that answers it.
A pricing model explainer
A plain document on how you price: what is fixed, what varies with volume, how storage, handling and transport are charged, and what happens to the price when volumes swing.
Result: Procurement compares your bid line by line, not as a single rate.
A site visit pack and routine
A set route through the site, who from operations meets the visitors, what they see first, and a written note afterwards listing each question raised.
Result: The visit does the selling, and nothing said on the floor is lost.
A bid tracker and a follow-up routine
One row per RFQ: who sent it, closing date, stage, clarifications, the next dated step and, at the end, the reason it was won or lost.
Result: Bids stop going quiet, and lost ones teach you something.
A reference and consent file
Which clients agreed in writing to a reference call, a visit or a named story, and which agreed to none of these.
Result: A buyer's request for a reference is met without a scramble and without naming anyone who said no.
A report against the baseline
RFIs and RFQs received by source, site visits, proposals sent and contracts won, against the baseline recorded before work starts.
Result: You can see where bids are won and where they are lost.
How the result is measured
- RFIs and RFQs received, by source
- Reply time to a new RFI
- Site visits arranged per RFQ
- Proposals submitted against contracts won
- Reasons for losing a bid
- Renewals and expansions at existing sites
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Every service, written for contract logistics providers
Each has its own page: what it involves for contract logistics providers, what you get, and what it is measured on.
- SEOBe the page a supply chain head finds when he searches for a 3PL near his plant.
- Content marketingAnswer the questions a supply chain head asks before he invites you to bid.
- Lead generationRecord every RFI, consultant call and plant introduction as a lead, and answer each differently.
- Email marketingWrite to the people at your current sites before you mail anyone new.
- Sales processWrite the steps from the first RFI to go-live, and who owns each one.
- Buyer personasThe supply chain head, the procurement manager and the CFO read your bid differently.
- Sales strategyChoose the industries, sites and bids to chase, and the ones to turn down.
- Website developmentShow the sites, the systems and the papers a supply chain head checks.
- Referral marketingYour best introduction is a client's supply chain head calling a colleague at another plant.
- CRMKeep every RFQ, assumption and contract date in one record the company owns.
Worth a page and a campaign of their own
Dedicated multi-year warehouse operations · In-plant and line-side material handling · Inbound milk runs and supplier consolidation · Primary distribution to depots and stockists · Kitting, labelling and repacking · Reverse logistics and returns · Spare parts and aftermarket distribution · Taking over a client's own warehouse · Dedicated fleet contracts · Inventory and order visibility reports for the client
Priority campaigns
Campaigns for what contract logistics providers most want to sell.
Each one planned around when your buyers decide, and measured against the baseline.
Own warehouse or contract operator
An honest note and outreach for manufacturers running their own godown and hired trucks, setting out when handing the work over makes sense and when it does not.
Result: You meet the buyer when the decision is still open.
Corridor outreach
A named list of plants and distribution centres around the corridors you operate in, such as Hosur, Sriperumbudur, Chakan, Bhiwandi and Manesar, with a note for each supply chain head.
Result: The nearest operator is a name your buyer already knows.
The first day on site
A short guide to how a transition runs: the data you ask for, who attends, how stock is moved and how the client's team is kept informed.
Result: Buyers who fear the move can see it laid out.
Consultant briefing
A capability brief for the supply chain consultants who write RFQs, with your sites, systems and the work you decline.
Result: A consultant knows when to put you on a list.
Contract anniversary reviews
A review with each client before the contract date, covering volumes, new SKUs, other plants and how the site has performed against the agreed service levels.
Result: Expansion and renewal are discussed before the re-tender notice.
Beyond search
Where we reach buyers of contract logistics providers, beyond Google.
Search matters, but it is rarely the only way this industry's buyers find a supplier.
Supply chain and logistics heads at manufacturers
We build a named list of plants around the corridors your sites serve, with the right person on each.
Supply chain consultants
We prepare a capability note and a regular way of staying in touch with the people who write RFQs.
Procurement and sourcing teams
We prepare the vendor registration papers and the standard answers a panel asks for.
Logistics trade shows and associations
We prepare what you carry to a show and the follow-up note for each contact you meet.
Your clients' other plants and sister companies
We prepare the introduction a supply chain head can forward to a colleague.
Who it is for
This is written for these contract logistics providers.
- Dedicated warehousing for manufacturers
- In-plant and line-side logistics for auto and engineering plants
- Inbound milk-run and supplier pickup operators
- FMCG and consumer durables distribution centres
- Pharma and healthcare 3PLs with temperature-controlled storage
- Retail and ecommerce replenishment operators
- Spare parts and aftermarket logistics
- Reverse logistics and returns processing
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
- You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
- You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Free audit call
90 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
After the call
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come with it, in writing.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs for contract logistics providers
- 1
Listen to how bids are won and lost
The free audit call traces the last year's RFIs, who sent them, how each was answered and where the proposals stalled.
- 2
Write the answers once
An RFI library, a pricing explainer and a site visit pack that operations and sales both use.
- 3
Be on the shortlist
Capability pages, corridor outreach and a consultant briefing aimed at the people who draw the list.
- 4
Run the visit and the proposal
A bid tracker, a data request, a clarification log and a follow-up routine through the decision.
- 5
Report on contracts, not activity
RFIs, visits, proposals and contracts against the baseline taken before anything changed.
Proof
What happened when owners fixed this.
Real clients, the work we did, and the result as it was recorded. Where no number was recorded, none is claimed.
Hotel Felicity Inn
- Situation
- A traveller compares three hotels on a phone and books one. The website was not built for that.
- What we did
- The site rebuilt around booking
- Photography and one look
- Search work for destination searches
- Content a traveller reads
- Result
- Online bookings increased 35%
- Organic traffic increased 50% within six months
- Positive reviews on Google and TripAdvisor increased 30%
SB Engineering
- Situation
- Buyers searching for laser cutting and sheet metal work in Bengaluru were finding other suppliers first, because the company did not rank for the terms its own customers type.
- What we did
- The site redesigned for mobile
- Search work on the buyer's terms
- Content that shows the work
- Social channels managed
- Result
- Website traffic rose 60% within six months, against a target of 50%.
- High-quality leads rose 45%, with a rise in conversion rates alongside them.
- Fifteen target keywords moved up the rankings, five of them into the top three positions.
Also worked with
Chord Road Hospital · Curtain Label · Difesa Security Services · Hands On CSR · Implevista · Kambar Group · Kalessi · Kerur Pain Clinic · LL Trust · Lucky Deals · Natural Gases · NavaShakthi Souhardha · NewCom Logistics · Proton Technical Services · Shakthi Foundation · Shakthi Group · Urbanest · Insyde Studio · Venkateshwara Laser Tech · Vivara Studios
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with the free audit.
Option 1
The audit on its own
A 90-minute call and a written, scored report. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix the audit ranks first, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions contract logistics providers ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should we publish how we price?
Our contracts stop us naming clients. What proof can we show?
Should we reply to every RFQ?
Do you design our operations or run our sites?
A consultant is running the RFQ for the client. How do we deal with that?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Notes for owners
Read more about contract logistics providers.
- How shippers pick a provider for the first loadPlants and online sellers test new logistics providers on one lane, one route or one product line. This post explains what the trial tests, what vendor forms ask and what decides the next load.
- How contract logistics providers follow up after biddingAfter a contract logistics proposal goes in, weeks pass in clarifications, site visits and negotiation. This post covers who to keep talking to, what to send and what to record in that silence.
Part of Logistics and supply chain. See the other industries in the group.
Your next practical step
Get a free audit of how you sell, and a scored report of where the work is.
90 minutes. A written, scored report. No invoice and no obligation.