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Contract logistics providers · Referral marketing

Your best introduction is a client's supply chain head calling a colleague at another plant.

Referrals for a contract logistics provider come from the supply chain heads you already serve, the consultants who write RFQs and the vendors who see your sites, such as racking, warehouse software and insurance firms. GullySales sets up how each is asked, thanked and recorded, inside what your client contracts and the rules on gifts allow.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

A logistics manager and client review a warehouse dispatch

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing is asking an existing customer to recommend you to someone they know, usually with a reward for both sides. It differs from a loyalty scheme because it brings in a new customer rather than a repeat purchase. GullySales builds the ask and the reward into a point where a customer is already satisfied.

Also for contract logistics providers

Sales and marketing for contract logistics providers, the overview.

Last updated 6 Oct 2026.

For contract logistics providers

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “The client who is happiest has never been asked”

    Nobody has told the supply chain head you would welcome an introduction. They assume you are full.

  • “Contracts often say what you may and may not name”

    Reference and publicity clauses sit in the contract nobody reread after signing. Until someone checks, you do not know whom you may use.

  • “Referrers do not know what a good lead looks like”

    A vendor who sees you in a meeting says they know a company that needs logistics. Without a short note to forward, nothing arrives.

What we do

What we deliver for contract logistics providers.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A check of the reference clauses in client contracts

    Each contract read for what it says on naming, visits and reference calls, recorded in one table.

    Result: You know exactly whom you may offer as a reference.

  2. A forwardable note on what you do

    A short plain note a client, a vendor or a consultant can send to a contact: the sites, the industries and the kind of enquiry you want.

    Result: A referrer can pass you on in a minute.

  3. A reference call routine

    A short list of clients who agreed in writing, a briefing for each and a note after every call.

    Result: A buyer's request for a reference is answered the same day, without a scramble.

  4. A partner list with a named owner each

    Consultants, racking and warehouse software vendors, insurance brokers and industry association contacts, each with someone responsible for the relationship.

    Result: No referrer is left to remember you on their own.

  5. A referral source on every record

    Who introduced each lead, written once in the register and reported against contracts won.

    Result: You see which introducers produce work and thank them accordingly.

  6. A thank-you rule inside gift policies

    A written line on what is acceptable: a call, a note or a visit, never cash or gifts that break a client's own policy.

    Result: Thanking does not create a problem for the person who helped.

How the result is measured

  • Referrals received
  • Referral conversion rate
  • Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals work in this trade

A referral from a supply chain head who has watched you run the site reaches a buyer already half persuaded.

A client's supply chain head
The supply chain head knows the site better than any brochure. Ask after a peak that went well whether a colleague at another plant has the same problem, and check the contract for reference rights first.
A supply chain consultant
The supply chain head sees every shortlist. Brief them on your sites and the work you decline, and ask what they need to put you forward. Do not offer payment for a recommendation.
A racking, software or insurance vendor
They hear who is expanding or changing provider. Give them a short note with your sites and the kind of client you want, and thank them by sending work back where it fits.
A client's sister company or another plant
Ask the supply chain head to forward your note to the colleague who runs the other site, and record the introduction so you can thank the supply chain head.
A site head who has moved to another company
A person who ran your site and joins another firm already knows how you work. Stay in touch after the person leaves, and record where they have gone.
What never to do
Never pay cash or give gifts to a client's or a prospect's employee for an introduction, and never name a client without written permission. Many clients bar both under their own rules.

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

How it works

From your first message to the first report.

No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.

  1. First

    Your brief

    You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.

  2. After the brief

    A conversation and a written scope

    We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.

  3. Before work starts

    Baseline recorded

    The numbers this work is meant to move, such as enquiries, quotations, orders, visits or renewals, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.

  4. After the baseline

    The first fix goes live

    The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is a reply, a follow-up, a page, a listing or the handover between marketing and sales.

  5. 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.

  6. 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 referral marketing work runs

  1. 1

    Understand your margin and customer relationship

    We agree what reward is genuinely sustainable and appropriate for your business and customer type.

  2. 2

    Audit existing informal referrals

    We check how much word of mouth already happens, to size expectations for the formal programme realistically.

  3. 3

    Design the offer and mechanism

    A specific reward and an easy sharing method are built and tested.

  4. 4

    Implement and promote

    The programme is surfaced at the right moments in your customer journey.

  5. 5

    Measure and adjust

    We track referrals and conversions, adjusting the reward or promotion if uptake is low.

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.

Your brief

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Can we pay a consultant a commission for introducing a client?
Be careful. A consultant who advises the client on a neutral shortlist and is paid by a bidder has a conflict, and the client's own rules may ban it. Ask the consultant openly, put anything in writing, and have your own adviser read it first.
How do we know which referrer sent which enquiry?
Ask every new contact how they heard of you and write the answer in the register's source field. Do not rely on memory. If two sources claim the same lead, record both and credit by a rule agreed in advance.
A client agrees to a reference call but not to being named. Is that enough?
Yes, as long as you keep to it. Offer the call to serious buyers late in the process and describe the client by industry and site type elsewhere. Record the exact permission given, and do not stretch it.
How often can we ask a client for an introduction?
Not while a service issue is open, and not more than once after a good result. The best moment is after a clean peak or a successful transition. One clear request is remembered. Repeated ones are avoided.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

From the blog

Further reading for contract logistics providers.

All articles

More for contract logistics providers

Everything else we would do for you.

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for contract logistics providers.

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

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