Shipping companies · Logistics
Be the line or agent an exporter calls the day a container is rolled and the buyer waits.
An exporter of garments in Tiruppur has a buyer in Hamburg insisting on a sailing date. The forwarder has asked three lines for space and a rate, and the one who answers first with a clear sailing, a free-time period and a transit plan gets the booking. A reply that comes tomorrow is a reply to a booking already made elsewhere.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A shipping company moves cargo by sea, either as a line operating vessels or as an agent, NVOCC or coastal operator selling space on them. Marketing makes exporters, importers and forwarders choose you for their lanes. Sales turns a rate request into a booking and keeps the shipper's next sailing in view.
Forwarders place cargo with a line or NVOCC, so the forwarder's desk is a customer in its own right, with the exporter or importer behind it. Direct shippers come through large accounts and tenders, and through Google when they begin exporting. Your site and your replies are judged by people with a cut-off time.
Last updated 18 Oct 2026.
How buyers decide
How shipping companies are chosen.
Forwarders and large shippers choose on space availability, rate, transit time, sailing frequency, transshipment risk, free days at destination and how the line behaves when cargo is delayed. A shipper new to exports starts with a forwarder's advice and only later asks which line they use. Large shippers with regular volume run tenders for contract rates, in which service reliability weighs as much as price.
The person who decides is a logistics manager or export head, with finance checking the total landed cost. Reputation travels among forwarders through ports and trade bodies, and one missed cut-off can lose an account. Customers check documentation quality: bill of lading accuracy, delivery orders, container tracking and who answers at the port.
The problem
What usually goes wrong for shipping companies.
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“Forwarders take the relationship”
We carry the box but the forwarder owns the customer, so we cannot reach the exporter who would book direct.
“Rate enquiries arrive in every direction”
Email, WhatsApp, phone and portals all bring requests, and replies depend on who is at the desk.
“Reliability is not visible”
Our schedule integrity is strong on some lanes, but a buyer cannot see it before booking.
“New exporters do not know us”
First-time exporters search for how to ship and find forwarder pages and global lines, not a regional operator.
“Documentation errors damage the brand”
A wrong bill of lading draft costs a shipper days, and they remember the line, not the clerk.
“Tender season is a scramble”
Large shippers send contract enquiries to many lines, and our response is rebuilt each time.
What we do
What we do for shipping companies.
Everything included for shipping companies.
Lane and port pages
Pages for each major trade lane and Indian port you serve, covering schedule patterns, equipment and documentation, written in plain language.
A quote enquiry that asks the right things
A short form for commodity, port pair, container type, readiness date and incoterm, routed to the right desk with the details attached.
Forwarder partner pack
A document for forwarders listing sailings, space commitments, contacts and escalation steps, with a page forwarders can bookmark.
Commodity pages
Pages for garments, auto parts, spices, engineering goods and chemicals, explaining the shipping steps and paperwork each involves.
A tender response library
Master answers on service, equipment, claims handling and contacts, ready to edit for each contract enquiry.
How the result is measured
- Rate enquiries by lane and by source
- Enquiries that arrived with commodity, port pair and readiness date
- Bookings from direct shippers versus forwarders
- Repeat bookings from new accounts
- Forwarder desks actively quoting your sailings
- Tender responses sent and won
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Every service, written for shipping companies
Each has its own page: what it involves for shipping companies, what you get, and what it is measured on.
- Lead generationBring in rate requests that name a port pair, a commodity and a date the cargo is ready.
- SEOAppear when an exporter searches for the route, the cargo and the paperwork.
- Social media marketingUse social channels to show the sailing, the port and the people who answer the call.
- Content marketingPublish the guides that an exporter reads before choosing a line or a forwarder.
- Buyer personasKnow the forwarder, the export head and the ship owner who each buy from you differently.
- CRMKeep every rate request, forwarder and tender in one record the whole desk can see.
- Follow-up systemsChase the quote that went quiet before the shipper books with another line.
- WhatsApp marketingUse WhatsApp for sailing notices, document reminders and the quick question from a forwarder.
- Digital marketingPut search, site, email and outreach to work for lanes you want to fill.
- WebsiteBuild a site where a forwarder finds the lane, the sailing and the person to call.
Worth a page and a campaign of their own
Container bookings on named trade lanes · LCL consolidation services from major Indian ports · Contract rates for regular shippers · Port agency and vessel husbandry services · Reefer and special equipment bookings · Project and out-of-gauge cargo handling · Direct shipper accounts, not only forwarder volume · Clear schedules and transit information per port pair
Priority campaigns
Campaigns for what shipping companies most want to sell.
Each one planned around when your buyers decide, and measured against the baseline.
Lane search campaign
Search ads and landing pages for specific port pairs and commodities, such as cotton garments to Europe or spices to the Gulf.
Direct-shipper outreach in an export cluster
A campaign to exporters in one cluster, such as Tiruppur knitwear or Ludhiana engineering, that explains how to book direct and what documents you need.
Forwarder desk calls
A list of calls and meetings with forwarder desks at your key ports, each backed by a short message that restates your sailings and who to call.
Delay and disruption notices
A clear page and WhatsApp broadcast for customers whenever a port or vessel is disrupted, with plain facts.
Beyond search
Where we reach buyers of shipping companies, beyond Google.
Search matters, but it is rarely the only way this industry's buyers find a supplier.
Forwarders and customs brokers
A list of forwarders at your key ports and the people who allocate space, with a way to tell them about new sailings.
Exporters and importers in clusters
Export clusters that ship on your lanes are mapped, and the export or logistics manager at each plant hears from you directly, with the lane and free days stated.
Trade bodies and export promotion councils
Export promotion councils and chambers of commerce run member sessions on shipping and documents, where a speaker from a line can take questions on the day.
Commodity associations
Spice, garment, engineering and chemical associations, whose members all ship the same kind of cargo and read the same circulars.
Who it is for
This is written for these shipping companies.
- Container shipping lines serving Indian ports
- NVOCC and consolidators selling LCL and FCL space
- Ship agents handling port calls and husbandry
- Coastal and feeder shipping operators
- Bulk and break-bulk charterers moving commodities
- Project cargo and out-of-gauge shipping specialists
- Ro-ro and car carrier agents
- Inland waterway and short-sea operators
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 shipping companies
- 1
Listen to the desks
Time with your sales, pricing and documentation teams shows how quotes, bookings and complaints are handled today.
- 2
Pick lanes and clusters
You decide which trade lanes and shipper clusters get pages and outreach first.
- 3
Write the lane pages and forms
Lane, commodity and partner pages are drafted with the enquiry form, and your pricing team checks the wording.
- 4
Start outreach
Direct-shipper and forwarder outreach goes out, and each enquiry is recorded from first message to booking.
- 5
Read the bookings
Which enquiries became bookings, and which stalled at the rate stage, is read with your sales head, and the pages and outreach are adjusted.
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 your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. 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 that matters most, 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.
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.
FAQ
Questions shipping companies ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Can we publish our rates?
How do we win direct shippers without annoying our forwarders?
Does SEO matter for a shipping company?
Will you handle our schedule or tracking pages?
Do you work with ship agents as well as lines?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Part of Logistics. See the other industries in the sector.
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.