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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.

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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

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • Your client contracts forbid naming you as a reference, and you have not checked the clauses.
  • No client has been asked, so a referral request would be the first conversation in years.
  • You plan to pay consultants for introductions before checking the client and your own gift policy.

How it works

How the referral marketing work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Read the margin and the relationship

    We work out what a new customer is worth and what you can pay to get one, then check whether customers know others like themselves.

  2. 2

    Find the referrals you already get

    Your invoices, call notes and WhatsApp threads show who already sends people to you, and who they are. That sets the starting point and the first people to ask.

  3. 3

    Write the offer and the rules

    The reward, the definition of a valid referral and the payout steps are agreed in writing before anything is shown to customers.

  4. 4

    Build the share path and the record

    The message, the link or code and the referral sheet are built. Your team tests a referral end to end, from forward to reward.

  5. 5

    Start with your best customers, then widen

    The first asks go to people who have already praised you. What they say about the offer decides what changes before it reaches the wider base.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 7, after the sale. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

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.

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