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Shipping companies · CRM

Keep every rate request, forwarder and tender in one record the whole desk can see.

A CRM for a shipping company holds the shippers, forwarders, rate requests, quotes and bookings in one place, so nobody depends on one person's inbox. GullySales sets up the fields, stages and rules around how your sales and pricing desks work.

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

Realistic editorial illustration of freight and transport companies at work in India

What CRM means

A CRM is the record where every enquiry, call and quote is kept against a customer, replacing separate notebooks, spreadsheets and memory. GullySales sets up or cleans an existing CRM and reports from it by enquiry outcome rather than by activity logged.

Also for shipping companies

Sales and marketing for shipping companies, the overview.

Last updated 18 Oct 2026.

For shipping companies

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

  • “The enquiry that lives in one inbox”

    A rate request sent to a named executive disappears when that person is on leave. The shipper waits, and your competitor replies from a desk that was watching.

  • “Quotes need to link to the booking”

    A quote given for a port pair and equipment type is worth tracking to its outcome. Without that link, nobody can tell whether the rate was lost on price, space or a slow reply.

  • “Forwarders and shippers need separate views”

    A forwarder is both a customer and a channel to many exporters. The record should show who sends cargo, who they serve and which of their shippers you also know directly.

  • “Tenders are projects, not deals”

    A contract enquiry has a deadline, several documents and a team of contributors. A CRM stage that treats it like a quick quote will drop the deadline and the version history.

What we do

What we deliver for shipping companies.

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

  1. Fields that match shipping

    Fields for commodity, port pair, equipment, volume, readiness date, incoterm and the source of the enquiry.

    Result: Every record holds what a quote needs.

  2. Stages from request to repeat booking

    Stages for enquiry, quote, follow-up, booking and repeat, with a reason recorded when a rate is lost.

    Result: Lost rates have reasons you can read.

  3. Forwarder and shipper account views

    A view that links forwarders to the shippers they serve and the lanes they use.

    Result: The sales head can see each relationship at a glance.

  4. Contract enquiry record

    A record for each contract enquiry with deadline, documents, owners and result.

    Result: No contract enquiry reaches its deadline without an owner.

  5. Team set-up and handover

    Access rules, short guidance for the desks and a way to move records when someone leaves.

    Result: A departing executive's accounts stay with the team.

How the result is measured

  • Enquiries logged in the CRM
  • Data completeness
  • Reports generated from CRM data

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

Read the full CRM implementation and customisation page

Fields worth keeping

Shipping records need these fields beyond a name and a phone number.

Port pair and service
Filled by the pricing desk on each request, which lets the sales head see which lanes are being asked for and which are quoted.
Equipment and commodity
Chosen from a list by the person who takes the enquiry, so a reefer request does not sit in a queue for dry containers.
Quote reference and validity
Added by the pricing desk, so the follow-up call refers to a real quote and the desk can see which are still open.
Booking and sailing reference
Entered by operations once space is confirmed, linking the enquiry to the sailing so a repeat booking can be offered after it.
Forwarder or direct shipper
Set at first contact, which lets one account be viewed with its forwarder partners and with the shippers it serves.

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.

  • Your booking system and rate sheets are not agreed between desks, so a CRM would hold copies that disagree.
  • Tenders are handled by a single manager who prefers a private sheet and no one has asked them to share it.

How it works

How the CRM 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

    Map the sales process

    We sit with the people who sell and write down how a deal moves from enquiry to payment, including where it stalls.

  2. 2

    Agree stages, fields and owners

    Each stage gets a name your team already uses and a proof that the deal has left it. We agree which fields are required at which stage, and who may change what.

  3. 3

    Build on a copy

    Pipeline, fields and views are built on a trial copy where the CRM offers one, or in a separate pipeline where the plan allows. Live work stays untouched.

  4. 4

    Connect channels, then switch on automations

    Channels are connected first. Each automation is then switched on separately, so a misfiring rule is easy to find.

  5. 5

    Test with real deals

    The people who will use the CRM run open deals through it. Gaps are fixed before the whole team switches over.

  6. 6

    Switch over and trim

    Once real use shows which fields stay empty and which stages nobody uses, those are cut and the handover record is updated.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales management. A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

  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

    Sales process design

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

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3 · you are here

    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
Which CRM should a shipping company choose?
The one your team will actually update. Tools in ordinary use in India, such as Zoho CRM or HubSpot, can all be shaped to your fields; the choice depends on your size, budget and existing systems.
Will it connect to our booking system?
Where your booking software offers a way to share data, we can plan the link with your technology team. The booking and tracking systems themselves stay with them.
Should tenders have their own record?
Yes. A tender has documents, a closing date, several reviewers and a long wait, which a single deal line cannot hold. Give each one a project record with an owner and dates, and link the shipper's account to it so the earlier history stays visible.
Can the CRM hold rate sheets?
Keep the live rate sheet where the pricing desk already controls it, and link to it from the quote record. Copies of rates in a CRM go stale and a salesperson may quote from the old one. Store the quote given, not the master tariff.
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.

More for shipping companies

Everything else we would do for you.

Closest to this: leads and follow-up

Also for shipping companies

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for shipping companies.

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