Logistics & Transportation
Logistics CRM for freight sales: spot quotes, bid season and renewals
Senitix CRM is a logistics CRM for freight sales teams: it keeps every spot RFQ and annual RFP on the shipper's record, with the lane on the deal, each quote version, a follow-up with an owner and the agreement's end date. In spot freight the first credible quote often wins the load; in bid season a shipper awards its lanes for the year.
Built for freight brokers, asset-based carriers, 3PLs, freight forwarders and customs brokers selling to US shippers and importers.
One shipper record, set up in freight's own terms
A freight team sets Senitix CRM up around the shipper account, and each spot RFQ or annual RFP becomes a deal on it. Origin, destination, mode, equipment, volume and required-by date are custom fields the team adds, next to the shipper's contacts and every quote version. Each stage shows the key fields and guidance the team wrote, and an awarded bid continues into a contract record with its own start and end dates.
In Senitix CRM
What Senitix CRM solves for freight sales teams
Senitix CRM holds the shipper sales record, from the first RFQ to the renewal. Load tendering, dispatch, tracking, rate confirmations, carrier pay and billing stay in your TMS; load boards, carrier onboarding, customs filing and factoring stay in the tools built for them. Calls are logged in Senitix, not dialed from it.
Answer the spot RFQ, then own the follow-up
Each RFQ becomes a deal with origin, destination, mode, equipment and required-by date as fields, so the person pricing it never has to reread the thread. The quote goes out as a PDF with a valid-until date, each revised rate is saved as a new version, and once the quote is sent, a rule adds a dated follow-up task and notifies the quote’s owner.
- Gmail, Outlook and IMAP threads land on the deal they belong to once a rep connects a mailbox
- Numbered quote versions, each with a status, a valid-until date and a PDF from your own template, and a sent quote that expires on its own once that date passes
- Senitix AI can draft the follow-up email or summarize the thread, and nothing is sent until the rep confirms it
Track the RFP from invitation to awarded lanes
The shipper’s RFP becomes a deal on its account, with the bid deadline, lane count and incumbent provider as fields, and each round’s rate file is kept as a new version. When lanes are awarded, a contract record holds the award, the start and end dates and the renewal terms, and a date-based rule opens the renewal task before the next bid season. Pricing hundreds of lanes stays in your pricing or RFP tool. See our guide to organizing freight RFP season without losing a lane.
- Spot and contract freight in separate pipelines, each with its own stages
- Rate files and award letters kept with their versions in the Documents module, and the bid deadline as a dated task with an owner
- A short lane list quoted one line per lane, with the lines carried into the contract once the quote is accepted
Keep the shipper's history when the rep moves on
Every shipper account and deal has one owner, and the calls, meetings, notes, quotes and files logged against it stay on its timeline when the owner changes. Field permissions decide which roles can read the buy rate and the margin, so the sell rate and the quote can be shared widely while the numbers behind them are not.
- Access set by role, department and record ownership
- Field-level permissions for buy rate, margin and commission, each kept as a custom field on the deal
- Records shared or restricted by hand, with a field-change history on each one; rule-based sharing is coming soon
See the shipper going quiet while there is time to call
Reports read the records the team already keeps, so a quote past its valid-until date, an overdue follow-up or an agreement near its end date shows up before the lanes move. Senitix AI’s daily digest lists each rep’s open work, and a suggestion can name a next step on a deal, which the rep accepts or ignores.
- Quotes by status and valid-until date, overdue follow-up tasks, and deals by stage and owner
- Each lost deal keeps the reason picked when it closed, and the competing rate in a custom field where the shipper shared it
- Contracts by end date, delivered on a schedule to whoever owns renewals, and a notice to each contract's owner a set number of days before it ends
An example freight sales pipeline
Six stages a brokerage, carrier or forwarder might set up in Senitix CRM for new shipper business, from “RFQ received” to “Shipper setup”. A team that runs bid season separately can add a second pipeline with stages of its own.
Example stages
- RFQ received
- Qualified
- Quote sent
- Negotiation
- Lanes awarded
- Shipper setup
Guidance on each stage
- RFQ received Origin, destination, mode, equipment and required-by date are on the deal, and a rep owns it.
- Qualified Volume, frequency and the decision-maker are written down, and the team can cover the equipment. A lane that does not fit is closed with a reason.
- Quote sent A quote with a valid-until date has gone to the shipper, and a follow-up task has a due date and an owner.
- Negotiation A newer quote version exists, or the competing rate the shipper named is written on the deal.
- Lanes awarded The award is attached in writing, whether an email, a signed rate agreement or the RFP award file, with its start and end dates noted.
- Shipper setup The credit application is attached, the contacts who tender loads are on the account, and operations has the handoff note.
An example, not a default: a freight team sets these stages up itself, and nothing arrives configured. Each stage shows the guidance and up to five key fields the team chose, and that guidance never stops a deal from moving. Rename, reorder or remove stages as the way you sell changes.
FAQ
Logistics CRM questions
What is a logistics CRM?
A logistics CRM is a customer relationship management system set up for selling freight. Shippers are accounts, each RFQ or RFP is a deal carrying the lane, mode and equipment, and every quote version and dated follow-up sits on that deal. In Senitix CRM a freight team adds those fields and sets its own stages, while loads, dispatch, tracking and billing stay in the TMS. For the stage-by-stage version of that process, from discovery to a signed contract, see our guide to the 3PL sales process.
What is the best CRM for freight brokers?
The best fit is the one that matches how your brokerage sells. Check four things: each RFQ carries the lane, equipment and a quote with a valid-until date; follow-ups are created automatically; buy rate and margin can be hidden by role; and data moves between the CRM and your TMS. Senitix CRM covers the first three, and because it has no packaged TMS connector, records move between the two as CSV or Excel files. Plan details are on the pricing page.
Do freight forwarders need a CRM if they already have a TMS?
Usually, because the two do different jobs. A TMS or forwarding system runs the shipment once it is booked: bookings, documents, tracking, carrier costs and billing. A CRM runs the selling before that: the RFQ, the quote versions, the follow-up, the award and the renewal. A customs broker splits its work the same way, with entries filed in its customs software and the client pitch, the fee quote and the annual agreement kept in the CRM. Senitix CRM replaces neither system and has no packaged connector to one; shipper and deal records move between them as CSV or Excel files.
How do you track shipper RFPs and lane awards in a CRM?
Treat each RFP as a deal on the shipper account. The bid deadline, lane count and incumbent can be custom fields, and each round’s rate file a new version in the Documents module. When lanes are awarded, a contract record holds the award, its start and end dates and the renewal terms, and a date-based rule opens the renewal task before the next bid season. Note on the deal which lanes went to another provider as well, so the next bid season starts from them.
Can a CRM hide carrier buy rates from some users?
Yes. In Senitix CRM the buy rate and the margin can be custom fields on the deal, and field-level permissions decide which roles can read them. A rep or a customer service role can work with the sell rate and the quote version while the buy rate stays with the people who price the freight. Access to the record itself is set by role, department and ownership.
Does a logistics CRM integrate with a TMS or load board?
Not through a packaged connector: Senitix CRM has no built-in link to a TMS or a load board. Accounts, contacts and deals move in and out as CSV or Excel files, and a full data export can be scheduled. Contacts, accounts, deals and activities can also be read and written through a connected app the Senitix team registers for your workspace, though quotes are outside it. Outgoing webhooks are coming soon, so Senitix cannot push changes to a TMS today.
How should a freight broker follow up on spot quotes?
Quickly, and with a named owner. Give every quote a valid-until date, create the follow-up task as soon as the quote goes out, and record a reason when a deal is lost. In Senitix CRM a rule can add that task with a due date and notify the quote’s owner once a quote is sent, and Senitix AI can draft the follow-up email for the rep to review and send. See our guide to a freight broker follow-up system for spot quotes and lane bids.
Which reports should a freight sales team track?
Start with overdue follow-up tasks, deals by stage and owner, and won versus lost deals, then add quotes by status and valid-until date and contracts by end date. Senitix CRM builds each report from a template with standard and custom fields, respects each user’s permissions and can deliver it on a schedule. Shipment volume and on-time performance stay in the TMS.
Put your next RFQ on a deal
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