Brokers have one of the most challenging, yet important, jobs within the maritime industry: successfully identifying commercially available tonnage that is suited to their clients’ cargo and voyage specifications. In recent years, volatile markets, a steady rise in competition, and other complexities have brought challenges to the broking function not previously considered even as recently as a few years ago.
While broking challenges are both numerous and diverse, lack of information visibility and the decentralized control of key data points are the two threads that tie them all together. Let’s take a closer look at four ongoing obstacles and how Q88 Position List can address these challenges.
1. Market Volatility
It’s no secret—global freight markets are unpredictable. With an ever-changing playing field, a broker’s ability to remain ahead of market shifts can be challenging. Their ability to successfully do so is central to their ability to secure the best opportunities and serve clients in a superior way.
Q88 Position List empowers brokers with access to timely, high-quality market insights and the ability to track supply trends over time by analyzing data based on geographical criteria and vessel-specific data. In addition, it allows brokers to control how they view and utilize this data based on the most important decision criteria for their clients and their business. In short, giving the information when the clients need it, in a way that is relevant to market conditions, and in a timely manner, is the heart of the product.
2. Data Integrity
Poor data quality impacts the maritime shipping ecosystem at large, but its impact is especially significant for brokers. Despite the wealth of data generated by the maritime shipping industry each day, timely, accurate, and relevant data can be hard to come by, requiring brokers to search across multiple disparate sources. With each disparate system comes a corresponding delay. For brokers, delays are the enemies of opportunity.
With Q88 Position List, brokers can access high-quality data in one, centralized source of truth. The Q88 questionnaire integration ensures that brokers get information right from the source–ship owners and operators. Combine this with AIS data from multiple sources, TCE, CO2 and EEOI estimation capabilities, a lift calculator and more, brokers can improve information integrity while eliminating the need to consult disparate systems.
The result? An accurate view of the many variables that impact decision-making waiting at the broker’s fingertips.
3. Fast Pace of Business
Vessel positions can change in a moment’s notice due to a variety of factors, including port congestion, weather-related delays, rerouting, fuel issues, and other complexities that impact voyage timelines. Despite a variety of unexpected variables, clients expect brokers to consistently identify tonnage that is available and best suited to their needs—and fast. A prerequisite to keeping up with the pace of business is harnessing technology as a workflow accelerator and not a bottleneck. For brokers, even the briefest delay can be the difference between an opportunity captured and an opportunity missed.
With an intuitive interface, complete with single keystroke and one-click capabilities, Q88 Position List enables brokers to work rapidly in today’s fast-paced market. Multiple position lists and fixture reports can be generated without ever having to leave the platform, making workflows easier and more efficient. Brokers also have the ability to create email templates tailored to their use. Most importantly, the solution is accessible both from a standard browser and mobile app, empowering brokers to maintain visibility and control from anywhere.
4. Competitive Realities
The broker market is a competitive one, and brokers are constantly searching for ways to enhance their competitive advantage and bring superior opportunities to their clients. With an increasingly saturated market, finding differentiated opportunities can be a challenge. While shared deals have decreased in prevalence, cross-border relationships still play an integral role in identify opportunities across regions.
Q88 Position List enables brokers themselves to selectively share data to a controlled set of trusted partners, with the ability to change or modify access as needed. No need to email us—brokers can do it themselves and gain 100 percent transparency. Equipped with configurable sharing permissions, brokers are free to collaborate in the ways they see most beneficial to identify opportunities that are competitively distinct.
In addition, predictive search capabilities deliver visibility into a vessel’s next commercially available position to remain one step ahead, and brokers can easily record and store fixtures to make faster decisions.
Enhance visibility and control with Q88 Position List
In today’s dynamic broker landscape, business as usual isn’t enough to keep ahead. Thriving in this market requires brokers to harness the digital solutions to drive new levels of visibility and control. That’s where Q88 Position List comes in. Purpose-built to streamline and simplify broking, Q88 Position List delivers the centralized data and intuitive interface brokers need to identify the right vessels for their clients.
To see Q88 Position List in action and learn more about how it can serve your business, contact us to schedule a free demo.
