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GENERAL SALES AGENT
Is there a future for the traditional GSA? Text Esther Kort-Boreas Photo Chéváro
C
argo Magazine posed this question to Ralph van Eijk, air cargo specialist and owner of Chéváro Interim Management & Consultancy.
Ralph: “With the further digitisation of our industry – take the online booking tools as an example – the traditional General Sales Agent will slowly disappear. While shippers might ideally want to do business direct with airlines in order to be able to increase their margins, given the mass of paperwork they are still (rightly) dependent upon freight forwarders. In turn, agents want to be able to book freight and/or seek quotes as quickly as possible, efficiently but with more options. However, they still end up in the daily routine of numerous emails and telephone calls hoping they will obtain space at the correct tariff. Digitising these processes is undoubtedly necessary.”
Can all activities be digitised? “No, definitely not. In air cargo there are countless things that cannot be regulated with a digital system. Think about Weight & Balance or knowledge of the way certain sorts of goods may or may not be carried. In these sorts of cases, a good GSA will always add value for an airline when this knowledge is in-house and used in practice.”
What must GSA’s do so they do not risk falling by the wayside? “They need to quickly distinguish themselves because otherwise I fear their trusted earnings model will disappear. And thus, the survival of their company put in danger”, says Ralph. In response to the question as to how a GSA must and can distinguish itself, Ralph responds: “By offering various different services. Think, for example, of services such as E-commerce, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods solutions, accounting and personnel specialising at the operational level (for instance: loadmasters and ground staff). This, of course, necessitates investment by the GSA but I think that, in the coming years, this will separate the wheat from the chaff. The airlines would then not be forced to make choices only on economic grounds. The starting point for an airline’s choice would be how they might achieve maximum profit with the minimum of resources. In the GSA
Ralph van Eijk
world the ‘big fish’ are pushing flat out for takeovers/acquisitions; whilst in practice it appears that airlines often prefer to choose for the ‘local heroes’, the local/regional GSA.” At the beginning of 2021 Ralph established Chéváro; Interim Management & Consultancy specialising in air freight and logistics. He was contracted by Group Concorde, a private GSA with more than 300 employees in 15 offices in the Asian-Pacific region and the Middle East, to shape their commercial strategy. Ralph maintains contacts with both their existing as well as potential (airline) customers to show them the advantages of the GSA’s services and its distinctive capabilities. Ralph concludes: “I see myself as a ‘deal broker’. Linking the correct people, parties or products with each other. Helping companies to grow and build strong relations with customers as well as with the team of the company who has hired me. Motivating people to bring out the best of themselves, that’s my aim!”
+31 6 1110 9891 ralph@chevaro.nl www.chevaro.nl
Cargo Magazine
