The internet is amazing. At your fingertips, you instantaneously have access to knowledge about everything. Never before have we had this luxury of quickly and easily finding products, services or information.
So, here’s a question…if you’re busy surfing the net for customs brokerage services, does it matter where the company is located? Is it important that they are situated in your city? Is your decision based on the location of their offices?
Sometimes choices based on physical proximity are merely because of an assumed comfort factor. In short, an assumption that a company nearby is a better choice than a company a thousand miles away. To some degree, this decision may be valid if you will require frequent personal meetings, but… what is reality today? Even if a vendor is local, how often do you have face to face meeting? The truth is that most of our communication is via phone, fax, or a myriad of electronic devices.
Probably to a larger extent, decisions are made on rational purchasing evaluations. In other words, it”s less of where they are, and more a question of who they are and what services they can provide. Some factors to consider may include:
Knowledge
- Experienced employees, where many hold customs brokerage designations
- Methods of training and educating their employees
Experience
- The types of companies and industries where they specialize
- Client longevity
- Number of years in business
Accessibility
- Operating hours / ability to easily communicate / 24 hour LIVE reception / no automation voice system
Company Culture
- Company focus / client service
- An emphasis on detail, accuracy and compliance
Credibility
- Examples of how they have helped other companies
- Notable achievements and successes
- References
Client Education
- Methods employed to update their clients and the frequency of the messages
- Trade Compliance Seminars / webinars
Let”s go back to the misconception of making a choice based on the locations and/or number of offices of the customs broker. We need to dispel the myth that they need to have offices at every airport, ocean terminal or border point where your shipments are going to enter Canada or the U.S. Years ago this was an important factor as the clearances required a physical presence at every place. Today, almost all commercial clearances in the U.S. and Canada are done electronically. This means that the customs broker obtains the trade data (usually in the form of a customs or commercial invoice, and other supporting documents), transmits the information to the respective customs agency (and other governmental agencies depending on the type of goods), and requests the clearance of the shipment. They also “confirm” the entry electronically once the shipment has been released by sending a final declaration or customs entry to Customs. Although the entry point into that country must be correctly declared to Customs, the act of transmitting the data could take place from any location.
Now when you are looking for a dependable customs broker, you can broaden your horizons and explore the best alternatives.
Tags: Customs Brokerage
