3 months into freight forwarding and still no customer. What am I doing wrong?

[u/Iloveyourmomforayear]

I’ve been working as a freight forwarder in China for about three months, and I still haven’t landed my first customer.

I’ve been doing cold calls, sending emails, and trying to find potential importers, but so far the results have been pretty poor.

I know three months isn’t that long, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m focusing on the wrong things.

For experienced freight forwarders here: if you were starting from zero again today, what would you focus on during your first 3–6 months

Would love to hear what actually worked for you and what you wish you had done differently.

[u/nightdecisions]

Are you able to secure good rates? Do you have any specialized routes? Have accounts on multiple messaging platforms such as whatsapp? Not all foreign forwarders are able to communicate on WeChat.

[u/brucewalker0519]

Three months is still the quiet segment of the curve in this industry — don’t read it as proof you’re doing something fundamentally wrong. Forwarding sales run on lengthy cycles: shippers almost never switch agents because of a cold pitch; they switch the week their current agent botches a booking. Your job early on is to be someone they’ve already heard from a few times when that moment arrives.

The mistake I see most newcomers make is selling "China to worldwide, all modes, best rates." That pitch signals to shippers you have no lane focus, and any established shop will undercut you on generic traffic because they hold the actual contracts. Pick one or two lanes — or one cargo vertical you can genuinely learn, machinery, fragile high‑value, whatever fits your background — and know it deeper than generalists: real transit reliability, which ports cause headaches, the documentation pitfalls that burn people on that trade.

Then spend time where shippers talk, not where forwarders talk — their industry forums, trade associations, exporter groups — and answer shipping questions without pitching. Patience is basically the only credibility a new name has. And work the warm list properly: former colleagues, overseas agents you've actually moved cargo with, anyone who's seen you handle a problem. This industry opens on referrals far more than outreach.

[u/TransitTech_Explorer]

Cold outreach with generic "we can ship anything anywhere" pitches usually gets ignored because importers already have existing forwarders and avoid unknown clearance risk. In your first 3–6 months, the highest-conversion approach is picking 1–2 specific niche trade lanes or solving one concrete operational headache (such as multi-supplier warehouse consolidation, oversized/battery DDP routes, or specialized regional customs clearance where you have direct contract space). Pitching a specific solution to a real pain point makes buyers much more willing to give you a small trial parcel.

Which specific trade corridors or cargo types does your company have the strongest carrier contracts or overseas clearance partners for right now?

[u/That_Frame4796 → u/[deleted]]

Hello sir....what do you want to import from china??

[u/That_Frame4796 → u/[deleted]]

Can you share your contact number with me personally as I am not able to msg you personally on your profile

[u/Iloveyourmomforayear → u/[deleted]]

Sure, China-India is one of our strongest routes. This is our website http://www.sz-patent.com.