Business News

Thu Nov 25

4 Things To Look For In A Customs Broker

Written by NewsServices.com

Running a business entails the teamwork of many professionals. Some work within the four walls of the main business premises while others work outside. One of those who work in the field is a customs broker.

Especially when you’re in the wholesale and retail business that’s responsible for the import and export of goods, a customs broker Sydney and others is what you’ll need. They're professionals who deal with the legalities and logistics of the goods exported and imported.

For your business to enjoy the maximum benefits of having a customs broker, it’s important to learn how to wind up hiring the best. There are certain non-negotiable factors that'd enable you to achieve this. Here’s a list of those:

Specialization In Your Product Line Or Type

This factor is an important one to select when you’re in the business of selling goods that are highly specialized. This refers to goods that need extra care during transport and other handling procedures. If this is the case, you need to choose a customs broker that holds a specialization in your specific product line or type.

For instance, alcoholic beverages are led by different transportation laws that apply to their importation. Not all customs brokers out there may have experience in handling alcoholic beverages, so choosing the wrong one may put you in a troublesome position with the authorities.

Expertise With The Latest Policy And Regulation Changes

If you’re not well-versed with policy and regulations surrounding importation, transport, and customs duties and laws, then don’t take it upon yourself to fulfil that responsibility. Without the guidance and sound advice coming from a customs broker, there’s a good chance that you’d find yourself in sticky situations.

It’s common to have a good day today and then one full of troubles the next day all because you weren’t able to stay afloat with the latest policy and regulation changes. It's your custom broker’s responsibility to ensure that your company is up-to-date with any changes in those standards.

In effect, your business’s operations can continue moving smoothly. You can avoid any potential setbacks that may lead to financial penalties and delays.

Top-Notch Experience With The Day-To-Day Tasks Of A Customs Broker

This third factor may seem like an obvious one, but it’s important to emphasize. The reason behind this is that there may be other professionals who’d claim they’re customs brokers when they’ve just started learning the grips of the trade.

While it’s good to give up-and-coming brokers a chance, you may have to be ready to face the challenges and errors that come with inexperience. Truth be told, those errors should be the last thing on your mind, given the complexities that importing naturally comes with.

It's important to choose a customs broker that exhibits top-notch experience even with the basic day-to-day tasks. These include:

* Arranging shipment from ports to different storage units or warehouse locations;
* Preparing all the different legal documents like customs declarations;
* Assisting with getting the appropriate clearance from government agencies;
* Calculating the appropriate customs duties for every shipment.

Presence Of Proper Licenses

Your purpose in hiring a customs broker is to make your transactions easier and smoother, not for them to be the root cause of problems you’ll have to face. This is the reason why it’s important to choose one who holds the proper licenses to work as a customs broker. This license should be a non-negotiable requirement for you to look for.

While the need to choose one with the proper licenses may seem like a no-brainer, it can be overlooked by many businesses. When there are many professionals working as licensed brokers, it’s not surprising how you may settle for those with cheaper rates. If you aren’t careful, that could be at the expense of holding the proper licenses.

Double-check and always ask about the presence of those licenses. Make sure they have all the legal permits to work in your local jurisdiction.

Conclusion

The shipping of goods that’s an inherent part of a business can be a complicated matter, especially when you don’t know where and how to get started. Perhaps you don’t have a network of connections that can help smoothen up the process of you. This is where having a customs broker is beneficial. But for them to work for the benefit of your business, you have to select a qualified one. Be sure you’re on the lookout for factors and attributes like those discussed above. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you improve your operations.

Thu Nov 25

Why Do People Need a Salesforce Consultant

Written by Daily Bulletin

If you’re an experienced user of Salesorce, you might take advantage of the many Salesforce Certification Resources available to you and become a salesforce consultant. It could mean a whole new career, but some hesitate wondering if it’s really worth it. Should you spend the time and money you have pursuing this certification? The answer is most certainly “yes, yes you should!”

But why? Let’s start with discussing the main reasons people need Salesforce consultants in the first place. When you know these, you’ll see why getting a certification to become a consultant on all things Salesforce is a smart move.

1. Companies Need Consultants’ Insights

Why does any company hire any consultant like business analyst salesforce? For key insights and perspectives that they don’t have in-house. As a consultant, you might visit a company full of people who basically know how Salesforce works and how to use it for their day-to-day business. But are they really getting the most possible out of this CRM system? Is it delivering a good ROI to them? This is something that you as a Salesforce consultant will be able to do for them.

This is the first and most valuable service you’ll be able to offer. CRM systems are increasingly important in modern business, but large numbers of companies are failing to use their features to their full potential. Many systems are still new to companies, so a consultant with their elevated knowledge is like gold dust.

2. Salesforce Releases Many Updates

One of the factors behind the success of Salesforce since its initial launch back in 1999 has been the company’s grasp of how rapidly the business environment around the world is changing. That being the case, the company has become known for its rapid release of new updates, patches and tweaks that allow their system to adapt to changing circumstances. There are usually so many updates that only those the most experienced and familiar with the Salesforce system can really appreciate them.

This is where consultancy comes in. For a business to really understand how Salesforce is changing as it updates, a consultant can offer unbeatable know-how. They can create simple communications to explain updates in terms that team members can follow, as well as create presentations to explain these updates and train team members in better understanding Salesforce’s “culture of updates.”

3. Strategy Building

Besides just getting a company more cognizant about how they can use their Salesforce system, a consultant can help the company leadership to form a more unified and effective CRM strategy. Based on what they know about the company, its goals, its team members and their current level of Salesforce knowledge, consultants can make plans to train and develop further skills within the team, create a unified and considered approach and turn the CRM plans from vague ideas to solid blueprints for creating success!

4. Decision Making

A Salesforce consultant can use their knowledge of the system to quickly provide assistance to company managers, team leaders and others when they’re struggling to make decisions. This is especially true for those times when managers and leaders are without reliable information or reports of what’s going on. When information is piecemeal and inconsistent, it can be much more stressful when it comes to taking tough decisions. A leader might take very difficult and painful decisions that are actually not necessary when you are aware of the bigger CRM picture. That bigger picture can be provided by a Salesforce consultant.

5. Building In-House Expertise

Finally, companies want consultants on Salesforce because they badly, even desperately want to nurture in-house talent and skills on Salesforce. A consultant with considerable skill in training others is a useful tool to that end and they will likely pay handsomely for the privilege.