Madrid, Spain, October 25. – Staggering under an avalanche of mail, the new Conqueror freight forwarders network has drastically simplified its membership application procedure. Applicants now must complete a single form, available on www.conquerornetwork.com, and extra staff has been hired to deal with the backlog.
“We had a bigger response than we bargained for, and in our zeal to identify the most qualified candidates, we had asked for too much information and too many documents,” admits Antonio Torres, who designed the network of selected independent forwarders to operate like a “virtual multinational”, with exclusive territories, internal discipline, and a single brand.
Torres, himself a veteran freight forwarder, says the new application form can be completed in an hour. “It’s much easier now. The shorter form still lets us identify the best candidates to represent us in each of the 564 territories. We then ask for additional information only from the finalists.”
The network’s coordinator, Russell Whittington, explains: “So many applications and enquiries came in that we had to interrupt our recruitment drive just to cope with all the correspondence.” Whittington says that hundreds of applications and thousands of emails have been received since the September 15 launch, which has forced the postponement of promotional campaigns on several continents.
“Conqueror was designed very carefully to ensure that all the members will obtain large increases in business volume, in a protected environment,” explains Torres. “So we expected a reasonably good response, but nothing like this. Forwarders are busy and they don’t necessarily read all the messages they receive. It was a big help that our launch was reported by the specialized press.”
Torres says he is now confident that Conqueror will surpass its first goal: to cover the world’s 60 most important cities within six months.
Unlike other networks, Conqueror carefully selects its members, which will have exclusive rights to a territory, and must agree to use other members for at least half their shipments. There is a free six-month trial period.