The marketing agency was a failure, but then they found how to bring customers

Ideal Fulfillment, founded in 2018, is a third party logistics (3PL) company. They serve as a “warehouse for hire” to companies who prefer to outsource the headaches that come with running a warehousing operation. Their specialties include e-commerce fulfillment, kitting services, B2B fulfillment, and Amazon FBA prep. They’re a full-service 3PL that can support custom or high-touch projects. They operate out of a beautiful, modern warehouse space in Southern California, with quick access to the Los Angeles and San Diego ports. Their team of over 20 employees is dedicated to supporting all of their clients’ fulfillment needs.

What is the main channel that attracts customers to your business?

Our customers are a diverse group of businesses, ranging from small, single-owner e-commerce brands to large multinational corporations. We fulfill a wide range of products on behalf of our clients, including canned beverages and other shelf-stable foods, apparel, mattresses and furniture, and COVID test kits, to name a few. Our customers typically find us through search engines, Google maps, or word of mouth from other happy customers.

What does your sales process look like?

Our sales process starts with either an inbound lead from our website, a referral, or outreach to prospective companies who we believe would be a good fit to partner with us. We have a discussion with each potential client about their pain points with their current fulfillment workflow, and explain how Ideal Fulfillment can help solve their problems.
We’ve seen significant growth over the last few years, with much of it related to the pandemic. It increased demand for e-commerce in general and gave many people the opportunity to start new businesses, many of which need fulfillment.

“We’ve seen success with building a sales team to perform outbound outreach to companies that might be a good fit for our services”

Can you provide two tips to increase sales?

We’ve seen success with building a sales team to perform outbound outreach to companies that might be a good fit for our services. Additionally, we’ve recently invested in both SEO and search ads to increase direct traffic to our website which has paid off with increased leads.

“Additionally, we’ve recently invested in both SEO and search ads to increase direct traffic to our website which has paid off with increased leads.”

Can you share a marketing strategy that you tried that didn’t work for you?

We’ve partnered with a marketing agency previously for management of ad spend, but our impression was that they were mostly interested in sitting back and collecting their fee instead of strategizing on behalf of our business. We’ve also seen minimal traction from social media, which is to be expected as a B2B business.

“There’s no point planning everything out because once you get in it you’ll inevitably realize new opportunities”

What advice would you give someone like you who wants to open a similar business?

I think the best advice is to just get started. You don’t need all the answers or every step clearly defined from day one – you just need to know the next step. There’s no point planning everything out because once you get in it you’ll inevitably realize new opportunities and verticals that you couldn’t have foreseen. The same is true of challenges and obstacles.

Ideal Fulfillment, founded in 2018, is a third party logistics (3PL) company located in California.