1. Pick one lane and one painful job
Logistics is too broad to sell. Choose one buyer and one task, like a 3PL warehouse manager reconciling carrier invoices, or a small DTC brand's ops lead chasing late LTL freight. Write it as one sentence: "We help [job title] at [company type] stop [specific task]." If you cannot fill that in, you are not ready to reach out.
2. Build a list of 50 named people
Use LinkedIn search with titles like "Logistics Manager", "Director of Operations", "Dispatcher", "Freight Broker", or "Supply Chain Coordinator", filtered to companies with 10 to 200 employees. Add local options: trucking companies, 3PLs, and distributors in your city via Google Maps. Put name, company, title, and one specific detail about each in a spreadsheet.
3. Go where operators already talk
Read before you post in r/logistics, r/FreightBrokers, r/Truckers, and r/supplychain, plus Facebook groups for owner-operators and freight agents. Note the exact words people use to complain about detention, tracking calls, load boards, or invoice disputes. Use their wording in your outreach, and answer questions helpfully without pitching.
4. Send short, specific messages
Write 10 a day, each one personal. Example: "Hi Dana, saw you run ops at a 40-truck carrier. I'm building a tool that cuts the 'where's my truck' calls from shippers. Could I ask you 3 questions about how you handle those today? 15 minutes, no pitch." Follow up once after 4 days, then stop.
5. Run discovery calls that find a budget
Ask how they handle the task now, how many hours a week it takes, what it cost them last month, and who signs off on tools. Ask "What did you try before?" If they already pay for a workaround, such as a VA, spreadsheets, or a legacy TMS add-on, money is there to redirect.
6. Offer a small paid pilot, not a free trial
Scope it tightly: "For 30 days we'll handle tracking updates for your top 3 shippers for $300. If it doesn't save your dispatcher 5 hours a week, I refund you." Do the parts your product can't yet do by hand. A low price that is still paid tells you far more than free usage.
7. Show up in person locally
Visit truck stops, warehouse districts, and freight yards nearby. Attend local chapters of groups like CSCMP or regional trucking association meetups. Bring a one-page printout of the problem and your pilot offer. Operators who meet you trust you faster than those who get a cold email.
8. Repeat daily and track every reply
Log every message, reply, call, and objection in one sheet, and update your one-sentence pitch each week based on what people actually say. Most first customers come after 50 to 150 targeted conversations, so consistency matters more than any single message. Hulby, an AI cofounder, can do this list-building and outreach work daily for you.
People asking this right now
Real, public posts from the last few weeks. Each one is somebody you could help today.
Mistakes to skip
- Targeting "logistics companies" instead of one job title with one problem.
- Giving free pilots that never convert because nobody had to get budget.
- Pitching in Reddit or Facebook groups before contributing anything.
- Building a full platform before one operator has paid for a narrow fix.
Want this done for your logistics startup, every day?
Hulby finds the people asking for what you built, writes every reply and email, and keeps you on it until they pay. Free to start.
Find my first customersQuestions
Should I target shippers, carriers, or brokers first?
Pick the group whose problem you understand best and who can decide quickly. Small carriers and brokers often buy faster than large shippers with procurement processes.
How much should I charge my first customer?
Enough that someone has to approve it, usually a few hundred dollars a month for a pilot. You can adjust once you see the value they get.
Do I need a working product to sell?
No. You need a clear promise you can deliver, even partly by hand. Many logistics tools start as a service done manually behind a simple interface.
How long does it take to land the first customer?
It depends on your niche and effort. If you send 10 personal messages a day, a few weeks of consistent outreach and calls is a reasonable expectation.