Sellium for International LogisticsSellium for International Logistics:international freight quotes on WhatsApp
An importer asks for a price on a container from Shanghai on a Saturday night, and the cargo goes to whoever answers first. Sellium quotes FCL, LCL and air freight from your rate sheet, with surcharges, transit time and validity, and logs the opportunity in your CRM, so your sales team doesn't spend the day building spreadsheets.
How do you quote international freight on WhatsApp with AI?
You quote international freight on WhatsApp by connecting an AI sales agent to the forwarder's rate sheet, CRM and TMS: the agent gathers origin and destination, mode (FCL, LCL or air), container type and count or weight and volume, commodity and Incoterm; applies the current rate by carrier or airline and trade lane with its surcharges (BAF, THC, ISPS and any others that apply), states estimated transit time, next sailing and rate validity, and adds the services the customer needs, such as customs clearance or delivery at destination.
In International Logistics, this hits the commercial bottleneck: account executives who spend much of the day answering quotes that never close, and requests that come in when the office is closed. Anything outside the rules (dangerous goods, project cargo, a charter) goes to an executive with the details already gathered.
The full picture of the sector (the five agents of the Vantegrate Suite applied to forwarders, carriers, 3PLs and customs brokers) is on the International Logistics page.
Where a forwarder's sales team hurts
What keeps coming up at forwarders, freight agents and customs brokers: the quote is the front door to every shipment, and it's built by hand.
Quotes that take hours
The executive builds each quote in a spreadsheet, with every carrier's rate sheet and the week's surcharges. The importer asked three forwarders for a price and books with whoever answered first.
Rates and surcharges that keep moving
GRIs, peak season, BAF and THC shift all the time. Quoting from an outdated rate sheet means losing margin or losing the cargo, and checking it by hand on every request doesn't scale.
Requests after hours and from other time zones
The customer asks on Saturday or from another time zone, and the reply comes on Monday. Meanwhile, the goods keep waiting and someone else makes the call.
Senior staff serving first-time importers
The small business importing for the first time asks what FOB means or how much it will pay in duties, and ties up the executive who should be closing annual contracts.
How Sellium solves it in global trade
The agent's capabilities, mapped to quoting: each one runs on your rate sheet, your commercial rules and your systems, not on a generic freight calculator.
Every mode
Quotes ocean, air and road
Full containers by type and count, consolidated cargo by cubic meter or weight, air freight by chargeable weight and international trucking, port to port or door to door, depending on what the customer asks for.
Current rate
Rate sheet and surcharges up to date
Applies the rate by carrier, airline, trade lane and contracted volume, with current surcharges and any GRI that applies, and states the validity of each quote so it isn't used after it expires.
Incoterms
Plain answers for first-time importers
Explains to a small business what each Incoterm (EXW, FOB, CIF, DAP, DDP) covers, when FCL or LCL makes sense for its volume and what details a quote still needs, without tying up a senior executive.
Customs
Adds customs and delivery at destination
Adds the customs clearance, insurance and delivery at destination you offer, with a duty estimate subject to the tariff classification your customs broker confirms.
Booking
Books the shipment in your TMS
If the customer accepts, it checks the account balance and credit line, and enters the booking in your TMS (CargoWise, Magaya or another) with ETD, vessel or flight and booking number, with no retyping.
Outside the rules
Escalates special cargo with the case ready
Dangerous goods, project cargo, breakbulk or an air charter go to a trade executive with origin, destination, dimensions, weight and dates already gathered, and the opportunity open in the CRM.
The quote request that comes in on a Saturday at 9 PM
The full flow for a forwarder's most common request: an importer who needs to bring in goods and wants a price now.
Saturday 9:05 PM
The importer asks on WhatsApp
They need to bring 14 pallets of spare parts from Shanghai to Buenos Aires and want to know what it costs and when it arrives. They send a photo of the proforma invoice with weights and dimensions.
9:06 PM
Identity and cargo details
Sellium identifies them by tax ID in the CRM, takes weight and volume from the proforma and asks what's missing: the purchase Incoterm and whether they need customs clearance.
9:08 PM
FCL versus LCL, with numbers
It compares a 20' container with consolidated cargo for that volume, with the current rate, surcharges, estimated transit time, next sailing and validity for each option.
9:09 PM
Quote in the chat and in the CRM
It sends the quote in the chat and as a PDF, with customs clearance and delivery at destination as add-ons, and logs the opportunity in the CRM with every detail.
Monday 9:30 AM
The executive starts with the case solved
The importer confirmed LCL on Sunday. Sellium checked the account balance and entered the booking in the TMS; the executive reviews the booking and coordinates with the customs broker.
A quote that used to wait until Monday and compete with two other forwarders went out in four minutes and turned into a booking, without anyone on the sales team working the weekend. Multiply that by every request that comes in after hours.
Why quote speed wins the cargo, by the numbers
Public benchmarks on response speed, B2B buyers and selling time.
7x
More likely to qualify a lead when contacting it within the first hour than one hour later
70%
Of sales reps' time goes to non-selling tasks, by their own account
24 h
From the customer's last message to reply without a template; after that, only with an approved template
Public benchmarks, not our own results. The Harvard Business Review figure measures web leads contacted by phone or email and is used as a reference for response speed; the Gartner survey covered 632 B2B buyers across industries, who still prefer talking to a salesperson for complex decisions; the Salesforce survey covered sales reps across industries. Every Sellium implementation is measured against a baseline agreed with the customer (time to quote, after-hours requests handled, quote-to-booking conversion).
Secure AI agents that work with your data
Sellium handles rate sheets, customer margins and account balances: a forwarder's most sensitive data. That's why it runs 100% on Salesforce and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, with those platforms' SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications and the permissions you set. We don't claim anyone else's certifications: Vantegrate enables, the customer operates and certifies.
Frequently asked questions about Sellium for International Logistics
Can it quote FCL, LCL and air freight from my own rate sheet?
Can it quote FCL, LCL and air freight from my own rate sheet?
Yes, that's what it's built for. Sellium quotes from your rate sheet by carrier, airline and trade lane, with current surcharges, each customer's contracted volume and each rate's validity. If a rate has expired or there's no rate loaded for that route, it doesn't make one up: it gathers the details and passes the quote to an executive.
What about dangerous goods, project cargo or charters?
What about dangerous goods, project cargo or charters?
It escalates them. Anything outside the rules you define (dangerous goods, oversized cargo, breakbulk, air charters or reefer cargo with special requirements) goes to a trade executive with origin, destination, dimensions, weight, dates and paperwork already gathered, and the opportunity open in the CRM so it doesn't get lost in the chat.
Can it explain Incoterms to a first-time importer?
Can it explain Incoterms to a first-time importer?
Yes, in plain language: what each Incoterm covers, when FCL or LCL makes sense for their volume and what details a quote needs. It can add a duty and tax estimate based on the tariff classification your customs broker confirms, since the broker gives the final classification.
Does it connect to CargoWise or another TMS?
Does it connect to CargoWise or another TMS?
Yes. Sellium runs on Salesforce and integrates with the forwarder's TMS (CargoWise, Magaya, SAP TM, Oracle TMS and others) to check account balances and enter the booking with no retyping, with ETD, vessel or flight and booking number. The connection is defined during implementation based on your system.
Does it follow up on quotes the customer doesn't confirm?
Does it follow up on quotes the customer doesn't confirm?
Yes, within the condition WhatsApp sets: while the customer has written in the last 24 hours, the agent can pick the conversation back up freely; after that, follow-up requires a Meta-approved template. It's useful, for example, to flag that a rate is about to expire. The details are in WhatsApp quote follow-up.
How much does Sellium cost for a freight forwarder?
How much does Sellium cost for a freight forwarder?
Sellium is priced in two parts: an initial implementation quoted for each company (discovery, training the agent on your rate sheet and rules, integrations and adjustments) and a monthly subscription with expandable AI credits, with no lock-in. You pay for WhatsApp messages directly to Meta, on your own account and with no markup from us. For the number for your case, request a quote with your request volume and your TMS.
Your next quote can go out before your competitor's
Tell us how you quote, which rate sheets you work with and which systems you use, and we'll put together a Sellium quote for your operation. If you prefer, let's talk on WhatsApp.
More solutions for Air and Ocean Logistics and with Sellium
The industry