Ben Richman is a dynamic leader and entrepreneur. As the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ProfitTrust, Richman has a proven record of helping clients significantly reduce their small parcel shipping costs. Based in the heart of the bustling city of Manhattan, with additional offices in Boca Raton and Long Island, ProfitTrust uses automated technology to save businesses money by cutting shipping expenses. With no IT onboarding, no waiting period, and results that are immediately effective, ProfitTrust operates on a contingency fee basis—only getting paid when they deliver savings. Their impressive client roster speaks for itself.
When clients approach ProfitTrust, they’ve either been trying to manage their shipping costs in-house or aren’t sure whether they’re getting the refunds and rates they’re entitled to. New clients go through a streamlined six-step process designed to lower their shipping expenses. It begins with an invoice review, which allows ProfitTrust to assess a client’s billing practices and pinpoint where costs can be cut.
The next step is benchmarking and analysis, where ProfitTrust examines current spending and identifies better pricing options. In phase three, clients receive a savings assessment that highlights areas where they have been overspending.
Once the client approves the proposed strategies, ProfitTrust moves to phase four: implementation of savings initiatives. Phase five provides clients with an itemized monthly report detailing where shipping costs have been reduced, along with a comparison of initial benchmarks and newly improved rates. Finally, ProfitTrust ensures continued rate compliance, making sure carriers are billing at the agreed-upon lower rates, not the previous ones.
But how did ProfitTrust begin?
“I used to be a New York lawyer,” Richman told Fashion Mannuscript. “I enjoyed it, but early on, I realized I wasn’t fond of the confrontational side of the work. That led me to think about what else I could do that would be more fulfilling. I’ve always been entrepreneurial, so I started developing my own product ideas. My first was the Egg Genie—a device that could boil and poach eggs automatically. It became a success through an infomercial, and major retailers stocked it. That led to a partnership with one of the biggest names in the infomercial industry, and together we launched dozens of successful products.”
As demand grew, Richman began looking for ways to increase his margins, leading him into the logistics space. “Manufacturing and raw material costs were pretty fixed, so I turned to logistics, specifically small parcel shipping, and that’s when we developed the ProfitTrust technology.”
When it comes to leadership, Richman prefers a hands-off approach. “My leadership style is pretty autonomous. I believe in trusting the people we hire to do their best work. If someone is delivering, it’s clear, and if they’re not, that’s apparent too. Micromanagement is a sign that something isn’t working, and it won’t last long in those cases. If I have to constantly oversee someone, it usually means they’re not meeting expectations, and that’s a problem that needs to be addressed quickly.”
This autonomous leadership style has been a key factor in ProfitTrust’s ability to innovate and stay ahead of its competition. “People always ask us how we stand out in the industry, and the answer is always the same: our technology. While our competitors do a good job, our technology is what sets us apart. It’s fully automated and provides refunds and savings that wouldn’t otherwise be captured. When we demonstrate the platform to potential clients, it really sells itself. We actually prefer working with clients who already have a service provider because they can immediately see how much more advanced our technology is in terms of increased refunds, reporting, and rate savings.”
Ross Brenner, senior vice president and head of sales, has focused on many different verticals, and has found that all clients get the same benefit no matter their volume or service type. “Our clients save money by automatically ensuring they are getting what they paid for without allocating resources to verify or manage the status of a package,” said Brenner. “Our technology, including optimization, compliance and reporting, offers these capabilities on a shared savings basis, everyone wins.”
ProfitTrust leverages big data from billions of dollars in shipping spend, providing clients with insights they couldn’t get on their own. “Shippers know their own data, but they don’t have access to a database of thousands of other shippers to compare or reconcile what they should be paying or getting back in refunds,” Richman explained. “It’s like going car shopping and knowing exactly what the dealer paid for the car and the minimum they’re willing to accept—it’s a game changer.”
ProfitTrust’s results speak for themselves, with clients seeing an average savings of around 20%. “Having the data and knowing how to position it to benefit our clients is our secret sauce. Even clients who believe they have good rates usually discover improvements they didn’t know were possible. Our data is incontrovertible. If our technology says you should be paying less, then you should be paying less.”
Richman is always looking for ways to keep ProfitTrust ahead of the curve. “We’re constantly iterating, reviewing data, creating new reports, and refining our processes to ensure we’re delivering the best possible savings for our clients.”
Looking ahead, Richman sees continued growth for ProfitTrust. “In the next year, and over the next three to five years, we’re adding more carriers and modes to our technology. Clients will be able to see all their shipping data in one place—parcel, regional, last mile, ocean, air, LTL, and FTL. The visibility and auditing capabilities will be unmatched. ProfitTrust technology will keep evolving to save our clients even more money across multiple shipping modes.”
