The Importance of Customer Service in a Fast-Paced Logistics World

The Importance of Customer Service in a Fast-Paced Logistics World

The 21st century global logistics world is quickly evolving and the needs of shippers are becoming more complex.  Today’s shippers expect more from their logistics providers than the ability to expedite a shipment or track a delivery; they expect a wide range of services from the very beginning of the supply chain to the very end, efficiently executed as an extension of their company.  They expect insight, strategic guidance, technology systems, and access to real-time data.  How can a logistics organization provide all of these services and thrive in a demanding fast-paced global logistics market?  One can argue the best strategy is to adopt a company-wide customer-centric culture and treat customers as valuable long-term strategic partners by truly understanding their complex needs.

Adopting a Customer-Centric Culture

Developing a customer-centric culture provides direction for the organization where customers are the focal point of all activities, decisions, and processes, ensuring exceptional value will be offered to customers.  In customer-centric organizations, each member understands their responsibility in meeting the customer’s wants and needs and plays an active a role in adding value to the customer experience.  Adopting a customer-centric culture is the best strategy for logistics companies to successfully compete in the 21st century information and service based global economy.  Globalization has made the logistics industry more competitive and the existing top benchmarks to measure providers such as efficiency and cost savings now include customer service.  Pushing customer service to the forefront and providing maximum value to the customer is essential to remaining a competitive global logistics provider.

Treating Customers as Long-Term Strategic Partners

Two fundamental questions customer-centric organizations asks are, “What does our customer really want?” and “How can we meet those demands?”.  Although these appear to be simple questions, to truly understand and answer them, a logistics provider must understand their shippers supply chains and the dynamics of their industries. When a provider understands the intricacies of the customer’s needs, they can work strategically and collaboratively to fine tune their technology and functionality around desired outcomes. A key aspect of strategically and collaboratively serving shippers is to operate with their customers’ customers in mind.  Supply chains are interconnected and any disruption along the link will ultimately affect the end user. An example of strategic collaboration can happen by way of logistics providers monitoring and analyzing carrier performance metrics that can identify patterns and root causes to issues. By taking corrective actions on issues, inefficiencies are eliminated in the transportation process and a positive impact will be seen throughout a customer’s supply chain.  Alternatively, another way to work collaboratively is by way of a customer keeping their logistics providers aware of major business changes to help minimize service disruptions. A focus on a collaborative customer relationship will benefit all parties involved to achieve a competitive advantage in the fast-paced global logistics world.

 

References:

The Strategic Importance of Customer Value http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=amj
Managing a Customer-Driven Supply Chain http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/managing-a-customer-driven-supply-chain/

About Allyn International

Allyn International is dedicated to providing high quality, customer-centric services and solutions for the global marketplace. Allyn's core products include transportation management, logistics sourcing, freight forwarding, supply chain consulting, tax management and global trade compliance.  Allyn clients range from small local businesses to Fortune 500 firms. Allyn conducts business in more than 20 languages and has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets. Highly trained experts are positioned throughout North America, Europe and Asia and Allyn regional headquarters are strategically located in Fort Myers, FL USA, Shanghai, PR China, and Prague, Czech Republic. For more information, log on to www.allynintl.com.