Improving the Customer Experience in Logistics

Customer service, no matter what industry you operate in, should be at the forefront of your business. By as early as next year, it’s expected that customer experience will overtake price and product as the most differentiating aspect between brands. Customers are at the centre of all operations! Their experience will dictate how people view your company, and ultimately how well your company performs. More and more, customers are communicating with one another and other companies across multiple platforms so it’s crucial that they have a good experience with your brand. It’s unquestionable that improving the experience for your customers will increase retention, satisfaction and revenue. 

Clients are a valuable asset, and for those in the logistics industry, the customer experience is ever more important. To sum it up in the simplest terms, a late delivery creates discontent, while a timely delivery creates content.

Improving the client experience

To provide great service, it is important to analyse the customer experience through the entire journey, from start to finish. With companies responding to customer needs more and more, there is a new-found appreciation for what customers experience as well as data about who they are and what they want. After all, understanding who your customer is and what they want is the first step in improving their experience. Now, we are privy to their satisfaction – or lack thereof – cumulating across multiple touchpoints. 

Though it’s important to thoroughly examine each company to address appropriate areas of concern, we’ve identified several aspects of the logistics experience that companies should focus on to keep customers coming back.

Company culture and character

The culture of your company and the communication skills of your employees are extremely important to the customer experience. The human touch that your employees add will be remembered by your customers, from smiling faces in the warehouse to the kind words from a customer service representative. In an industry with a complicated customer journey, having a team with a good attitude and the ability to cooperate will cultivate an environment that customers want to come back to. Here at SILA Global, we understand that our people are our most important asset and we provide ongoing training in all areas of the business, including customer relations.

Streamline operations

The combination of people and capabilities along with systems and processes is important to create a service that meets the expectations of customers. For example, a supply chain that is logically planned to exploit storage facilities, with an optimal layout and efficiency in inventory management, will meet requirements for successful operations, as well as improve profitability. It’s important to always be working toward higher efficiency and productivity to keep the cost of operation as low as possible, and therefore customers satisfied with both the process and the outcome (more profit)!

Transparency

Not only should the supply chain be optimised for efficiency, it’s also essential to provide customers with a full view of the entire supply chain, and ensure a real understanding of the operations. An effective supply chain starts with visibility, and being able to show customers the value you are providing them. Utilising modern technology solutions to share information and eliminate slow, unreliable communication methods like spreadsheets and email updates is vital to the customer experience. You can increase information sharing by taking advantage of data analytics, supply chain metrics and having employees able to monitor systems for problems. By increasing information visibility you can keep clients informed, as well as foster an environment of productivity and innovation in your workforce. 

This brings us SV3, which SILA developed with the understanding that achieving end-to-end supply chain visibility was crucial to lowering costs, improving efficiencies, preventing loss and most importantly, achieving competitive levels of customer service.

How SV3 improves the customer experience

SV3 encompasses SILA’s systems, people and processes. These commodities combined provide a powerful logistics solution that gives us an operational edge and allows our clients to vastly improve their operational efficiency and reduce costs. SV3 further provides transparency for our clients and empowers them to understand every step of their supply chain, allowing them to make informed decisions based on real-time data … and mitigate mistakes and associated stress. 

Our suite of SV3 products were designed to enhance the customer experience with full transparency over our operations and their freight. SV3 Connect links directly to the data warehouse, giving the customer full visibility of their shipments. It removes the need for traditional email updates and links workflows to give the customer full view and control of their shipment. SV3 Drive is an app-based program that gives customers a full visualisation of last-mile delivery, including real-time SMS and email updates, and AI smart routing and dispatch. Data that has been updated via the SV3 web-based platform is then made accessible by SV3 Analytics, which provides real-time data and analytics. 

For more information on how SILA can revolutionise the way you manage your supply chain,  head to our website www.sila.net.au or get in touch with our friendly teams in Australia or New Zealand:

Australia
Email sales@sila.net.au
Phone +61 7 3908 1690

New Zealand
Email sales@sila.net.nz
Phone +(07) 3733 2685