GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
What’s your best customer service tip for supply chain stakeholders?
Define the Scope Determine what’s in and what’s out of scope on any business transaction. Frequently, customers are lost because they had unrealistic expectations, usually for something that was out of scope. Setting expectations up front and with all parties will lead to better outcomes and ultimately, greater customer satisfaction. –Kevin Day President, LTL, AFS Logistics Begin your partnership with open communication. Setting expectations and key performance indicators from the beginning allows you to ensure goals are met and more easily measure performance. These can be revisited quarterly as your business evolves. –Amir Ghoddousi SVP, Sales, Parcel & Managed Transportation, Transportation Insight
HELP THEM HELP THEMSELVES. Doing business by email and phone no longer suffices. By empowering customers to do more themselves, like get quotes, track shipments, and pay online, you elevate the customer experience. –Gary Nemmers CEO, Magaya KEEP YOUR COMMITMENTS by managing customer expectations and providing transparency into production, supplier capacity, and inventory. Technology like automated PROCURE A QUARTER ZIP OR POLO with each of your customers’ logos on it. Put them on whenever you’re handling that customer’s freight. You can’t afford to treat your stakeholders’ business as if it’s anything other than your own. Their vendors are your vendors. Their KPIs are your KPIs. Their success is your success. –Whit Smith Director of Operations TA Services
order promising, for example, enables successful customer service, taking the guesswork out of order evaluation and multi-echelon inventory optimization. It ensures products are where they need to be—at appropriate times.
collaboration on pricing, timing, contract length, etc. Suppliers can offer those services proactively as a differentiated service. –Tom McDonough Senior Director of Supply Chain Solutions, Anaplan FIRST, UNDERSTAND YOUR TOTAL DELIVERED COST. Next, having clear metrics on which dollars drive incremental service and better execution is key. Lastly, avoid silos by having shared goals and projects among your supply chain leaders.
–Lachelle Buchanan Vice President, Logility
PROVIDE ACCURATE, REALISTIC LEAD TIMES for orders, be highly responsive, and understand stakeholder requests. Visibility is key as businesses tackle supply chain issues, including shifting demand, labor shortages, and evolving structural and geopolitical factors. –Andrew Billings Vice President & Supply Chain Lead North Highland OFFER SERVICES PROACTIVELY to differentiate your offering, as opposed to waiting for the customer to drive conversations around supplier relationship management, visibility,
–Eric Dunigan President and Co-Founder Arrive Logistics
MAKE IT EASY FOR STAKEHOLDERS TO SHARE THEIR REQUIREMENTS; monitor your supply chain for availability; be ready to find alternate suppliers at a moment’s notice; and make internal purchasing easy. We don’t usually view supply chain
6 Inbound Logistics • December 2022
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