And my thoughts today turn to Customer Service. It's an overused term (and often misunderstood by those who use it) but it's one of those things you can tell pretty quickly either is (or isn't) there, just by being a customer and experiencing not just whether - but equally importantly how companies deliver their service. It's also something you see mentioned in pretty much every company's sales literature or on their website, but do they really demonstrate that to their customers every day?
I've always had a really customer focused / service mentality, from the early days as an trainee import broker at Immediate Transportation at Manchester Airport. Maybe something that was instilled in me by my old boss, Mr Neil Coleman, the branch manager of Immediate Transportation. He was an "old fashioned" boss, very fair, principled, cared about his staff and set the example on how we treated our customers. This was "company culture" before anyone had even defined it. He also made you breakfast when you arrived, sometimes egg on toast, sometimes hot porridge in winter (very important if you'd just ridden 10 miles in January on your motorbike!). Those days are long gone...!
That customer attitude was developed even further when I went to work for WTC Air Freight (see my earlier posts for more about my early career). They were on another level as far as the customer was concerned because they kept the customer informed on every shipment, and if something went wrong, they didn't sweep it under the carpet and hope it'd solve itself. They got their proverbial hands dirty, chasing up the problem with airlines, shipping lines, transport companies Customs or any other link in the chain which was delaying one of their customer's shipments. Sometimes people on the front line with customer facing roles are afraid to convey bad news to customers, maybe because of a lack of confidence or fear of a bad reaction, but most customers I know want the truth - and straight after that - the plan of action to recover the situation. Pretty reasonable I'd say.
WTC Air Freight also had a "Profit Share" scheme which was shared amomgst all staff and gave out rewards to any member of staff who suggested a better way of doing something which would improve service, save time or save money. Pretty good for 1984. So I was working in a very customer driven organisation and to be honest, it suited me down to the ground, because I knew that if we showed our customers that we cared week in week out, on standard shipments and tricky ones, that they'd remain loyal, and they did. I only left WTC (by default) when we were acqquired by Pittston Group, owner of Burlington Air Express / BAX Global, which has now been acquired itself by Schenker. That was interesting, my first experience of two different company cultures coming together - they weren't massively different - but they were different. I became the Import Air Freight Manager at BAX Global after a few months and I think we did a pretty good job of keeping the WTC customer spirit and customer focused culture alive in the merged company. You can read more on that in the early "CV" blogs.
So when I fast forward to today, we've carried that same customer focused attitude and culture into Straightforward Consultancy and as a result, and when we feel it's needed, we sometimes do extraordinary things for our customers.
That might be calling Australia at 0600 hours to talk to one of our UK customer's suppliers to confirm that a critical shipment was picked up that day (giving us and the customer peace of mind). Or last week, calling a freight forwarder in Chicago at 2200 hours to make sure that when UK business started the next day that we had the information we needed, because as far as I'm concerned, the line I really can't accept from a freight forwarder is "Well, we haven't had a reply email from our Chicago office overnight. They're 6 hours behind so we'll try them again this afternoon"
The way this sounds to the customer is as follows....
"We do care about your business but we've been let down by our Chicago office so it's not our fault so let me send them a 2nd request and I will let you know when I have news. Sorry that your order has now been delayed by another 24 hours but we're really busy and we're doing the best we can for you"
As far as I'm concerned - not really acceptable. I always think a little further than a "shipment". Actually that shipment is an order or orders for my customer's or customers of my client and so I always think, what will the impact to my client be if, tomorrow morning, we have no status update or almost as bad - incomplete info? And you can't turn back the clock. Not having the result or information you need will not only let down the customer but it will probably create extra work trying to figure out a plan B because we've lost 24 hours.
9 times out of 10, there is a good reason why the customer needs that order. It could be a line stoppage, or an end customer which could be jeopardised if the order isnt delivered in time.
We manage the freight / logistics models for quite a few customers here in the UK and you could argue "Well what are we paying the freight forwarder for, if they don't keep us informed or give us priority service when we need it?" The truth is that many freight forwarders are bombarded with information and demands on their time and it's easy for them to forget to follow up on a matter for one customer as they may have 150-200 customers at their branch.
After we've appointed a freight forwarder for our client's import or export freight portfolio, what we're doing is monitoring the service and getting involved when either the customer asks us to OR when we spot something is falling off the radar and it needs some focus. As we speak the freight forwarder's "language", we can talk to them on their level and know what can be achieved. We often act as a cushion, because even if it is the freight forwarder's responsibility to follow something up, it could be that the department is short staffed (sickness/holidays) and even though it may be their responsibility, what counts is that someone takes action, which is where we come in.
For me, customer service is thinking about the events from the customer's perspective and making them feel as though they are your only customer. What that does is build incredible loyalty and a feeling from their side that you're more than just a supplier, you're a stakeholder in their business.
Kind Regards
Andy Cliff
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