As important as price and capabilities are in securing new clients for a logistics firm, keeping those clients requires an even greater degree of understanding. Companies operate differently from one another; therefore, the processes designed to serve one client may create additional work for another.
Andre Schwager and Chris Meyer explain in Understanding Customer Experience that companies must understand how customers experience their service and whether that experience matches their expectations. Although a supplier may see that all shipments arrived on time and believe the customer is satisfied, that customer may have spent hours requesting status updates or resolving paperwork issues.
I asked Karim Abadir, Vice Chairman of Nacita Group, what keeps customers loyal in the logistics business. He explained:
“Every client's operations are different, so we take the time to understand their specific niche, train our staff around their exact requirements, and adjust our systems to integrate with theirs.”
Abadir pointed to Etisalat and NCR as examples of long-standing relationships built on understanding their specific operational needs and growing with them over the years. His response shows what customization requires in practice: time, staff training, and the flexibility to adjust as the client's business changes.
Turn Customer Feedback Into Reasons to Stay
For manufacturing and logistics marketing teams, customized service is easy to promise. Employees and systems must deliver that same level of customization when handling each client's business.
Before identifying areas for improvement, an account manager could ask the customer:
Ask Before You Act
“Based on your most recent order, what worked well, and where was extra work required for your staff?”
That provides the customer an opportunity to describe their experience before anyone assumes they know what needs to change. For example, a customer might receive inventory reports on time but need to modify the format before their staff can use them. This is a hypothetical example, but it demonstrates how a supplier can meet its own objectives while creating additional burdens for the customer.
The account manager can then share the feedback with operations and IT, who can help develop a report format that addresses the needs of both parties. After the customer has used the modified format, the account manager should contact them again to determine whether it saved time or reduced the number of corrections required. Their responses will help show whether the changes improved the customer's experience.
By listening to customers' needs and making changes that benefit them, suppliers can develop trust and give clients reasons to remain loyal. Renewal rates and repeat orders can measure customer retention, while ongoing conversations can help explain why clients choose to stay.
Customers' needs will evolve as their businesses grow. Suppliers need to continue seeking feedback and evaluating whether their services still meet those needs. These discussions should continue long after the initial sale.
