On time, in excellent condition, within budget, reliable and responsive. The foundational attitude elements of successful last-mile service. Yet many businesses successfully achieve these measurables and still run through hundreds of complaints weekly with nothing to offer in resolving the complaint aside from a “saving face” free shipment or discount directly from the carrier.
How does this happen?
Our attitude is what influences actions and only when the right attitude for the moment is presented do we attain positive results. Smiles and hand-shakes, or elbow bumps in this post-covid world, are only going to take us so far.
In this edition of #LogisticsLounge we take a look at Fast4wd Logistics’ “White Glove Attitude” as a foundational element that should not be overlooked by carriers and shippers alike as they plan for and build their last-mile strategy.
In our last edition we spoke about White Glove Services and decoded this popular buzzword throughout the industry and Jonathan Delnea, CEO of Fast4wd paraphrased this term into “premium delivery service” and a unique “luxury” service that today’s customers expect to receive.
This expectation has been made a customary business practice by the widespread adaptation towards “Total Customer Experience” programs that the retail industry has invested millions of dollars in developing. Yes, Delnea uses a cross-industry parallel between the retail industry’s “Total Customer Experience” sales training programs with the Last-Mile Logistics sector “White Glove Service” requirement.
Customer service is not a department. It’s an attitude!
In the rapidly increasing direct-to-consumer (D2C) delivery service link, a sector that is absent the faculties afforded to consumers by retailers such as calming showrooms and professionally designed customer comfort areas within the brick and mortar establishments, and it is here where the answer to the question of how complaints are accrued even though the service was exactly as required hides. These sales floors are the home of thousands of highly skilled and suitably trained “Total Customer Experience Professionals” that once provided each buyer with a personal experience from the moment they walked into the store and through every part of the transaction including post-transaction “congratulations on your purchase” care and follow up. A vital element that is not in the final-mile process.
Having recognized this area of customer service effort that has been removed from the purchase experience, Delnea and his team at Fast4wd have revisited the core foundation of their delivery services and have placed emphasis on the “Customer Service Professionalism” within their customer facing positions throughout the company. This is what F4 describes as a “White Glove Attitude”.
It takes months to find a customer… less than 30 seconds to lose one
“For all first and last-mile service providers, it is important to understand that customers make a judgment on the entire service they receive within the first 30 seconds of their interaction with our fleet operators and often base their entire experience on that brief interaction.” said Delnea as he walked us through the areas his team at F4 emphasize and offer as training in their “White Glove Attitude Program”.
White Glove Services often incorporate elements that are added-value to the customer such as debris removal, installation packages, appliance and recycling removal and much more. “These elements within White Glove programs are designed to show customers that we want to help and we sincerely care and value them enough to offer them a better than “expected” experience with us” said Delnea. “When our drivers do this for our customer it creates a loyalty that cannot be measured in traditional means however can be seen on social media and review websites when customers really take to a particular driver for these efforts put forth and, alternatively, also when a driver is unsuccessful in achieving this element of sincerity with the customer much the same as a Retail Sales Professional would encounter when a customer walks out without transacting” he continued.
A successful attitude is always looking for opportunities to help
This is the element that many common carriers are struggling with as the economies of scale in transport push for more dense delivery routes with higher delivery stops per hour within the area, leaving the length of time each delivery driver has to interact with a customer on the minimal side of the scale. “This industry difference is, in and of itself, a stark contrast to the retailer Total Customer Experience model and one consolidators and volume based carriers are unable to perform on a global scale” Delnea comments.
Proactive customer service costs less than damage control
While shippers continue to negotiate rates with large common carriers that will satisfy the shipping cost they can absorb before out-pricing their product, they need to consider the hidden costs in that negotiation process. Those same customers who require “free delivery” have grown to expect a service level that goes beyond friendliness and on-time delivery as they have experienced the outstanding attention and sincerity offered in interaction with brick and mortar sales floor professionals.
Delnea states “This service expectation and need does not leave the buyer when shopping from home; it only changes the process in which we must work to attain that expectation.”
A satisfied customer is the best strategy and attitude
If shippers are to allow their last-mile option to compete with the sales floor model, as has been the reality for many since December 2019, they should embrace the business top-line factors that can come through the development of a White Glove Last-Mile area of customer service and the investment they put into it. Much like the retail industry who has invested millions of dollars in sales floor personnel training that nurtures the buyer through the entire process, so too can your last-mile delivery service provider offer the industry equivalent, to keep your clients satisfied and coming back. Any last-mile strategy without this element included is leaving business up to chance encounters and the reason for most of the complaints filed.
Do you walk in your customers shoes?
Businesses that adapt to this White Glove Final-Mile offering will quickly realize that loyalty and customer life cycles will grow with their investment into this revised version of their sales floor criterion, which often times proves more economical than use of consolidators and common carriers to perform the service.
Partnering with a private carrier like Fast4wd Logistics who offers White Glove options and understands the importance of a customer-centric “White Glove Attitude” will show your customers the respect they deserve, encourage loyalty and support top-line growth by effectively offering a cross-industry parallel for Total Customer Experience Success that customers have grown to expect when transacting with sellers.
