Every business requires increasing sales numbers to run the show. But the future of the company depends on having several long-term customers.
Sadly, it requires much effort to hold a freight customer's attention. Since customers' expectations from freight forwarders keep changing, it makes achieving long-term loyalty more difficult.
Having freight customers stick to your company requires consistent effort. Digitalization has caused freight forwarders to be found more easily. But it has also facilitated the faster movement of unhappy customers to your competitors. Your business can attract more loyal customers if you take care of a few core customer expectations.
Impact of unfulfilled customer
expectations
The more immediate impact of not meeting your customer expectations may seem only to lose their business. But sour endings with your customers may cause collateral damage to your business. A well-connected freight network can spread a negative review as fast as a positive one. Making expectations and communication clear to the customers helps avoid misunderstanding and any trouble. Digital communication with customers using CRM allows tracking any commitments made. Any unfulfilled expectations could then be used for further analysis.
Surprise charges that may annoy your
customer
A surprise freight charge to customers is like a restaurant asking you to pay for something you never ordered. Naturally, it upsets the customer and they may not wish to do business with you again. Incorrect freight billing problems arrive out of forwarders not having complete visibility. Knowing charges that may occur due to certain conditions should be communicated to the customer to avoid surprises. Delay in communication also creates mistrust for your customers. For instance, if a new charge is introduced at customs. It must be informed to existing and new customers before booking the shipment to prevent curious questions later.
Sharing realistic time frame for
delivery
Under pressure to close a sale, your team may make unrealistic promises.
But in reality, such promises do more harm to the company's reputation. Keeping
data about your average shipping time for service routes makes it easier for
salespersons to share estimates with customers. To enhance customer service,
forwarders can make use of freight management software for various KPIs
including:
- Job turnaround time
- Cost savings
- Order accuracy
- Productivity
- Capacity utilization
Fulfilling total freight requirements
of customers
If you want your customers to become your company's brand vehicles, you must win their trust. Shippers turn to forwarders for end-to-end management of their cargo. With the help of a freight management system, forwarders can handle transport, warehouse, customs clearance, and last-mile delivery. Cloud-based integrated solutions like Logi-Sys give forwarders the chance to meet shippers' comprehensive requirements.
Transparency about shipment progress
To avoid "Where's my shipment?" queries from customers, your team must timely share milestone updates. With increased technological awareness, customers are demanding finer details on the shipment progress. Automation in freight forwarding reduces the effort required to push updates to the customer. Implement a freight solution to auto-send alerts to your teams and customers as well. Workflow auto-handles intimations on milestones completed or missed, so the job progress is always on track. Best of solutions even provide customers with a self-login portal and a mobile app to track progress themselves.
Setting the expectations straight
Keeping customers in the dark is never a good idea when you aim to play the long-term game. Help your customers to know the finer details when it comes to shipping their cargo. Timely and clear updates help you to fulfill their expectations and win their trust. Use freight software to automate communication with your customers and turn them into your company's brand vehicles.
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