Getting intimate with your customers!

In 2014, a survey done by BVL International interviewing 62 international supply chain executives as well as over 1800 respondents from the logistics and manufacturing industry found that the top priority for logistics managers was “meeting customer expectations” followed by “on-time delivery”.

As we head into a new year, the above statement is still valid, logistics and supply chain managers continue to face the challenge of responding to customer demands and to do it as quickly as possible.

According to Gartner findings in its 11th annual Supply Chain Top 25 stated that, “Increased customer intimacy means going beyond being demand driven and understand the customer value that you are offering different customers. It can be about responsiveness, efficiency, diversity or scarcity and the same company could be offering different customer values to different segments of its own customers.”

Planning for 2016 to be the year of getting intimate with your customers? Consider using tools that can help you with this.

Route Optimization Software provides strategic insight

Do you remember how stressful it was the last time you were not able to deliver on time to an important customer?

A good route optimization software can provide you with real-time data and analytics on the performance of your fleet, such as pinpointing in real time where every vehicle in your fleet is, the performance of each of them and receive instant notifications when there is a deviation in the planned route, so your fleet coordinator can make "quick" decisions with this information and can avoid non-satisfied clients.

Differentiate yourself from the competition

One of my favorite quotes about competitiveness is “The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competitors, the best way to put distance between you and the crowd is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose.” – Bill Gates

In order to survive and grow your logistics operation you will need to increase your competitive advantage. This can be achieved by an attractive value proposition that differentiates you from the competition. “Customer Intimacy” is a strategy that creates a strong competitive advantage and engages customers.

When using a Route Optimization Software to plan your daily delivery routes, you use data about your fleet size, traffic restrictions, customer delivery time windows, the time spent on loading or unloading, among others, and the software suggests optimized routes to fulfill your daily deliveries on time, using less trucks, giving you a competitive advantage of being able to lower your operational costs and offer a responsive, efficient and personalized service.

2016 can be a complicated year. Make sure you have the right tools to succeed. I hope you found this information helpful. Let me know by leaving a comment below.