How you answer that question doesn’t really say much about how you think and feel.
It’s not an accurate measure of your experience. Because really, how well can a scale of ten numbers measure the spectrum of satisfaction beyond the absolute minimum?
And that’s the point.
Most transportation and logistics companies I have worked for all believed they
had a faithful measure of their client experience. Maybe as transportation professionals
we need to think about this differently.
What does it mean to provide truly superior customer experience?
For starters, we need to get rid of that word satisfaction. It honestly is the low bar of any client experience. And I believe one of the biggest mistakes made by business leaders today is to rely on satisfaction as the objective. Our focus needs to be on understanding.
That’s the only road to meaningful and valuable client partnerships.
Leadership plays a key role in creating a client-focused company culture.
It’s not top-down. And it’s not just for the frontline sales team.
Managers must empower their employees throughout the company. Because happy, loyal employees create and build happy, loyal clients. Think about it. When a company has constant turnover, it’s not unusual for that company to also experience turnover with clients.
Focus on your culture and boost morale. Trust your employees.
Successful client-focused companies promote, nurture and fund programs that cultivate their creative capital and capabilities.
Be on the lookout for new ideas and technologies.
Good leaders encourage brainstorming and collaboration among employees and clients. They engage in constant dialogue to increase brand loyalty and the co-creation
of the next great idea.
Our industry must rethink client satisfaction and instead bring about superior client experiences. In our new digital age, client-focused companies challenge themselves to innovate, collaborate and give back. Moving forward, we all need to engage on a deeper, more personal level with clients, employees and well, even with ourselves.
Hopefully resulting in a world of growth and positive experiences for us all.
Jim Pearson is the President & Founder of JTR Logistics.
Transportation professionals who expertly navigate the latest technologies while offering decades of experience & know-how. People who always get ship done.