Customer satisfaction is at the core of business well-being and growth. Using technology in the form of integrated freight and logistics management software does not only automate and optimize your business processes; it also becomes a powerful tool for customer service. Technology greatly increases customer touch points, providing loads of information on shipments and providing a sense of connectedness among customers.
Freight and logistics companies that invest in technology often get pre-occupied with the automation side of the system so much so that the optimization and customer service capabilities are not utilized to their fullest potential. While there is no denying that automation is an important function of logistics management software, it is not the only important function. Freight and logistics companies can extract greater worth from the software in terms of offering value-added services.
Here are some features that can enhance your customer service capabilities:
- Customer visibility with real-time information flow: Keeping customers informed about their shipment throughout the logistics lifecycle is one of the huge advantages of technology. The freight and logistics management software offers visibility solutions that enable you to share real-time information with customers, partners and service providers. Visibility in business can also help in timely decision making and improving responsiveness.
- Daily Status Reports and Notifications: By sending automated daily status reports to your customers using an integrated freight and logistics management software, you can save time on answering customer queries during the day. It also saves you from the hazards of preparing reports manually every day to be sent to customers. The system will collate all shipments information and aggregate results into a master status report that will be sent automatically at a set frequency.
- Notifications on shipment status can be sent to customers automatically, negating the need for them to call you for information. This increases customers’ trust and dependency on your company, making you an invaluable service partner.
- Auto Report Scheduler: Score of reports and documents need to be sent to customers every day which is a part of the operational and financial process. Reminders for payments and outstanding based on specified criteria, work volume reports etc. can be scheduled to be sent to customers using an auto schedule thereby reducing reliance on manual processes. It minimizes the possibility of human errors and increases the service reliability quotient of your company.
- Easy integration with third-party systems: Integrating with third-party systems through APIs or EDI can be of great advantage as it makes data exchange seamless. This not only saves time by eliminating data re-entry but also gives you and the stake holders quick access to information.
- Online order booking and order management: Integrated freight and logistics management software can offer features such as online booking, approval of key documents, etc which will reduce your manual processes and streamline the documentation process.
Technology gives you as well as your customers control over the entire shipment fulfillment cycle – from inquiry, to booking, documentation, delivery completion and payment settlement. You can thus impress customers by responding quickly to changes and exceptions. A single, unified system allows you and the multiple stakeholders to participate, track and monitor the logistics lifecycle which strengthens your relationship with customers and leads to long-term benefits.
