Moving Words – Getting to Know Your Shipper’s Wants and Needs

Written and submitted by Timothy Brady

We’re in the middle of the summer season, ‘moving’ at breakneck speed to keep up with all the needs of our customers. Move coordinators are making follow-up pre-move calls to ensure no stone is left that the shipper wanted moved. Dates for the move from origin to the new digs at destination are ready for the van operator and his/her crew. Dispatch is checking/scheduling the multitude of shipments, selecting the best match of van operator and the loads being assembled.

Question. When was the last time you spent time on a move? When did you recently go out to a move and observe the challenges faced by all the participants? The van operator, the crew, the shipper, their friends and family? The larger your agency, moving company or van line, the less likely upper management and executive staff have spent much time on the scene, observing what it takes to provide a seamless, uneventful move for your customers. Learning first-hand the shippers’ concerns and fears – and how those are being addressed by the van operator and crew, move coordinator and claims – can be invaluable in determining how to improve customer service.

The vast majority of moving companies have a follow-up with the shipper. There are questionnaires sent out for evaluation: from the estimate walk-through to packing, loading, delivery, unpacking; and finally, how well any claims were handled. While all of this is extremely valuable, the way to raise it to the next level is to have your management team take a day from time to time and visit a move. It may be on the first meeting with the shipper for the estimate, or pack day, or moving day. It could be on the back end, when the shipment’s delivered, unpacked, or even when the claims adjuster is inspecting possible damage. And mix it up: observe large and small moves, important major accounts and that one-time, 2000 pounds COD.

Each one has different dynamics, from which multiple lessons can be learned. The stresses of a family with lots of kids underfoot. The elderly couple making that move to their last home. The young executive and his nervous wife who doesn’t really want to leave her family and friends. Or the difficult teenager whose life has just disintegrated before his or her eyes. Every one of these situations requires special skills from personnel working on the move. But for those back in the office who may not have experienced these emotional trials, observing first-hand the shippers’ challenges provides invaluable insights into taking customer service to the next higher level.

Add what’s learned while spending a day with your team members on different moves to the information derived from the reports, follow-up surveys and software-provided matrix – and you’ll have a complete picture of how well your teams are doing when it comes to customer service. Seeing a shipper’s trials and tribulations during a move conducted by your company will make your management team far more compassionate, leading them to reduce or eliminate those challenges that interfere with the move, thus making the move uneventful for everyone.

The best generals always spent time with the troops in the trenches.

Timothy D. Brady
www.timothybrady.com