Moving Words – Fans

Timothy Brady

“Customer service is just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate type of activity.”  Leon Gorman

Regardless of whether someone mows your lawn, or you purchase an appliance, or ship thousands of items worth millions of dollars cross-country, communication is the base. That communication foundation is the point from where you develop your customer service strategy. How well we convey information to our customers establishes the overall relationship we’re going to have with them. Approach how you take care of your shippers and corporate accounts from the same perspective of how you want to be treated when you’re the customer. Then you can be assured your service will meet the mark.

And, there are other reasons for providing exceptional customer service:

The cost of bringing a new shipper on board is 8 to 10 times that of keeping a current shipper.

A dissatisfied shipper will tell at least 10 to 12 people of his dissatisfaction.

A satisfied one will let you know he’s pleased.

But a raving fan will tell the entire world what a great mover you are.

What’s more important than the cost of your hauling service to any shipper? The actual value they receive. Quality service is what will establish the highest value to the customer.

Here’s a list of actions which need to be a part of your Customer Service Strategy:

Treat your employees and drivers as you want your customers treated. Human nature is such that the greater respect and consideration given to a person, the more likely they’ll reciprocate to others. So, it’s particularly important you create a “Do as I do, not just as I say,” approach to working with your employees and van operators.

Create a seamless communication link between all departments in your moving company and your shippers—be sure everyone with a need to know is in the information loop. This means the dispatcher, the salesperson who sold the moving services, the van operator, the safety director and the moving company owner.

Make sure if a customer has a problem which isn’t resolved by the employee handling it, the customer is directed to an executive in the company who has the final word. This executive should be no more than the third person with which your customer speaks. Don’t set up customer service ‘brick walls,’ as this will create a dissatisfied shipper. Think how frustrating it is when you call to resolve an issue with a company if you must repeat the same problem to each person up the customer service ladder. Each one is apologetic; feels your pain but tells you it’s company policy or to write a letter to a PO Box without a specific person to contact. Or you spend an inordinate amount of time listening to scripted responses and apologies, but your issue is in the same place it was when you started. Or when you ask the “Customer Service Representative” you’re speaking with if you could talk to a manager or director, you’re informed the manager will tell you the same thing. That’s a “Customer Service Brick Wall,” and as a mover, you can’t afford to build this wall in your business.

To avoid this ‘brick wall’ trap takes a leap of faith in a business owner’s way of doing business. The major complaint everyone has when dealing with a customer service representative is that most aren’t given the power to make a decision. They have no authority beyond the script sitting in front of him or her. (Think about the last time you called your credit card or cable TV provider.) Empower your employees and contractors to make tough decisions on the fly, even if you’re not around. And never second-guess their decisions. This is accomplished through a complete customer service training and communications program. Provide defined guidelines that allow them the latitude to adjust to the individual customer’s situation; not a script, but a baseline from which to make those situation-specific decisions. Congratulate each employee or contractor on a job well done every time one of them makes a good customer service decision.

Note: they won’t always make the same decision you might have made in the same situation, but when they’re provided with the correct information and guidelines, it’ll be the right decision. And of course, place the calmest, most cool-headed person in your office in charge of Customer Service. We all know there’ll be a shipper that can’t be pleased, no matter if you had their household goods totally replaced and the van operator exiled to Siberia. But if you have someone in your office who can deal with that shipper should he or she become obnoxious, rude or threatening without becoming the same in return, you have superior Customer Service, even if it’s only that one person.

Remember, always contact your most recent shippers who’ve used your moving services and ask whether they have any unresolved issues. While you could do this as an e-mail survey, calling those shippers directly makes a big impression on them. Person-to-person communication is always the winning hand.

Make sure the wants and needs of each shipper and corporate account contact are known and send this information to everyone, especially operations and van operators.

If something does go wrong, no matter how bad it seems, explain in an honest and truthful manner what happened. The second part of this is, “Say what you’ll do; do what you say.” Nothing can destroy a business relationship more quickly than telling a lie or promising an action will occur—and then it doesn’t. Only promise what you can deliver and always be honest.

Don’t let the incident surprise the customer. There are always situations and events over which your company and the van operator have no control. Think weather, road conditions etc. When one of these occurs and affects a shipment, immediately contact all parties. They may not be happy with what’s happened, but it gives them opportunity and time to make necessary adjustments to their plan.

Anticipate potential problems and have solutions for these problems to suggest to your shipper if they should occur.

Not much else can sour a shipper’s attitude towards a moving company and its van operators more than an avoidable, preventable mishap. Although the shipper may never see the van operator doing all the activities required for conducting an uneventful move, the net result is the safe delivery of their shipment.

Establishing a solid customer service strategy of communication and being sure everyone within your company follows through in a consistent manner will help ensure your success. To reiterate: unhappy customers will tell everyone what a lousy experience they had; satisfied customers will tell you what a great job you did, Raving Fans will tell everyone what an exceptional operation you have. And this is what keeps your trailers filled to capacity with excellent-paying tonnage. Improving customer service with clear communication adds value to your company; value adds revenue to the bottom line.

“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.”  Jeff Bezos