Proactive customer service reduces workload and increases customer satisfaction. Learn about all the benefits for the logistics industry.
Respond to enquiries at an early stage and maintain customer relationships
Proactive customer service creates satisfied customers – and they are the be-all and end-all for companies. After all, those who are satisfied are more likely to be interested in further services or products and are more likely to recommend the provider to others. Conversely, negative experiences lead to declining sales and a bad reputation. Therefore, it makes sense to take measures at an early stage to increase customer satisfaction. A decisive touchpoint to convince customers: proactive customer service.
Challenges for logistics companies
The demands of today's customers are constantly changing: When ordering, they would like to determine themselves, if possible, when, where and at what conditions their parcel will be delivered. However, urban structures often offer only limited storage space and make delivery difficult due to pedestrian zones, environmental zones and a lack of parking spaces.
In order to work effectively nevertheless, deliverers need precise information on the general conditions in order to be able to deliver each product according to the specified information. To make this possible, manufacturers, suppliers, warehouse operators, freight forwarders and raw material suppliers network with each other.
What customer expectations must the logistics industry meet?
Logistics companies deliver countless parcels and freight shipments to their customers every day. For business customers in particular, it is important that orders arrive on time and that the process runs smoothly. However, the just-in-time concept is risky - for example, when trucks are stuck in traffic jams or employees are absent due to illness.
If it is not possible to deliver on time, a positive impression can still be made on the customer through proactive action - for example, by sending an e-mail that points out in a friendly manner that there are delays in the delivery or offers a new delivery date straight away. With this information, the customer can adapt to the changed situation. This alleviates the annoyance or even turns it into the opposite, because the customer is happy about the service.
What exactly does modern proactive customer service look like?
Modern Customer Service should include both reactive and proactive components. In many companies, reactive customer service is already an integral part of the marketing strategy. Proactive customer service, on the other hand, is not yet established everywhere, but it has some advantages.
Reactive customer service
Classic customer service answers individual customer enquiries that have reached the company by e-mail, telephone or social media. This also includes a hotline for follow-up questions and problem solving. Reactive customer service provides customers with support tailored precisely to their situation.
Proactive customer service
Instead, proactive customer service is about solving problems before they arise. To do this, it is necessary to assess what the customer's current and future needs might be - be it inspiration, support or problem solving. This reduces individual enquiries and increases customer satisfaction.
What are the benefits of proactive customer service?
If companies adopt a proactive approach, they will reap the benefits in various areas in the long term:
Workload and clarity are optimised: A collection of frequently asked questions (FAQ) only has to be created once, but it helps many customers. If the answers to the most frequently asked questions are clearly arranged on one page, the customer can quickly see whether an individual enquiry is still necessary.
Customer satisfaction and corporate communication are improved: if their questions have already been answered, the customer does not have to become active himself. In addition, the company sends a positive signal when it actively approaches its customers and provides information as a matter of course.
Workload and waiting times are reduced: If customer service only has to answer specific questions, the employees have enough time for these cases. In addition, the waiting time decreases because significantly fewer enquiries are received.
How can proactive customer service be implemented in the logistics industry?
In order to inform customers in a timely manner, companies resort to technological support. With appropriate software tools, they can collect, analyse and process data and provide the resulting information to the customer in a timely manner. In this way, faults are identified quickly and easily and corresponding messages are issued directly afterwards. The goal is to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and to proactively inform the business customers about the cause, delay and time of resolution. In this way, companies can reduce customer service complaints and increase the quality of their operations.
The more proactive the customer service, the smoother the operations.
Proactive customer service works thanks to customised software
To ensure that the software for proactive customer service meets all relevant needs, it must be specially adapted to the respective company. In this way, it is possible to address precisely the points on which the focus lies - as these usually differ from company to company. Experts are needed for the appropriate IT solutions: they support companies with qualified and sound advice and analyse what is needed. On this basis, they adapt existing software individually to the company's needs or use the information to realise custom-fit and exclusive IT solutions.
Conclusion: Proactive customer service pays off
Reactive customer service remains important to solve specific customer problems. However, in order to reduce workload and answer customer queries in advance, it is essential to additionally establish proactive customer service. This increases customer satisfaction and improves the company's reputation, as positively surprised customers share their experiences.
In the introduction and development of agile software solutions, the company should consult experts who accompany them along the way.
