Feature Article
Service: The Key to Customer Loyalty
Imagine your company uses a 3rd party Logistics provider and you have a last minute change to make on a critical customer deadline. To meet that deadline you need to talk to the Supplier’s Customer Service representative. You make the call and find yourself stuck in the quagmire known as the phone tree. You diligently select option 1 for English, option 2 for checking status on your order, and then you are placed on terminable hold. Your blood pressure is rising, your boss is waiting less patiently now for an answer, and yet you remain on hold. Wait…is there an option to press 0 for an operator? No, the option does not exist and by pressing 0 you are then moved to yet another phone queue where you get to hear Aretha Franklin sing her well known song “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”. You think, if only this customer service department understood RESPECT.
Too often in today’s business models customer service is front-lined by a collection of technology. These capabilities are designed to put the service ownership onto you, the customer.
The use of technologies, while reducing cost for the servicing organization, often leads to customer dissatisfaction due to the poor construction and implementation of those technologies. Additionally, the use of outsourced an off-shored service providers can be problematic from a language and urgency perspective.
Today’s default mode of off-shoring and use of technologies is not a differentiator in creating loyalty with your customers. When you select a 3rd party Logistics provider, is customer service on the short-list of critical success factors? If it is, perhaps you should take time during your qualification process to investigate, evaluate and ensure the service that will be provided is aligned to your company’s strategic direction. Does the service function route your issue efficiently and effectively? How often can the person, or web content, provide the answer to the question you have. Is the system flexible and is it designed to quickly get you to a person who can solve the urgent or unplanned issues that are ever present in today’s fast-paced delivery environments?
A 3rd party provider Logistics provider who values customer service is not too hard to find. They are out there. They are the ones who value the customer, have a track record of exceeding customer expectations, are known as a long-term player, and employ a balanced blend of technologies, qualified agents and easily deployed escalation processes within their customer service function.
The staff at ASIL has experience in developing highly-valued customer service architectures. We can help you assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your current service function design and work with you to find the best blend of investments to undertake. We have a proven track record of pragmatic solutions and welcome the opportunity to serve you and your clients. Call us today and et us help you achieve new areas of profitability and success in this ever changing economy.
Contributed by Warren White
January 2009 Spotlight
The Perfect Storm – Creates New Value and Focus
Everywhere we look today there are constant reminders of the economic challenges we currently face as a nation and as a world. The picture is dominated by the battered Banking Industry, Auto Industry, Retail, and more. During these difficult times companies become even more focused on consumer demand, the credit markets, and employee morale.
Answers to questions like; “What are the consumers going to do next?”, “What should we build?”, “How will we finance it?”, and “How do we keep employees focused and committed?” are a part of developing your business strategy. The companies that can respond to the shifting consumer needs, provide growth and opportunities to employees, and make smart investments will emerge as the leaders in their industry over the next two years. What will it take? How can you get there?
While the Perfect Storm will continue to swirl around us, the surest way to get consumed by it is by not having a clear set of strategies to manage through these difficult times. Quick wins are certainly important and they should be part of a broader plan. Keeping alignment between short term wins and longer term direction is critical.
Ultimately it is about how we respond to these situations. Employees look for sound leadership to navigate the turbulent waters. Leaders must involve stakeholders and ensure participation of the team. The hard part is having the courage to lead when the conditions are rough. Prioritize your efforts by the customer, employee, and shareholder. This will increase your potential for success.
Respond to the challenge by reinventing the rules and creating new value by fine tuning your focus. If you need help in building a clear strategy or redefining your customer value proposition give us a call at ASIL.
Contributed by Peter Pazmany
Industry Trends
Reverse Logistics Environmental Stewardship
Corporations, businesses, and governmental institutions are all forced to behave differently in today’s world. CEOs are now measuring their business success by encompassing their companies’ sustainability footprint and environmental performance. More and more consumers and business entities are demanding evidence of sustainable business practices when they choose prospective business partners. In other words, sound environmental stewardship will translate to solid business practices that contribute to a company’s bottom line as well as long term business growth.
A tool that is becoming an industry standard is EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool). EPEAT evaluates electronic products in relation to 23 required and 28 optional environmental criteria. To qualify for registration as an EPEAT product, the product must conform to all of the required criteria.
The Green Electronics Council has reported that sales of EPEAT-registered products world-wide in 2007 totaled more that 109 million units. This represents a market share growth of 22% compared to a growth of 10% in 2006 (the latest available figures). In addition the U.S. EPA is currently drafting a mandatory greenhouse gas reporting plan for emissions above certain thresholds for all sectors of the economy in line with a mandate from Congress. This development further demonstrates that sustainable environmental management is not only something nice to have; it is one key area that businesses must now have.
When addressing sustainability and carbon footprints, the focal points are usually centered on product design, manufacturing, and energy savings in the Forward Logistics supply chain arena. However, Reverse Logistics is beginning to play an increasingly key role in contributing to the sustainability footprint. It has gained attention at the CEO level as a cornerstone to reposition the company in the marketplace. It can also be used by Sales and Marketing executives as an effective competitive tool. Several leading technology companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard differentiate themselves from peers by offering end-of-life electronics recycling services. Many large corporations as well as governmental agencies now only buy from companies that have solid programs for managing end-of-life equipment.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) working with Federal and State agencies, OEMs, recyclers, and industry associations is also in the process of finalizing a Best Management Practices Standards titled Responsible Recycling (R2) for the electronics recycling industry. The R2 standards demand stringent Environmental Health and Safety management systems, focus on materials (CRT glass, circuit boards, batteries, and mercury containing items), downstream due diligence, export control management, data security management, and facility security among recyclers/refurbishers.
ASIL, Inc. can help in developing your plan to meet the environmental stewardship challenges of your Forward and Reverse Logistics operations in order for you to remain competitive in today's changing marketplace. Give us a call!
Adapted from Reverse Logistics Magazine
Contributed by Michael Singleton
Our Software Products
Click on the links below to view ASIL, Inc.'s MAX Partnering® self paced software demonstrations:
Self Assessment Sample Questionnaire - This demo will enable you to respond to a small sample of self assessment questions focused on change management and create a Heat Map of your responses to see areas that may need attention. The Driving Complex Change® methodology addresses the six areas of Direction, Ability, Incentive, Resources, Structure, and Action that can impact your effectiveness of change management.
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Change Happens
Are you ready?
Click here to read the first four chapters of Driving Complex Change.
After you've read Driving Complex Change chapters one through four, click here to generate your own Change Readiness heat map based on the Driving Complex Change® methodology.
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Key Terms
Sustainable Management: The ability to direct the course of a company, community, organization, or country in ways that restore and enhance all forms of capital (human, natural, manufactured, and financial) to generate stakeholder value and contribute to the well-being of current and future generations.
Recycling: The process of reclaiming materials from used products or materials from their manufacturing and using them in the manufacturing of new products. It is different from Reuse, where products are not destroyed and remanufactured but cleaned and repaired.
Stewardship: Responsible caretaking; based on the premise that we do not own resources but only manage them, and are responsible to future generations for their condition. Making decisions regarding the care of our environment with the goal of passing healthy ecosystems.
(Source: www.sustainabledictionary.com
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ASIL, Inc.
2901 Tasman Dr., Suite 117
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone : (408) 980-9904
Toll Free : (888) 878-2745
email : sales@asil-inc.com
www.asil-inc.com
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