In this post I will highlight two more of the Top 10 Business Trends That Will Drive Success in 2016 from the December 2015 issue of Forbes Magazine: delivering superior customer service and developing selling skills in non-sales people. Given that we are a services-based industry with a lot of human interaction, these two stood out as particularly important for LSP success this year and beyond.
Customer Experience
Delivering superior customer service comes as no surprise and is (or should be) a no brainer in terms of company success. Many LSPs I work with provide customer service training to most or all of their staff, especially those who are in frequent contact with customers. More could be done, however, because this is one of a few points of differentiation that we actually have. Those who execute it well are bound to do better, have more loyal customers and be better positioned to attract new customers. So what more could be done? I believe customer service should:
- Not waste time on buyers who don’t care about it (e.g. buyers only interested in price)
- Focus on buyers who appreciate the value of your services
- Be tailored to those buyers, especially with their communication preferences
- Not be over the top. Provide what is preferred, necessary and with some kind of flair, aplomb or caring
- Pro-actively provide solutions to problems, educate
- Try not to take customer moods personally. There may be circumstances driving it that we can’t possibly know.
Everyone is in Sales
I found this idea to be particularly important for LSPs. In many companies the gulf between sales and production remains frighteningly high. Scarier still, their leadership seems completely unaware of it. Sales and production must work more closely together, not least because many customers require this collaboration from us in order to develop solutions that will help attract and retain them.
Other LSPs are very aware of the need for project managers and other staff to develop a commercial awareness of their customers beyond pushing files and meeting delivery dates. The popularity of my “