The Do-It-Yourself Conundrum
Posted on Tuesday, May 3rd
As all business people will confirm, the business world is all about maximising your profits. How you choose to do so is up to you as a businessperson to decide. Many companies, for instance, opt for a DIY approach in that they rely on internal solutions to cater for their transportation and logistics needs so as to save money and maximise their control over their services and business in general. However, whereas some companies will develop their own transportation infrastructure, others will rely on a number of ground carriers to handle specific tasks, from moving the shipments to putting together the necessary documentation for their transportation to warehousing or handling the returns operations. Unfortunately, this involves a number of drawbacks such as the significant time consumption or an inevitable risk of finding yourself addressing your problems with a customer support team that is unfamiliar with your business. As expected, in this case, the chances of your being offered a useful solution by the customer support team will be rather slim. On the other hand, a do-it-yourself approach provides a number of advantages, starting with an improved time and cost effectiveness as a result of one company using a number of customised and therefore much more convenient tools to improve the quality of their delivery services. These tools will include customised web portals and online tracking services, as well as specialised software designed to improve end-to-end shipment visibility or provide estimates of delivery times, among others. Thus, you get to have a fair share of control over your shipment at all times so as to avoid any unpleasant occurrences as much as possible. Second of all, a DIY approach will eliminate the inconvenience of having to deal with an entire chain of contacts representing different companies in your attempt to address your needs as far as your day-to-day operations are concerned. Instead, upon signing up, you get to address your needs directly with someone specifically assigned to handle this aspect of the business. In other words, your various distribution customer service needs are addressed by the same experienced and competent contact every time. Thus, the DIY approach provides a more personal solution as regards your customer service needs rather than the conventional call centre one. It also provides a consistent and therefore more reliable one, increasing the chances of your being provided with a relevant and effective solution to your distribution problems, whatever they may be. Naturally, the older the customer support service provided by a company, the higher the chances that the customer satisfaction requirements will be met as a result of the internal processes being perfected and the efficient use of the infrastructure and resources being maximised over time. Therefore, as a distribution customer, you are also looking for a customer support service whose reputation within the industry is solid. Once again, the DIY approach gives you this opportunity so that your business is in safe hands as it grows to have its own solid reputation on the profile market.
