Articles
Customer Service
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM): Plus-Sized Customer Service
Women’s apparel retailer Charming Shoppes praises the red-carpet treatment it gets from logistics partner Hyundai Merchant Marine.
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What We’ve Got Here is Failure to Communicate
Remember that great line from the movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”? That’s what popped into my head as I reviewed the more than 4,700 responses from readers and 3PLs participating in our annual third-party logistics survey. We asked both 3PLs and their customers the same question: What is […]
Read MoreCRM and the Danger of Dirty Data
Time doesn’t stand still. Neither do your customers. Face it. We are a nation on the move, and rapidly growing as well. In 2000, businesses filed 2.6 million change-of-address orders. There are a mind-boggling 140 million deliverable addresses in the United States, and the number is growing by nearly two million annually. If you are […]
Read MoreMaximizing Your CRM System
Two-thirds of all Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives fail, according to a recent study by Gartner Inc. Proper implementation and direction may be one problem. But many businesses overlook the fact that the CRM information they store and manage is inaccurate, outdated, or redundant. Here are 10 tips to help you maximize the effectiveness of […]
Read MoreCRM Plays Crucial, Often Confusing, Role in SCM
The importance of customer relationship management (CRM) within the supply chain is vitally important. This column offers my take on some important integration issues. The customer and the customer’s customer have been a critical part of the supply chain since its inception. The customer is quite clearly what the supply chain is all about. Having […]
Read MoreWhole Order Visibility Supports Front Lines of Customer Satisfaction
In the days of dot.com euphoria, an order was an order, plain and simple. Consumers went to Amazon.com to buy a book, then felt the excitement of clicking on “track your package” to follow each step of the delivery. But B2B order tracking is different. No company uses Amazon.com to place complex equipment orders or […]
Read MoreGet Customer-Centric or Get E-liminated
Ask three people to define e-commerce, and you’ll end up with three disparate answers. The problem is that companies use e-commerce to define varying degrees of involvement in e-business. Some companies think they conduct e-commerce because they have e-mail. Some believe that the mere presence of a web site constitutes an e-commerce approach. The fact […]
Read MoreLogistics Land and Supply Chain City
One of the more interesting ideas to come along the business philosophy turnpike in recent years is the concept of the “experience economy.” Spurred on by consumers who want not only goods and services, but also immersion in memorable encounters, providers began looking for ways to maximize the experience potential of their businesses. The most […]
Read MoreWMS: The Hub of Customer Service
Sometimes, accessible information is more important than automated processes.
Read MoreIs Your Supply Chain Achieving Customer Loyalty?
Business logistics executives face four major challenges: Achieving dramatic reductions in time-to-market. Creating value for shareholders. Marketing their supply chain as a competitive edge. Earning customer loyalty. Organizations must focus time, attention, and dollars on these areas. While many companies have plans to achieve challenges one through three, market leaders know that without true customer […]
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