DPD UK, Pladis UK and Pall-Ex are all shortlisted for the Customer Care Award at the 2018 Motor Transport Awards. Taking place on 4 July, the winners will be announced at a glittering evening at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London.
Customer Care Award, sponsored by Isuzu Truck UK
The online shopper calls the shots, according to DPD UK. However, the carrier has, says its submission, made sure it has stayed on target when it comes to customer care. Backing this up, DPD’s submission said that it had retained 97.1% of its existing business, achieved on sales of £1.2bn (up 10.8%) and delivered 240 million parcels at service levels of 98.71%.
Indeed, DPD stated that the domestic parcels market, driven by the boom in online shopping, has increased by £1.37bn since 2012. According to DPD, it estimates that it has captured 38%, or £518m, of that new revenue.
“We have won so much business from the UK’s leading online retailers that 53% of our deliveries are now made to home addresses, versus 39% in 2010,” DPD said.
“Once again, DPD has shown that they really value their customer. Through their focus on customer care and listening to their customers they not only provide a fantastic service, but this in turn has had a spectacular effect on their growth in this sector,” said one of our judging panel. Talking about their use of various technology including Chatbot, another of our panel added: “All this said, they appear not to have lost touch with customers and openly admit sometimes that things don’t quite go to plan. However, they demonstrate the handling of this with the advantage of investment in staff development and the ability to meet any changes or demands customers place on them.”
The name behind Godiva chocolate and McVitie’s, Pladis UK talked about how a commitment to looking after the customer went hand in hand with its ambitions to expand its business internationally. The company, which was formed in 2016 and incorporates UK business United Biscuits, said that to achieve its growth goals it was clear it needed to rethink how it worked, spending less time as an administrator and more time engaged in best practice. The other theme that came out from talking to export customers was that while inbound service levels had traditionally been the measure that Pladis had been judged against, customers were increasingly price-sensitive, and welcomed their supply chain partners’ input regarding reducing associated costs.
“Another great entry,” said one of our panel. “I especially like the way of supporting customers with their requirements relating to orders resulting in cost savings potentially allowing them opportunities to reinvest elsewhere. “They have also recognised that technology isn’t always the answer, and sometimes the person-to-person interaction is the best solution,” our judge continued.
Pallet network Pall-Ex developed Shine to enrich its corporate customer partnerships. As part of this, it restructured its customer service requirement, which created the need for new roles. These included an experienced customer services manager, a key operational role and a key account manager dedicated to nurturing partnerships. Benchmarking processes included engagement with existing customers about the perceived higher customer service provided by award-winning parcel networks; technology being a key component (and something Pall-Ex addressed). Shine, within the context of the customer service team, attempts to engender the following, which is Smile down the phone; Helpful and proactive responses; Innovative bespoke solutions; Nothing is too much trouble; Educate each other. It has proved effective, with a more than 22% reduction in claims and a near 80% damage reduction. The network has also increased its corporate customers by a third while retaining all existing customers since January 2017.
“Pall-Ex’s ambition is bold and exciting, which is refreshing to see. They not only look at their strengths but also analyse their weaknesses,” said one of our judges.
Another of our panel praised the honesty of the entry and process. There was praise for how the Shine initiative had been introduced and supported throughout the business, with improvements to IT also boosting customer service satisfaction.
Another of our judges said: “There is a clear goal to enrich customer partnerships including a bespoke suite of KPIs to suit the customer. Statistics demonstrate the initiative is working based on customer retention.”