Operating a successful business requires pinpointing — and meeting — customer expectations. XPO services thousands of customers daily, and doing that well means finding out what each of those customers needs.
XPO has noticed trends when it comes to customer satisfaction. Ultimately, customers are more alike than they are different, but the differences still matter. Navigating those similarities and differences well involves getting to know the customers, creating an atmosphere of excellence and investing in technology.
Every customer’s baseline expectations are the same:
- On-time delivery.
- Damage-free packages.
- A fair price.
- An invoice that matches the quote.
Things start to get more nuanced, however, when it is time to define “good customer service.” While customers all want certain baseline outcomes, the process of building strong interpersonal relationships varies from company to company.
Generally, smaller companies desire a more personal, hands-on approach, whereas larger companies look for reduced person-to-person contact and more technological integration.
“Smaller customers that ship out of one or two of our service centers are really looking to develop those relationships — with our customer service representatives, with our drivers — in person and by picking up the phone to talk to each other,” said Diana Brown, senior vice president of sales operations and customer experience at XPO.
Larger customers prefer to make less contact with XPO representatives, instead receiving real-time updates and important information in their own systems, according to Brown. This requires expert technologies to play together, leading to deep integrations.
While preferences may differ from customer to customer, achieving desired outcomes — on-time, damage-free delivery, fair pricing and simple invoices — starts in XPO’s service centers. The company boasts 1,000 customer service representatives across about 300 centers, positioning them to address all kinds of customer needs.
All customers receive an individual onboarding, allowing XPO to get a clear understanding of what the customer needs. This process is one of XPO’s biggest customer service differentiators, and feedback on the process is continually positive, according to Brown.
“Quality is job number one at XPO. It is woven into the fabric — and all the way into our compensation plans,” Brown said. “It is thinking about recognition, rewards and developing your employees.”
XPO has developed programs to award top-performing employees and teams across departments, from operations to customer service. On the customer service side, Brown has found consistent formal and informal recognition — coupled with development opportunities — produces the best results.
By training its employees for success and rewarding them for their follow-through, XPO has created an environment of quality. It does not stop there, though. The company’s strong focus on technology is also rooted in a desire to please customers.
“Technology for our customers is super important to us. Customers don’t always see it, though. It’s not always customer-facing,” Brown said. “A lot of what we’re doing is to improve their experience outside of the tools they interact with.”
One of the company’s most successful technological additions this year was a back-office tool that allows service centers to compete with each other on performance and customer service through a ratings-based mobile app. This fun new tool allows XPO employees to gamify their jobs while continuously improving, which ultimately benefits customers.
On the customer-facing side, XPO continues to improve its website design and functionality, making it easier for customers to navigate the company’s various tools and access real-time information.