Posted On March 14, 2019

It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO, CFO, or shipping manager.

No matter your title, do us a favor.

Take a moment, and take off your company hat.

Now, put on your customer hat.

Whose customer are you?

Doesn’t matter. Maybe you are ordering a part on behalf of your company. Maybe you are ordering a gift for your spouse. No matter what you are ordering, place yourself in a chair in front of a screen right after your payment has been confirmed and the wait begins.

The confirmation email promises you that your shipment will arrive in 5-7 business days.

Five days come, and five days go.

You decide to wait, remembering that email said 5-7 business days. You check the tracking number, and your package is supposed to arrive during the very last business hour of that seventh day.

Seventy-two hours later, your package still hasn’t arrived. You check the tracking number for the 112th time and learn your shipment appears to have disappeared. You call the transportation company, and they can’t tell you anything more than what you already see on the screen.

Your next step?

You call the company that sold you the product. You try and convey a sense of urgency, explaining slowly and patiently why it was so important that the shipment arrive within the delivery window you were promised. You remind them of that word: promise.

You try and explain what words like promise, commitment, and even 5-7 business days mean.

The company tells you they understand. The customer service reps speak in the calm, practiced tone they were taught to use to de-escalate a scenario like this. They gently encourage you to contact the carrier again.

You hang up and call the carrier.

The carrier reminds you that there is little information they can provide beyond what you already see on the screen, and encourage you to call the shipper. Again.

So, you do.

The same customer service rep answers, and when he starts to use his de-escalation voice (again), you do not de-escalate.

In fact, you escalate.

You know it’s not the customer service rep’s fault, but someone needs to answer for the run-around you’ve been given. More important, someone needs to tell you where your shipment is.

In the end, nothing gets resolved. You’ve spent all day on the phone yelling at people who can’t tell you where your shipment is. The package is no closer to being found than when you started this nightmare journey.

Now, take your customer hat off.

Put your company hat back on.

Are you putting your own customers and customer service reps through a nightmare journey?

Have you created a supply chain and shipping department that leaves your employees on the wrong end of angry calls? When a shipment disappears, are your customers in the dark?

Are you in the dark?

If so, you need to change your ways—immediately.

The Flat World Holdings family of companies and Flat World Supply Chain offer a host of solutions that will provide the visibility your customers deserve, including the most innovative transportation management system (TMS) on the market.

No one needs to be on the wrong end of an angry phone call, or a lost shipment.

Partner with us, and give your customers and customer service exactly the type of visibility they need.