What is a good logistics company? There are three sides to the answer, but also crossover points.
On one side of the triangle, it’s all about what the customer sees.
In the second, it’s what you see, as a fleet manager.
Third, what the public sees. The customer wants reliability. They want good prices and good service.
For you, you want the satisfaction of a smooth running business.
You want efficiency and you want profit, and here’s a need, rather than just a want: you need fleet management software, one that can cater to the daily analysis of your operation while you go through the day’s events and look at the bigger picture. .
As for the public, and this of course includes potential customers, they want to see vehicles in the neighborhood that don’t make it look cluttered.
They like to see clean vehicles. They like drivers who drive carefully, don’t speed or act aggressively.
More and more these days, they want vehicles that don’t negatively affect the environment.
The days when we all accepted smoke-burping monsters are almost gone.
Poisonous diesel exhaust clouds are no longer just a cause for casual complaints; now they show the operator as an irresponsible and indifferent dinosaur that ignores the call for clean air and the general well-being of the planet. Let’s look at these three points of view in more detail.
How to keep customers happy
Customers want to feel respected. They want to feel that we care about their best interests.
If we are to begin as we intend to continue, that means answering the phone and responding to emails and inquiries on our website and doing these things with courtesy and kindness.
Basic stuff, really. Then they want us to be where we’re supposed to be at the time we’re supposed to be there.
Having the right vehicle for the job and a driver who knows what he’s doing.
They want the bill to be what they expected, with no nasty surprises, so we need to get estimates and quotes right.
They want us to do the job because our role is to provide the vehicle and operations, but their role is to make sure the job gets done with the minimum of fuss.
They may be responsible to someone else, or it may be their own project.
Either way, the requirement is the same. If you like grow your businessyou have to keep your customers happy from the start.
How to keep ourselves and those with vested interests happy
Whether it’s purely your business or you have shareholders to consider, enhanced fleet management is the name of the game because it leads to optimization for efficiency and that, in turn, leads to customer satisfaction.
It also improves workflow and generates more business to generate more money, as well as saving money by doing the jobs you already have. That’s why software is so important now.
No matter how experienced and diligent a fleet operator is, they cannot be on top of everything all the time.
Computer software, however, can do that. The current thorny topic of AI aside, computers do not have what we would call intelligence.
They only do what we program them to do. But if we program them to do many different things, those many different things will get done and they won’t get sick or take days off or vacations.
Let’s say you have more than two vehicles.
Without looking for anything, can you tell when each should be checked for maintenance, when your insurance expires, and how much fuel you used last week?
During a busy period, can you remember how many hours a particular driver has logged and when they must, by law, have some downtime?
Good fleet management solutions it can do all of these things and much more. GPS vehicle tracking, excellent communication, hours of service (HOS) compliance, security and the list goes on.
It’s like the world’s most efficient companion, and about the only thing it can’t do is make you a cup of coffee.
Fleet management systems have been thought of by people who know the business and want to help fleet managers. It’s a smart thing.
Keep the public happy
Efficiency creates a calm atmosphere, which means no drivers rushing because they are late and the vehicle is playing or honking in frustration because they are tired and irritable.
The public will notice these things to some degree by their absence, but you can be sure they will notice your presence, and if your name is on the side of the vehicle, you are the bad guy to complain about. about.
Isn’t it better to be the good guys? So unless you have superhuman powers, maybe it’s time to accept modern help and look into a fleet management system. It’s better for all concerned.
