Session 6

Customer Experience ________

Mistakes
Takeaways
Mistakes during Order Booking Process

Do not offer any discounts for long term contracts. They might get
modified or cancelled during uncertainty. Instead, offer discounts for
early birds and bulk orders, as they reduce your supply chain costs.
Outdated E-catalogue & Website: Customers prefer to learn more
about your latest products and new launches through online resources.
Ensure that all your e-communication channels are on the same page.
“Today I saw an Ad about their new product, but their website was last updated
years ago. Where else can I find more information?” – A Customer Voice.
Make a self penalty calculator available for Changes and Cancellations to
customer orders. These have a direct impact on your Supply chain Costs.
Introduce a Premium service option for all additional requirements. This
would stop customers from asking these services (like early shipments,
immediate installation etc.,) at no extra cost.
Now you know why Airlines charge you extra for preferred seats. It also gives the
airlines an additional revenue opportunity.
Under promise and Over Deliver

• Do not Under promise and Over deliver: Just keep your

promise. Do not go overboard.
• Communication gap: Mis-communications and impractical
promises reduces customer trust. Accurate information helps to
pacify customers during order delays. I often say Information
can replace Inventory.
• Untrained Customer Service team: Train your customer service
employees on your products and explain to them how your supply
chain works. It will help them give realistic product information
to the customers.
• A little bit of detailing would help in connecting with the
customer.
• Example: Did you know that by buying our product, you also share a
meal with a hungry child.
Premium Freight eats into your profits

• Logistics Cost is often forgotten. Split orders, Staggered delivery,

Last minute orders, Missed deadline, Quality complaints and
replacements – All these lead to a premium freight.
• Additionally, Supply chain inefficiency also leads to premium
freights.
• If premium freight is unavoidable ( Inbound and Outbound),
build it into the product costing. Fast to market is the strategy for
new product launches, when opportunities emerge all of a sudden.
There is a race to capture the market before our competitors do.
Premium freights become inevitable in such cases. Remember, the
winner is: “The one with a better supply chain”. Talk to your 3PL
and get a deal. Never let premium freight eat into your profits.
Products Bouquet – Not all your products are
profitable

• 20% of your products generate 80% of profits. Most others

have no margin or negative margins. Upsell to the Customers who
buy only those low margin products. Bring them to profitable
zone or get rid of them.
• Keep your Premium customers always delighted. Spend more
time in communicating with premium customers than
attending to the complaints of low value customers.
• Lower your break-even Point: Product sales might evaporate
even before some of them could get anywhere near their break-
even point.
Customer Service SLA’s
• Rank your customers by their business value and offer premium
services to most valuable customers. Do not offer free service upgrades
to low value customers even if you have spare capacity to do so, as it
could demotivate premium customers. Also they would start expecting it
every time. But, make them aware of the service categories you have.
• Empower the customer facing employee. They must own the customer
experience. Customers hate waiting for your internal approvals for
refunds and returns.
• If you want real feedbacks, ask the same question twice. If the answer to
the first one is a single word, the second one brings the whole story.
• Do not rely on smiley feedback data. The data that you collect has low
accuracy and has no meaning. (My kid loves to hit these smileys for fun.)
Also, in the post Covid-19 world, people may not even hit these buttons.
Thank you for joining this course.

If you want me to come to your office or campus to deliver an

inhouse training for your team, please write to me at
ceo@gops.co.in
Please visit www.gops.co.in for our corporate training courses.
If you need consulting support or a short term resource to improve
your supply chain, I will be glad to look into my calendar.
You can connect with me in Linkedin.
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course.
Wishing you all the best. 