“What am I allowed to expect?” For Immanuel Kant, this was one of the fundamental questions that human beings should ask themselves. The German philosopher was probably not very interested in logistics, but he was right with an idea that you have to keep in mind when choosing transport companies for your company. What should we demand from the logistics operators with whom we work? What can we expect from them?
We have made a small list of some qualities that, as a transport company, we consider essential to offer. On this occasion we have emphasized qualities and interpersonal skills. In a world like logistics, where data is increasingly influential, it’s important to remember how people continue to make a difference.
6 keys to demand from transport companies
Trust
It does not matter the service to which they have committed in writing or the cost savings that you have calculated with your transport companies. If there is no mutual trust, it will be very difficult for the result of the relationship to be positive. A genuine trust will make all aspects work better: faster to solve problems, easier to find solutions, a better flow of information, reduction in workload by reducing unnecessary and duplicate tasks – by not trusting the other party -, etc.
Confidence is the best tool to grease all day-to-day processes. Although sometimes it is difficult to assess its importance in the relationship between companies, it is enough to go down to the personal level to see it clearly. How are our relationships with people we don’t trust? Would we be productive working with them? Would we yield more, better if there was trust between the two?
Sincerity
It’s a key ingredient of confidence, but it deserves its own section. Sincerity is essential in any type of relationship, and business relationships are no exception. It is very valuable to have transport companies at our side that are the first to inform us of any type of problem that arises or to explain to us the errors that they may have made. Or to explain the reality of what can be achieved regarding deadlines, schedules, security in shipments, etc. This will be essential to fix problems before they have become bigger.
Flexibility
It is not unusual for some companies to dedicate themselves, almost exclusively, to some type of shipments. Whether it is a company that sends pallets and, only exceptionally, packages, or one that always sends nationally and, occasionally, does so outside our borders. For these types of firms, having a transport company that groups these different services can be very important.
And it is that, due to volume, it can be expensive and cumbersome to have to have different suppliers for each of these sporadic shipments. In addition, they will surely do it with high costs since you cannot negotiate too much with them due to their low volumes.
«When we look for a transport company, we do it with the intention of making it last»
Proven quality
Logistics is becoming more of a science every day. And, like all science, it needs facts. Logically, transport companies always explain their benefits when it comes to attracting customers, but companies must do their job and try to verify them. Can you collect impressions from other people who have worked with them? Do you have a long and consolidated relationship over the years? Can they offer you reliable data on the quality of their deliveries and processes?
Make your problems yours
Has it ever happened to you to report a problem to a company and for them to worry about solving it almost more than you? Perhaps it was something of little importance and that you were not in a particular hurry, but you noticed that they began to solve it as if their lives depended on it. Like, literally, they urgently need to fix it more than you do.
The opposite pole are those companies in which, as soon as you report an incident, you notice how they try to justify why the problem occurred or try to clarify that it is not their fault; instead of starting to work to fix it. And, even worse, those companies that you have to go after in order to move forward and get the situation resolved.
Innovation
When we look for the ideal transport company, we hope it will be for a long time. And there is no better way to survive in logistics than through innovation. Find out about how innovative the logistics operators you are considering are to find out if, in the future, they are going to be left behind or, on the contrary, they are going to be the first to make new services and functionalities available to you.
Transport companies that innovate will practically always be companies that are committed to quality.
Related Posts
