10 March 2017

How to make your business better

The role of logistics in creating a better business

We know what you’re thinking, a logistics provider talking business growth? A bit of stretch? Just bear with us…

The truth of the matter is that it’s not a stretch at all. As the role of logistics becomes intrinsically intertwined to a business’ position within the market, more often than not logistics impacts directly on your competitive advantage, supporting sales and playing a key role in shaping your customer-experience journey.

With this in mind, here are just four ways that a better logistics solution could dramatically grow your business:

‘Scalability’ 

The ability to scale quickly and effectively is a critical part of becoming a better business.

And scalability also needs to be at the very heart of your logistics strategy. For instance, you may already be comfortably managing 40+ locations nationally, or even internationally, however if there was a need to accommodate growth rapidly, this could be make or break for some.

Today’s buying habits however mean that customers – whether you’re a B2B or B2C business – are demanding speedier and more efficient deliveries. Customers order later in the day, want items delivered in a way that suits them, plus they want their returns processed quickly, without the need to pick up the phone. Demanding yes, but, getting it right these days, could be the difference between losing, or gaining, a customer for life.
This new landscape means that businesses, logistics providers and warehouse operators alike need to get prepared, to ensure their supply chains will operate at peak efficiency, meeting these new demands, no matter the volume.

The solution you need to have therefore has to be underpinned by technology to ensure that it supports future growth. Who knows how fast or slow you will grow – with much economic uncertainty still out there – but the point is you need to be ready. And that means having reliable systems and processes in place so your whole operation doesn’t fall over when you get an influx of new orders. Instead, you’ll just be able to reap the benefits that peak volumes and expansion will bring.

Better customer experience

In today’s competitive world, it’s all about keeping your customers, not just happy, but delighted and offering the very best service. That means they’ll pick you and not your competitor.

A large aspect of what makes up ‘customer experience’ however is the quality of your logistics solution. If that’s failing to deliver (pardon the pun) then it’s likely your business could be at risk too.

However, by using integrated, cloud-based and mobile friendly technologies – that offer your customers real-time information on their orders – will bring huge benefits when it comes to improving your overall customer experience.

It’ll quench your customer’s thirst for knowledge, offering them ease of access for information, reducing admin time for your customer service team and actually help with your delivery success rates, keeping delivery costs down too.

Happy customers are what any good business has. Delighted customers mean greater satisfaction, greater brand loyalty and a better chance that they’ll buy from you again.
Do it well more than one and they’ll buy again, and again and again. Well, you get the picture…

Improved forecasting

If your business’ logistics is complicated and unpredictable, it’s likely you’re struggling in your ability to forecast. An inability to forecast correctly however, could damage the health of a business long-term.

To ensure businesses never commit to an order that it can’t fulfill, most hold excessive levels of safety stocks to ‘insure’ against these types of problems, but this can lead to excess stock and ultimately higher costs. An integrated software solution however will help you spot inventory trends happening in your warehouse or supply chain. And with accurate reports, you are able to know how much you need to have of what, and when, and this eliminates having wasteful stock in your warehouse, but also helps you fulfill more orders, avoiding the dreaded ‘out of stock’ sales losses.

Reduced admin time

Cut costs while delighting customers AND reducing your admin time too? Yes, it can all be done, but only if you get your logistics right.

A tech-enabled end to end logistics solution will give you the ability to identify areas where you are incurring unnecessary costs and spending too much time doing administration. By connecting suppliers, carriers and customers, you will seamless bring them together allowing for better lines of communication and better visibility. A natural outcome of these improvements is a reduction in administration saving you time, but also delighting your customer with a much better service. Bingo.

Call us today for an informal chat to see how our logistics solutions could enhance your business and delight your customers. Our experts first look at your customer to establish what they want and then build a completely personalised solution around that. It’s what better logistics is all about.