The 3PL providers – a growing industry – are also becoming fragmented as many chases the same customers. Acquiring new customers while also retaining the older ones require service providers to stand out from the crowd. But then, what is that specific thing that makes you stand out? How can one remain relevant and competitive? Can collaboration create delivering excellence? In this exclusive interview, Kapil Saraf, Senior Director-Sales & Marketing, Indian Subcontinent, DSV helps us to tackle these questions. He also highlights on the importance of collaboration, the costs drivers to look out for, and the importance of customer experience in writing a company’s success story.
Customer experience seems to be a marketing-driven initiative. However, its shares a unique relationship with Supply Chain Management. Can you highlight this unique relation and address how customer experience can generate sustainable growth for the logistics and supply chain industry?
Experience-led growth is a business strategy that focuses on creating exceptional customer experiences to drive business growth. In our company, we have implemented a structured Customer Success Programme (CSP) to listen to our customers and understand their needs, pain points, and expectations. By actively listening to our customers, we can tailor our products and services to meet their needs and provide them with the best possible experience.
Our customer service team is highly quality-driven and we believe that by providing exceptional service to our customers, we can help them to better serve their customers. This creates a ripple effect of growth, not just for our customers but for the industry as a whole. We focus on experience-led growth which helps us to have a differentiator vis-a-vis our competitors and helps in building long-lasting relationships with our customers. We are committed to continuously improving our customer experiences and providing value to our customers, which we believe will ultimately drive our business growth.
When doing business, often 3PL costs are not considered, resulting in a shrinking of positive cash flow and profits. What are the cost drivers that companies and businesses should look out for?
When it comes to managing costs for businesses and companies, several factors need to be taken into consideration. One should keep in mind demurrage, detention and storage costs, which can arise if time-bound planning is not carried out effectively during shipment execution. These costs can be a significant burden on the bottom line of a company and can even result in financial losses.
To avoid such costs, it is crucial to work with a reliable logistics partner like DSV who can help with effective planning and execution of shipments. By working with an expert logistics partner like DSV who has expertise in logistics, companies can focus on improving their operational business processes and drive profitability.
Logistics is one of the major indirect spending categories for any company involved with goods manufacturing, distribution, or retail; and LSPs serve as the physical link between the goods produced and the customers. What is your mantra for delivering and achieving cost excellence i.e. high performance and low-cost logistics?
At our company, we believe that the key to delivering and achieving cost excellence in DSV is by maintaining consistent high performance while being costs competitive. We focus on providing our customers with highest level of service, while at the same time being mindful of cost implications of our operations.
To achieve this balance, we constantly evaluate and optimise our logistics processes to identify areas where we can reduce costs without compromising on quality. We also work closely with our customers to understand their specific needs and develop customised solutions that meet their requirements while keeping costs under control.
Our mantra for delivering and achieving cost excellence is through a relentless focus on high performance and cost optimisation. We are committed to providing our customers with best possible service at a competitive price and we believe that this approach is the key to our success.
Can you touch upon the importance of creating a value chain through interconnected technologies? How is DSV keeping up with the changing digital environment to stay relevant as well as competitive?
DSV is committed to providing our customers with highest level of visibility and efficiency. To achieve this, we provide our customers with myDSV user IDs, which give them access to our user-friendly platform that provides real-time information on their shipments.
Our ‘myDSV’ platform is connected internally within the DSV world, which operates on one uniform operation system across all DSV countries. This means that our customers can access information on their shipments anytime, anywhere using a single platform.
Furthermore, our DSV operations system is interconnected through EDI with all our business partners, including airlines, shipping lines, transporters and customs. This allows us to exchange seamless information with our partners, providing our customers with real[1]time updates on their shipments. At DSV, we believe that providing visibility and efficiency to our customers is key to building long-lasting relationships. By leveraging the latest technologies and interconnecting our operations systems, we can provide our customers with highest level of service and real-time information on their shipments.
This is an abridged version of the interview published in June edition of the Logistics Insider Magazine. to read the full interview click here.
