In an industry known for its volatility and highly competitive nature, parcel carriers must nonetheless prioritize strong relations with their customers, says Don Caddy, chief executive officer of Engineering Innovation. 

When it comes to securing new customers in the parcel shipping business, it’s easy to “get lost in going after the bright, new, shiny account,” Caddy says. But if service providers fail to scale their organizations accordingly, they can “end up leaving out the customers who have been paying the bills all along.”

It’s equally important to understand what parcel customers want today: not just speed of delivery, but accuracy as well. Failure to do so creates “a huge customer satisfaction issue,” Caddy says. “You need to be consistently performing. One mistake can cost you an account.”

Carriers are essential to maintaining the shipper’s brand reputation. That’s why the search for price alone — maybe saving shipper the a few pennies per package — can be shortsighted. A good relationship between shipper and carrier is necessary to ensuring consistent service. 

Automation can help, Caddy says, especially for monitoring the entire process and identifying exceptions, such as incorrect or late shipments, that need to be handled by humans. That’s when good communications with the customer becomes key. The message should be: “How can I fix this problem for you as quickly as possible?”