The COVID-19 pandemic changed relational dynamics, especially how individuals interact and communicate with one another. It also had a major impact on the way enterprises communicate with their customers.
At Werner, premium customer service is part of our DNA. We take care of our customers’ needs by providing and delivering professional, high quality and helpful service before, during and after the customer’s requirements are met, while also taking things a step further to exceed — rather than just meet expectations.
But can we still deliver on our Customer Service Promise throughout the supply chain when the world we live in has completely changed?
The pandemic pushed the adoption of digital technologies in transportation and logistics, highly automated platforms and solutions that are state of the art. They reduced supply chain inefficiencies, improved demand-supply matching and increased connectivity and visibility across systems. But what about the human interactions in between all those digital transactions?
In the last decade, we have increased our consumption of digital channels more and more, but due to COVID-19 and the lockdowns, many people were craving human connection. The uncertain times we now live in have brought empathy, trust and care to the fore. Digital touchpoints have increased in the customer’s journey, but we have learned that there needs to be a fine balance between human and digital-based interactions. Digital saves valuable time on customer service processes and can assist in decision making and recommendations; however, it cannot completely replace a highly skilled, knowledgeable customer service manager.
Now, living in a post-pandemic era and knowing that our world will become even more digital, human touchpoints will be essential, especially for the transportation and logistics industry. With challenges come opportunities. Although it increasingly relies on digital, great customer service has to become an experience. It still needs to be infused with the human touch.
While technology continues to make this process easier, there’s no way to fully automate the human touch and a human relationship. At Werner, we focus on building long-term customer relationships. We invest our time to build and nurture relationships with all our customers, partners and carriers. All relationships hinge on emotion, and those between customers and enterprises are no different. The pandemic puts the strengths and weaknesses of a relationship under the microscope. During these unprecedented times, customers seek genuine relationships with companies that provide easy access in communications and a partner they can always rely on. Werner provided just that – reliability, knowledge and impactful resources in uncertain times. We have a dedicated support staff that sets high standards for the speed and quality of our service.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
A most recent PwC report emphasized that maintaining human connection using data and analytics to provide personalized experiences can be seen as a real opportunity to build trust. We know that our customers want to be understood through their buying and customer service journey. It is empathy that makes us human. In a highly automated and tech-driven world, with the increase of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, SMS messaging, and social media, every little human interaction, becomes crucial. While more repetitive interactions can be automated, companies still need to handle complex customer interactions. This is where the human touch is imperative. Human touch and customer-centricity are vital to our success and it’s why we have defined our Customer Service Promise to provide real value.
In an increasingly competitive landscape, here at Werner, we will focus even more on customer attention than ever before. At all times we will provide an efficient, friendly and helpful service to all our customers. Our dedicated, well-trained staff are committed to listening to our customers’ needs, suggestions and comments in striving to exceed their expectations. More than ever, a great customer experience depends on the human factor.
Werner Enterprises is not only a transportation and logistics leader; we also aim to be a customer-experience forerunner. By focusing on the power of the human touch, our customers will stay loyal and be our best ambassadors.
