Creating a Killer Customer Experience
After a dramatic plunge during the pandemic, customer satisfaction has rebounded sharply in the past 18 months, reaching an all-time high of 78 out of 100 in the last quarter of 2023, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Scores for appliance and home furnishings retailers match that average. Customers feel better about the products they buy and the last-mile journey that brings products to their homes.
The industry has upped its game across the board, and if you’re not delivering an exceptional delivery customer experience, you’re prey for competitors who are. We will explore how to create a killer customer experience in home furnishings retail, with strategies for excelling in your delivery experience and leveraging advanced technology like AI for optimal performance and customer satisfaction.
WHY CX MATTERS
In a study conducted by Microsoft, 96% of respondents said that customer experience and customer service played a major role in their choice of brands, a number that was consistent regardless of age group, gender, or country. This customer sentiment was mirrored in another study: 87% of leaders of enterprises with more than $1 billion in revenue said that customer experience is their top strategic challenge.
For home furnishings retailers, getting the product from the warehouse into the customer’s home has always been a key part of the customer experience. The acceleration of online shopping has only increased its importance. You can only excel at customer experience by excelling in delivery. Leveraging technology and consistent communications can help you get there.
SELF-SCHEDULING
Customers want to be in control and know what’s going on with their order, so let them. Your technology should allow customers to self-schedule their delivery. For example, DispatchTrack is the only major last-mile solution that offers fully automated self-scheduling. If customers didn’t select a delivery window at the time of purchase, an automated reminder takes them to a branded scheduling portal.
Behind the scenes, the DispatchTrack delivery scheduling software rapidly performs complex calculations that balance your trucks, crews, and time windows with the customer’s availability. Customers pick from a list of delivery windows AI-optimized for your capacity and routes, giving them a sense of control. When customers are in control of the schedule, they’re more likely to be at home when their delivery arrives, which increases your first-attempt delivery rate success. That makes customers happy and reduces your costs.
NOTIFICATION TOUCH POINTS
Email? Text? Phone? Everyone has a preference, so ask the customer how they’d like to communicate, and then make sure your system automatically honors their selection. DispatchTrack not only registers preference, but it also automates the notification sequence with messages that carry your brandings, such as the company logo and driver photo:
- Order confirmation
- Self-scheduling message
- Schedule confirmation
- Reminder message the night before
- Route start notification and ETA confirmation
- Next stop notification
- Arrival notification
If there’s a weather delay, you need to push that to everyone on your routes quickly; if a truck goes out of service, you need to notify the stops on that route. The platform should do this easily and accurately.
COMMUNICATIONS
Throughout the process, it’s critical that you not only constantly communicate with customers but also have an easy way for them to communicate with you. The world works on text and chat, so forcing your customers to email — or, worse yet, an actual phone call — creates friction that degrades the customer experience. DispatchTrack lets drivers, customers, and dispatchers chat seamlessly in real-time, so coordinating things like gate access codes or a customer who can’t meet your delivery ETA can be handled quickly with a few messages.
ELIMINATE WISMO WORRIES
Where is my order (WISMO)? Calls are costly for you and annoying to the customer. They shouldn’t have to call to find out when they’ll receive their order; if they do, your customer service staff will spend expensive time responding. While self-scheduling and a robust notification process will eliminate most WISMO calls, you should also give customers real-time tracking of their orders. A tracking portal that displays the location of their specific order with an automated call-in option gives them control and frees up your customer service group. This not only improves the experience but also lowers your labor cost.
TALK, AND TALK BACK
Feedback is critical to keeping up with rising customer expectations. Customer surveys are great for taking the temperature of delivery recipients, but more importantly, they help you uncover ways to optimize their experience better. Your technology platform should automate the survey process, sending, receiving, and reporting so that problems surface quickly and patterns can be identified and addressed.
THE AI ADVANTAGE
AI is on track to be the tech buzzword of the decade, but be aware that not all “AI” is created equal. Some simplistic implementations are more marketing hype than math and won’t yield dramatic improvements in software performance. AI and ML (Machine Learning) have been deeply embedded in the DispatchTrack platform for years. Complex algorithms analyze dozens of variables that affect delivery performance and profitability, from obvious factors like traffic and time window to historical performance of individual crews, service times for individual customers, and more. The result is optimized routes that require up to 10% fewer miles, maximum utilization of fleet capacity, and ETAs that are 98% accurate. These capabilities afford you the operating elbow room to focus on the customer: On-time arrivals, accurate orders, and crews that aren’t pressed to their limits help give each customer the attention — and the experience — they deserve.
In conclusion, transforming your delivery experience is essential for staying competitive in today’s home furnishings retail market. By leveraging advanced technology, streamlining your processes, and prioritizing customer communication, you can deliver an exceptional service that keeps your customers satisfied and loyal. The last-mile journey is more than just a step in the delivery process; it’s an opportunity to make a lasting impression and build a strong relationship with your customers. By investing in a seamless and customer-centric delivery experience, you not only enhance your brand’s reputation but also set the stage for long-term success.
