DHL Supply Chain execs discuss benefits of customer-centric culture
Farmer School alums spoke to ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs as part of Supply Chain Speaker Series
DHL Supply Chain execs discuss benefits of customer-centric culture
If you want to hone in on the idea of a business being all about the customer experience, consider the mantra that ’s explained to Farmer School ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs during a Supply Chain Executive Speaker Series talk last week.
“’Listen, act, delight.’ That's really what it's all about. It's kind of the core of what we talk about when we talk about customer centricity, the vice president for talent acquisition, talent management, learning & development, and hourly/driver recruiting said. “It's not just about listening so that we can pitch a solution. In the best-case scenario, we might know what we're going to do. We might know what we think is going to work for a customer, but when we truly listen, the solution that we think we're going to deploy might not be the right one. So, we’re listening with the intention of really understanding what is going on, acting from the perspective of putting the solutions together and then executing them flawlessly, and delighting the customer.”
Ames and DHL Supply Chain consumer sector president , both Farmer School of Business alumni, discussed a wide range of topics during their talk, especially the customer experience.
“A customer doesn't want a provider that's just going to come in and say, ‘We're hitting our numbers.’ A customer wants a provider who's going to come in and say, ‘We hit our numbers, and our commitment to you is that we're going to do even more next year to make your business even better.’ That's what we focus on doing -- what we said we would do,” Ames said.
“One of the other things we do for our customers to kind of bring the whole customer experience to them that is a bit different is ‘Customer For Life,’” Lutwen said. “We will map out what is important for them, what is important to their supply chain, what's wrong with their supply chain right now. And then we map out how can we do things that may assist them, or if we don't have anything, we tell them where to go help themselves in their supply chain.”
Ames noted that the company can generate more profit by helping existing customers expand their business with DHL than by going out to bring in new customers. “A 5% increase in new business clients brings about $2.5 million of profitability, but a 1% increase in renewal rate brings about $4.5 million of profitability,” he said.
“We're not the cheapest provider that's out there, and we know that, and we're not trying to be, but our hope is that through everything that we're trying to drive through our operational efficiencies and our customer centricity measures, our customers understand the value that we are delivering for them, and that they are willing to continue to do business with us and continue to give us more business,” Ames said.
Another aspect of DHL Supply Chain that many may not expect? Real estate. “We are a big real estate developer, believe it or not. As a supply chain company, what we found over the years is if we can go to our customers and offer a real estate solution, whether that be the best negotiated rate on a lease with a third party,” Lutwen said “Or we actually develop buildings for our customers and build-to-suit opportunities and lease the building back to them.”
It's one aspect of many among five broad “megatrends” that Ames and Lutwen discussed: global trade, e-commerce, climate change, digitalization, and the evolving workforce.
“Before COVID, cost was king, and everything we did in logistics, what you won business on, was if you could say you're a cost leader. If you weren't lower cost, or they didn't see value in your lower cost, you were not going to gain business, you would not retain business. During COVID, cost went out the window. It was just ‘Get my product somewhere, please,’” Lutwen said. “What used to be very important was efficiency, cost efficiency, etc. Now after COVID, frankly, you must have resiliency in your supply chain.”
“By 2030, 50% of the workforce is going to be millennials and Gen Z, and things like sustainability, things like flexible work, things that were not priorities to the baby boomers are now priorities to the people who are going to make up the majority of the workforce,” Ames said. “Managers already have it in their minds, learning how can we get at a different frontline workforce that has a little bit more of a technological skill set, or a way that they think about things from a data analytics perspective?”
Lutwen noted that he comes to Miami quite a bit, and not just because of the memories of his time here.
“We love hiring Miami ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs,” he said. “I'm not going to make this a marketing pitch for DHL, but if you are at all interested, we have a tremendous culture, a tremendous growing company, and it's a really good place to come and learn.”
