As the supply chain continues to stretch and bend to accommodate customers in every way imaginable, the challenges faced by businesses grow exponentially.
An agile supply chain is nice to have, but unless you’re working directly with the order fulfillment team, it can feel like a far away dream.
That is, of course, unless your 3rd party logistics company provides you with a dedicated account manager.
Do Logistics Better with the Help of an Account Manager
Like many other business support services, your 3PL should be connecting you with a dedicated account manager from the start.
This person will help you navigate the waters of order fulfillment and help you get in sync with the way that processes work at the facility. They are an integral part of the power house that’s now behind your fulfillment.
Under the guidance of a dedicated account manager, your fulfillment can take on a whole new attitude.
These are just a few ways they can power your fulfillment services:
Acting as a central contact point. A fulfillment company that lacks account managers can make you navigate a maze of telephone trees, customer service representatives and voice mail boxes just to ask a simple question. The first three people you reach might not even have the answer, an incredibly frustrating situation, indeed.
With a dedicated account manager all you need to do is pick up the phone, dial their direct line and ask your question. If it’s not something they can handle, they will at least know who to ask on your behalf. Never again get trapped on hold forever just to make a small change or ask a simple question..
Knowing your needs better than you do. A good account manager reacts when something starts to go sideways with your account. An exceptional one anticipates the same problem and prevents it from happening at all. When you don’t have an account manager, you’ll have to fix major situations on your own, with only a string of customer service people who have no clue what’s going on with your account besides some very short notes to go on.
Improving your processes and connections. Your dedicated account manager is linked to your company in a deep way. When you grow, they benefit, too. So if they notice something that could be done differently to speed up processing or distribution, for example, they’re going to tell you about it and help you implement any changes. Having a friend on the inside of your 3PL never hurts.
You can save money with a low-service 3PL that makes you sit on hold forever, doesn’t really know much about your company and definitely isn’t getting too invested in your processes, or you can make money with the help of a 3PL that provides dedicated account managers. After all, you know your customers best. How long are they willing to wait for you to get the answers you need?
