Providing Cost Savings and Customer Service
Hub Group provides reliable, nationwide white glove service for a large furniture manufacturer, solidifying a long-term business relationship. Hub Group ensures continuous improvement and service consistency.
Utilizing true office installers was both costly and slow, but other standard transportation providers were unable to meet the high expectations of this large furniture manufacturer’s customer commitment.
With a high level of complexity for product assembly and additional requirements beyond the industry standard for white glove service, this company and Hub Group started a business relationship in 2009 that was focused on providing consistent, nationwide white glove service for an affordable price and within a reasonable transit time.
The Solution: Multiple Methods
Hub Group used multiple methods of training materials including videos, conference calls, work instructions, on‐site visits, and other reference guides to prepare the last mile terminal network for a zero‐defect, staged onboarding of the business. With such a successful implementation, the customer continued to increase the percentage of markets that Hub Group serviced for them until Hub Group became their primary last mile carrier, acquiring 95% of their white glove business.
Hub Group has also ensured continuous improvement and service consistency. As new terminals are brought into the network, Hub Group reviews all customer training materials in‐depth with the delivery teams and terminal management. Internal meetings are held to keep open communication flow on opportunities and trends as well as set assignments and progress goals within both companies to enhance the customer experience.
The Results
Throughout the relationship, the furniture manufacturer has set and measured goals that align with their business focus, and Hub Group has continued to develop strategies around service improvements within the areas that Hub Group can impact. In particular, the company surveys all their white glove delivery recipients measuring overall customer satisfaction with the service provided as well as ratings in the following categories:
1. Ease of scheduling.
2. Driver product familiarity, professionalism, and performance.
3. Individual service requirements–assembly completion, removal of stickers, performance of the product wipe down, product manual distribution to the customer, etc.
Over the years of survey scores, Hub Group has averaged 97% overall satisfaction rating, and the individual performance metrics are used on a weekly basis as training opportunities for specific driver teams and to identify service trends for high- and low‐performing terminals.
In addition to the company’s service measurements, Hub Group provides a monthly scorecard to track KPIs. The Defect‐Free Ratio (shipments without a transportation service defect notation) is 97%, and Hub Group OSD for the account is <2%. The average last mile transit time is 3.5 days with an average of .65 days from the order arriving to the Hub Group terminal to the first call placed to the customer for scheduling.
The clear outline of expectations and goals in addition to the commitment from both companies to provide the best possible customer experience has proven to create a long‐term, successful business relationship. Open communication and alignment of delivery strategies with the customer vision will continue to be the cornerstones of the value‐added services Hub Group provides to ensure customer satisfaction.
To learn more:
[email protected]
800-377-5833
hubgroup.com