In a time where our lives take place more and more online, and in which the word digitization can be found in everyone’s dictionary, your business must change as well. The essence to be IT-minded is clear: doing your job offline and without any other parties hasn’t been possible for quite some time now. However, digitization does not end with your own processes. Communicating to and with your customers happens more online – and not only via email or chat. More often, your customers expect insights into their own processes and the ability to manage their business themselves. It introduced the rise of the next generation of customer portals and online platforms. Are you ready for this change? In this blog, we discuss 3 trends you will face, which you can use to your advantage.

#1 Digital first: the rise of a contactless approach

Due to COVID-19, the workflows in the logistics industry have changed drastically. That goes for your logistics operation, but also for the way in which you help your customers. The limited physical interactions in this period, lead to a shift towards an approach without any contact. When customers prefer these digital interactions, you must be able to facilitate that. A digital-first approach, with corresponding portals and platforms, is essential for this. As is a matching software system, that can facilitate these portals for you. For example, you can streamline your complaint registration in your software solution, or you can digitally handle transport documents instead of in the office.

#2 Self-service gains popularity

A customer portal can be used in different ways. The most important one might be managing activities. Before, your employees were called regularly, answering questions and handling requests. Now, customers want to handle their business themselves. Sending in an order, reserving a time slot to load at your dock, or solving a problem. Customers – and especially millennials – want to do this themselves, from their own work spot. Therefore, the call for a digital customer environment that offers these possibilities gets louder. It is up to you to answer this demand of your customers and potential customers.

#3 The demand for data analysis grows

The importance of data has been undisputed for some time now. As a logistics service provider, you can use data to improve your processes and to better respond to customer requests. Nowadays, customers want you to share this data with them too. Not only the data. Also an analysis of this data. Because, like you, your customers can then make data-driven choices to make their processes more efficient as well. For example, how long do the goods stay in your warehouse on average, or how long does it take for them to go from A to B. You must be able to present this information in real-time to your customer.

Respond to the demand of a digital customer environment

The needs of your customers change. It is your job to fulfill those needs. Only in that way, you keep your current customers satisfied, and you can offer value to new customers. Because whether they want to review data in their own environment, or want to manage a specific part of their process online, with a customer portal you can easily respond to this demand. Do you want to learn more about the customer portal Elevate-IT can offer? Mail to info@elevate-it.be and discover it yourself.