Have you ever felt let down? There are times when we put our blood and sweat into maintaining a relationship and, yet, a customer chooses to go with another service. Despite knowing that in business this does happen, it’s only natural to wonder what went wrong. Why did they do it? It’s a business relationship for sure, but we are human. We cannot help but take it personally especially initially. We wonder, Did I do anything wrong? Was it me? We often also tell ourselves it’s the nature of the business we’re in. An industry of many variables. Of demands. Of high expectations. A fight for survival.  

Now, the real question is: Why do people do this in freight forwarding and logistics? Do they really benefit from conducting business this way?

Well, yes and no. 

Am I the Problem?

What I’ve found for almost a decade in this industry is that true relationships are not so common. Almost nonexistent. Many of us become delusional about having a strong bond with a customer and vice versa. So delusional that we become too comfortable, in a bad way. We think if we’re covering their shipments with no issues nor complaints, we’ve found a client for life. Dead wrong. Just think of our personal relationships for a second. Imagine if you’re married or in a long term relationship and everything runs smoothly. It puts us into an auto-pilot mode. Every day becomes the same. We do the same things with the partner and life is just good. We start thinking we don’t have to put in much more effort, just because everything is great. And, one day, either we or our partner realize it’s not enough. Something has to change. But, in most cases, that happens without advance notice. It just blows up! The same happens in the freight industry.

In a professional relationship too, if there are no innovations from our side, the relationship becomes monotonous. And it’s always the customer who breaks out of it first. A new, different service provider shows up and they are the equivalent of a novelty in our personal lives, exotic even, though they may offer the same service as us. They could be even doing a worse job than we do, but it doesn’t matter. It’s like when we come across a new person in our life whom we fall in love with so much that we become blind to their weaknesses. 

But, the good thing is we can change that.

Be Creative. Be Bold.

So, what can we do about it?

The first thing we have to do is to become aware of our relationship with a customer. Is it monotonous? Have we changed anything in terms of the service we provide? Even the best providers can use improvement. It doesn’t even have to be the service we need to change; it could be just a small feature. For example, if we are focused on providing the best possible communication, is there anything we can add to it? What if we start sending them photos of the loaded and offloaded freight for every shipment they send our way? This is something which many customers don’t require but, by doing so, we give them something new. Something innovative. It can potentially inject a spark back into the relationship. This is just a small feature we can add, so think about all the perks you can add or improve on. Be creative. Be bold. And watch their reactions closely. Sometimes it’s a hit or miss. But at least they will see we’re trying.

To quote Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

Go For it.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out and be innovative. Change the way you service your customers. Ask them for suggestions. Think of some on your own. Keep trying until you see them work. Until you receive positive feedback. Until a customer says you have raised the bar for the entire industry when it comes to service standards. At that moment, you’ll know you’ve done something meaningful for them and that is what counts. The average comes and goes, but greatness stays forever.