[ad_1]
The opinions expressed by Entrepreneur Contributors are their own.
Brands spend significant amounts of money making positive connections with customers. They look for touchpoints to build awareness, create personalized experiences, and establish emotional connections that drive increased engagement, sales, and loyalty. They understand that every interaction matters.
However, amidst this flurry of activity, there is one vital relationship that brands may be overlooking that can make or break their entire connection with customers: it’s the partnership with their partners. Third party logistics Provider (3PL).
Like any successful relationship, this connection thrives through clear communication, mutual trust, compatibility, and a deep understanding of each other’s needs and goals. It’s not just the 3PL that makes the relationship work, it’s a collaborative path that leads to its success.
Going beyond contractual agreements, here are the three key strategies brands can employ to foster a thriving 3PL partnership and enhance their customer experience:
Related: The Four Essential Principles of Every Successful Partnership
1. Communicate openly and often
When a brand deals with a third party, creating transparent and consistent communications is key to its long-term success. It starts during the assessment phase when brands establish their requirements and leads to the proposal phase when 3PLs share their core competencies. Before making a partnership decision, 3PLs should have their own implementation plan, taking into account brand system integrations, inventory management, packaging details and carrier preferences, among other leading factors.
Open communication should not end with a service agreement. For a truly successful partnership, brands can’t take a “set it and forget it” approach with their 3PL. They can make visits to the warehouse site, establish communication channels and share vital information regularly. The same goes for 3PLs. They simply cannot take on warehousing, inventory management, picking, packing, shipping and delivery tasks without understanding all the nuances of a brand’s business, from the brand’s identity and standard operating procedures to its specific compliance requirements to meet demand. Each partner must be willing to do everything they can to communicate transparently, frequently share forecasts and sales data, provide visibility into inventory levels and discuss any issues, performance metrics and customer feedback that arise.
By fostering a strong collaborative relationship with their 3PL, brands can achieve efficient operations, transparent pricing that aligns with expectations, and effective communication tailored to their unique needs. This alignment creates a positive customer experience, characterized by predictability and reliability.
2. Treat your 3PL as an extension of your brand
A successful 3PL brand partnership goes beyond just transactions. In the most successful partnerships, brands view their 3PL as a true extension of their team. This is an intentional process that requires more than simple cooperation. It takes a desire from both brands and their 3PLs to integrate themselves into each other’s businesses.
3PLs typically aren’t retail experts, but they are experts at getting products to shoppers. By turning 3PL into operational tasks only without integrating it into the broader strategic framework, brands can face inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
Take sales and promotions as an example. Let’s say a brand invested significant time and resources into launching a new product with a great ad campaign but didn’t inform its 3PL partner about the expected rise in inventory and sales. This will lead to staff shortages, fulfillment delays, and disappointed shoppers. By leaving their 3PL in the dark, and not giving them the opportunity to prepare, the brand did not support a successful partnership.
Communicating variances, whether new SKUs or expected volume fluctuations, is a simple way to bring your 3PL through the journey. Brands and third parties can take it further by creating a touchpoint that regularly shares updates, discusses KPIs like delivery to stock or inventory metrics and picking accuracy, and aligns their customer support programs to quickly resolve shopper issues.
Serving as an integral part of a brand team gives 3PLs the flexibility to adapt their processes to meet partners’ needs rather than imposing strict one-size-fits-all solutions.
RELATED: These are the do’s and don’ts of when working with a third-party service provider
3. Embrace 3PL technology and the visibility it provides
As retailers look for ways to improve their customer experience, third-party services companies that embrace technology are rising to the occasion to meet their needs.
However, it is not enough to simply partner with technology-advanced 3PLs. Brands need to take full advantage of the technology provided to remain competitive and meet the evolving demands of their customers.
Various technology platforms, such as order management systems (OMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), and transportation management systems (TMS), provide brands with real-time insights into 3PL, fulfillment, and delivery processes, enhancing efficiency and providing visibility across the company. practical. Furthermore, 3PL automation, robotics and AI tools can boost productivity, reduce costs and enhance workforce experiences – leading to happier warehouse and delivery partners who deliver better performance for brand partners.
Embracing technology, and the third party that embraces it, enhances operational efficiency and provides brands with the insight they need to make informed decisions and proactively meet customer needs, ultimately leading to a more seamless and satisfying shopping experience.
Related: How to Make the Most of External Partners
Maintaining open lines of communication, viewing 3PLs as a strategic partner rather than a service provider and embracing their technology are all key to forming successful partnerships.
Through a strong relationship with a 3PL, brands can elevate their customer experience to enhance brand loyalty and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive retail environment.
[ad_2]
Source link
