When it comes to online retailers and manufacturers, what’s the most important aspect of customer service? Is it communication? Friendly customer service representatives? A stable process for addressing customer issues and complaints? While all of these things are important, there is one aspect that is ultimately more important for customer service: shipping.

Good shipping is good customer service
The speed, efficiency, accuracy and overall quality of your shipping have a tremendous impact on the way customers view your business, even from a customer service perspective. While only those customers who have complaints will get in touch with your customer service department, every customer your business interacts with has experience with the way you ship your products. It’s one of the largest factors in how they view your business.

With the onset of automated cashiers, it’s entirely possible for customers to walk into stores and never interact with a store associate. While this is the exception with brick-and-mortar stores, it is the rule for online shopping. The two main interactions your customers have with your business are not the members of your staff, they are:

1. Your website
2. Your shipping process

And they demand the utmost quality when interacting with both of them.

What customers want
Whether you are shipping out manufactured parts from a factory or products from a warehouse, your customers want the same thing: a fast, reliable and transparent shipping method. Customers want their products quickly, they want to be able to track orders and they want those orders to arrive on-time and in good shape. Failure in one or more of these aspects results in customers feeling like they received poor service.

How can you provide good customer service through your shipping?

• Delivery options: offers your customers multiple shipping speeds and delivery methods. The more shipping options have to choose from, the happier they will be with your company.
• Keep costs low (or free): modern ecommerce customers want low-cost shipping. If it’s possible, offer free shipping on orders over a certain dollar amount.
  Make returns easy: your reverse shipping process is just as important as your standard shipping. The easier it is to return items, the higher the perception of your customer service will be.
  Tracking: offer your customers tracking on their shipments so they can see where they are and when they are expected to arrive.

King cares for your freight, your customers and you
King solutions prides itself on being a 3PL company that cares for your business. We understand that your freight and your shipping process is not only important to your customers, it’s also important to the success of your business. Customer care is something we take seriously, and we want to help you provide the best service possible to your customers. How can we help you help your customers? Contact us today and let us know.