Who Is Your Customer?

This question seems simple enough and organizations are quick to provide an answer; however, upon deeper reflection – it is a much more complicated question than originally thought.  Executives are quick to name the “payer” as the customer – but in truth, they may be whom the entity provides services to or otherwise “serves”, but they may not be the customer.

 

One barrier that interrupts normal thinking on this topic is that most people want to denote the “customer” as the primary party “served” by the organization, when that may not be the customer at all.  The role of the “true customer” should be the group that has the highest impact on the volume of sales for the organization.  If you can truly keep a balanced view of the groups that entities serve vs. who is their customer, you have an opportunity to make a profound impact on your marketplace.

 

In the case of medium sized trucking/logistics company – who is their customer?  The answers were quick – it is the consignee (the purchaser of the freight moving task).  Upon discussion and reflection, that is incorrect.  The “shipper” or “consignee” (the entity paying the freight bill) was not the trucking company’s customer.  In the clearest of terms, the shipper was the group/entity served and who received the benefit of the services provided, but they were not the customer.

 

In the world of trucking, there is a significant shortage of drivers.  Additionally, the trucking industry suffers from a national average yearly turnover rate of nearly 100%.  Can you imagine having 600 drivers and having to hire 600 drivers each year in order to address the turnover?  What if you can’t hire enough drivers?  Are high dollar trucks with bank payments sitting for lack of drivers?  Are you able to ship the products for the “shipper” if you don’t have drivers?

 

In short, the ability to attract and retain drivers has the single largest impact on whether your volume grows or shrinks.  Consider the following thoughts:

• Shouldn’t the driver be the shipping company’s customer?

• If the company focuses on the hiring and retention of this “customer” (the driver) then won’t their driver shortage be solved, reduce turnover costs and reduce the expense of empty trucks?

• With more drivers can’t you serve more consignees and increase your sales volume?