3 Steps to Improve Supply Chain Customer Experience: Gartner

As businesses shift to a customer-centric model, supply chain leaders must focus on improving their supply chain customer experience, a new report from Gartner Inc. has found.

Beth Coppinger, senior director analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain practice, said that organisations must adapt quickly to their customers’ rapidly changing preferences and expectations, or else risk in the loss of exactly those customers.

“Supply chain customers today are looking for improvements in areas such as on-time, in-full (OTIF),” Coppinger said.

“They also expect shorter lead time and personalised products and packaging,” she said.

To help organisations successfully drive customer centricity in the supply chain and enhance customer experience, Gartner said that customer supply chain officers (CSCOs) must take three actions.

Build Customer Understanding

Organisations can understand customers through listening to them at multiple interaction points and examining customer product use data and/or customer satisfaction data.

Gartner explained that the goal is to create a full picture of what the customer wants, needs and thinks, as well as a shared understanding of the customer at critical touchpoints across the enterprise.

Currently, over 60% of supply chain leaders are investing in developing and maintaining access to voice of the customer (VoC) data.

“CSCOs can use VoC data to identify problematic touchpoints – or the key drivers of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction,” Coppinger explained.

“It is crucial that data isn’t just collected, but also analysed and acted upon,” she said.

Set and Adapt a Strategy for Improving Customer Experience

The keys for setting a strategic direction for CX lie in partnering with executive peers across the organisation and aligning on where the organisation will focus its efforts.

“Clearly defined metrics and expected outcomes are the base of a successful program as they help to determine whether the selected strategies and investments deliver the desired results,” Gartner said.

Coordinate to Create a Customer-Centric Culture

Successful CX depends on the commitments and actions of all people in the organisation. Gartner said that CSCOs must get everyone on board on the CX vision and clearly outline the behaviours that need to change.

The research firm also recommended that a CX leader be appointed to coordinate best practices and assets, such as the type of VoC solution that is best for understanding a given customer touchpoint.

This leader works with a cross functional steering team to engage the entire organisation in listening, understanding, and responding – creating products, solutions and services to respond to customer needs.

Copinger said that to embed customer-centricity in the supply chain, it is important to make the customer come alive in everyday business practices

“For example, at the start or end of each team meeting, one person gives a firsthand account of an exceptional experience that was delivered to a customer, and the team then explores if this is something that could be beneficial to the whole organisation,” she concluded.