In today’s world, end to end logistics is emerging as an integral part of the total supply chain. Goods are manufactured in different parts of the world, but are available on the shelf for ultimate consumer living worldwide. Small and large businesses are looking for efficient and reliable service providers to manage their logistics chain. DHL Express in Pakistan is ranked as one of the ‘Most International Companies’ in the world. DHL plays a pivotal role in facilitating trade internally as well as externally and assists entrepreneurs and businesses reach international markets efficiently. The story of a single shipment is a complex set of intertwined processes, involving many departments of the express chain, in many geographical locations across the globe. A customer service agent or a service point incharge books a shipment, the shipment information is then forwarded to the dispatch unit who allocates it to a courier, the courier then picks up the shipment and scans the air way bill which helps in tracking it throughout the process, the shipment is then brought to the service center where it undergoes various
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In todays’ rapidly expanding corporate world, which is becoming a highly complex, customer requirements are increasing in sophistication while the standards of their expectations are constantly rising.
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processes like sorting, reweighing, security checks, after which it goes to the gateway where it is exported on to the DHL international network, which is spread across 220 countries and territories. While the shipment is in transit, it arrives at one of our regional or global hubs where it is once again sorted along with thousands of other shipments and routed to its final destination. At arrival, the shipment requires customs checks, after which it is brought to the warehouse for sorting and then dispatched to the courier for delivery. There are approximately 17 mandatory check points in one shipment movement cycle. With so many checks, geographical locations, transport means and the number of people involved, it requires immense attention to detail and perfection at every step to ensure a high quality of service. It is absolutely vital that all the cogs in this process turn efficiently and this requires a highly motivated workforce who adopts ownership and delivers efficient performance to the customer base that is dispersed across the country.
DHL certified international specialists deliver service quality which is unmatched and unprecedented. 99% of the shipments are picked up within one hour of customer calls, 95% of dutiable shipments are cleared from customs immediately upon arrival, almost 98% of the shipments are delivered on time, 90% of the calls are answered within 10 seconds and 75% of the complaints are resolved within 5 days. Such outstanding performance indicators truly showcase the exceptional quality of services offered in Pakistan to reach the global markets faster.
DHL has extensively invested in logistics infrastructure, branding, facilities and qualified people in Pakistan. We have a sales and operations presence across 22 cities of Pakistan, ranging from the Southern port city of Karachi to the Northern most points of Abbotabad and Mirpur. The logistics infrastructure comprises of 3 fully secured gateways, 5 service centers manned with latest sophisticated cargo scanning machines and a very strong retail footprint of 56 service points that is more widespread in both larger and smaller cities and towns. DHL has an in-house customs at our Karachi bonded facility which is also TAPA (Transported Asset Protection Association) certified. In addition, our Karachi and Lahore facilities are RA-3 validated and approved by EU authorities. To reach out to the entrepreneurs, Pakistan Express market has been segmented into multiple channels comprising of sales people meeting customer needs according to their business potential and requirements which are constantly evolving. Our world class sales processes embed discipline in relationships with customers as well as in the retention strategies. Each sales personnel is guided through input KPI’s that assist in managing and improving selling initiatives.
A formal on-boarding process, a well-structured email contact strategy and regular customer engagement activities are the key to the strong loyalty with customers. DHL Express also has a suite of world class E-Commerce solutions for customers that help them not only to book shipments from their locations and monitor progress but more importantly manage information that is so critical for business decision making in this modern era.
In todays’ rapidly expanding corporate world, which is becoming a highly complex, customer requirements are increasing in sophistication while the standards of their expectations are constantly rising. They have never been more well-informed and aware of the choices available to them. Service models which would have worked well yesterday are no longer adequate. New approaches need to be developed and performance must be consistently enhanced. DHL has proactively endeavored to be one step ahead with these changing dynamics, through its unwavering commitment to quality, speed and reliability. We consistently monitor our performance and market dynamics to identify areas of improvement and how we may better serve our customers, which will enable us to move up the service ladder.
DHL also has a structured approach in place to get customer feedback. DHL uses the ‘Net Promoter Approach’ which helps in order to listen to the customers and improve service for them. The approach revolves around customers experience with DHL Express after they have encountered one of our touch points, whether they make a booking, salesperson visit or had a courier picked up their shipment. This feedback helps DHL in understanding changing customer expectations and devise ways to meet them.
Besides this, we have also worked on consistently improving our internal standards to engineer a service which is truly outstanding in making us the ‘Provider of Choice’ for our customers. Three years ago, our on- time delivery was 92% but today it stands at almost 98%. This really is a reflection of our ethos and our unwavering commitment to not stay stagnant but to keep improving our standards and performance to match increasing customer demands. This same determination has resulted in a lot of successful stories to tell the world. With a deeply engrained vision and consistent investment in the infrastructure and people, DHL in Pakistan is prepared to face all challenges head on, provide support to the economy and remain the ‘Provider of Choice’.
The organization, comprising of over 500 Certified International Specialists, has come a long way to become a true market leader that has a unified, motivated team that is passionate about succeeding. DHL Express Pakistan won multiple Operations, Customer Service, Finance, IT, HR, Sales and Marketing functional awards to become the ‘Provider of Choice’ in Pakistan. Our internal ‘Employee Opinion Survey’ scores have consistently been around an average of 98% positive in the last 4 years as a result of which we recently won the prestigious DPDHL CEO award and DHL Express has also been awarded the ‘Best Place to Work’ by Engage Consultancy. This reflects the high level of commitment and motivation of the teams who are directly responsible for delivering exceptional standards of services to our valued customers in Pakistan and across the globe.
Editor (Details):
Yusra Rashid
Usman holds a masters degree from IBA in marketing and finance. He has completed Maersk International Shipping Education Program from A.P. Moeller Shipping School -Copenhagen, Denmark in 1999 and has conducted various international trainings during his tenure at DHL including Certified International Manager program. During his tenure at DHL, he has achieved substantial improvement in revenue, market share growth, customer retention, sales discipline and development.
June 2015 | LUMS Business Reivew 13
