The last mile is the moment of truth: a single delivery can make or break the entire customer journey.
In logistics, customer experience isn't a luxury; it's the way to differentiate yourself. During the Logistics & Delivery Lunch Event on October 9th, customer experience specialist Erik Jan Elsenaar (Return on Experience) will show why precisely the final step in your logistics makes all the difference and how to gain control over it.
The last contact with the customer is often also the most decisive. "Daniel Kahneman's peak-end rule shows that people primarily remember the peak and the end of an experience. In the last mile, these often coincide: the delivery is both the highlight and the concluding moment. A single negative experience can therefore overshadow everything. But a smooth and pleasant interaction at the door can even compensate for earlier bumps in the journey," Erik Jan emphasizes. The moment of delivery is thus often the most visible and emotional part of the customer journey.
"Customer experience might seem subjective, but you can certainly measure it. At Return on Experience, we combine relational metrics like NPS with transactional feedback immediately after a delivery. It's not just about whether customers are satisfied, but especially why. With driver analyses based on open-ended responses, you can see which factors truly have an impact. Link these insights to operational data such as complaints, returns, or churn, and you'll immediately see what customer experience means for your business," Erik Jan explains.
This is how experience is translated into concrete figures that management teams can act upon. And that's precisely what's needed, because there's often a significant gap between what companies think and what customers experience.
Many companies believe they operate in a customer-centric way, but customers often experience it very differently. "Research repeatedly shows that companies rate themselves higher than their customers do. The gap can be as much as 50 percentage points. This is because organizations focus too much on internal metrics and too little on what customers actually experience," says Erik Jan.
His advice: "Customer-centricity isn't about the latest technology, but about listening to customers and translating their feedback into improvements. Technology can enhance this – like RoutiGo's solutions – provided the implementation truly aligns with what customers experience and need."
Track & trace, dynamic time windows, route optimization: technology and data are indispensable in the last mile. But this is precisely where things often go wrong. A common pitfall is that data remains stuck in separate systems or that the translation into customer communication is missing. The result: customers either receive no information or a flood of irrelevant updates. The trick is not to collect more and more data, but to intelligently link and apply data so that the customer's life genuinely becomes easier.
That technology and customer-centricity reinforce each other is not theory but daily reality. Erik Jan witnessed this, for example, at DPD, where smart route planning led to lower costs and a better experience. "By communicating delivery time indications, customers received clarity in advance, while operations ran more efficiently. Cost savings and customer-centricity went hand in hand here." It's just one example, but Erik Jan sees similar results at countless organizations: those who invest in a better reception experience not only gain satisfied customers but also operational efficiency.
Improvements don't have to be big or complex. "Many companies collect mountains of feedback via NPS, reviews, drivers, or customer service, but surprisingly do little with it," says Erik Jan. "Precisely there, simple improvements are often readily available. If you address this systematically, you'll notice that customers immediately feel better heard and that operations run more smoothly. You can start analyzing and linking concrete actions tomorrow. Just showing that you listen to the customer has a positive effect."
How do you make customer experience tangible and profitable? During the Logistics & Delivery Lunch Event, you'll get answers from Erik Jan Elsenaar and other experts. Be inspired by practical examples, fresh insights, and concrete tools. Register today and experience how the last mile can make all the difference.
