Building trust together

Why do we need this kind of information? Is it because we genuinely want to absorb it, or because we're afraid things will go wrong if we don't stay on top of it ourselves? What about our trust in logistics?

I had to knock because…

A supplier recently told us about an all-too-common occurrence: A customer was impatiently waiting for her package. The delivery was vital for her, as it contained essential medication. She waited and waited, only to find a note in her mailbox at the end of the day. The delivery person had ‘missed’ her. How could that be? She had been home all day, after all. Angrily, she called; what was going on? The next day, the delivery person made another attempt. Again, he found a closed door. He called his client, the client called the pharmaceutical company, and the pharmaceutical company called the customer. What turned out to be the case? You can probably guess... the doorbell didn't work.

No Trust to Build On

What's remarkable about this situation is that the woman in question initially got angry. She immediately blamed the supplier. Honestly, I recognize such a reaction in myself too. I recently forgot to update my new home address for an online order. My first reaction after a long wait and no package? You guys are messing up. But it turned out the fault was my own. Why did I, and probably the woman from the scenario above, react defensively? Because trust in logistics is lacking.

There are two sides to every story

In delivery, things often go wrong on two fronts. First, with the drivers. They work carelessly and too hastily. Due to frequent mistakes, customers no longer trust logistics. How can we, as an industry, change that? By treating our drivers more fairly and no longer exploiting them. Secondly, recipients often take logistics too lightly. We'd be happy to discuss this further in our next blog. To be continued….