How IoT is improving asset and fleet monitoring while boosting customer service
Better visibility and control is building customer loyalty
Canadians rely on the delivery of goods and services now more than ever. They also recognize fleet operators are essential to keeping supply chains moving.
To ensure goods and vehicles get where they need to be, when they’re needed, many companies use IoT to know the location and condition of their fleets and goods.
With numerous benefits for the fleet companies and operators themselves, including complying with industry standards, lowering costs and increasing safety, we often overlook the benefits directly impacting the end-customer. Here are four ways companies that rely on business vehicles can boost customer service with an IoT solution.
Get granular with delivery times
Most of us see the benefits of a delivery window that is more specific than “between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.” Likewise “your delivery has shipped” doesn’t give much insight into when it might arrive. Whether the receiver is a consumer waiting for a new dishwasher or a hardware store expecting a shipment of shovels before a snowstorm, knowing the precise time of delivery helps customers prepare and plan for the arrival.
Fleet tracking technology is breaking new ground. IoT sensors installed on fleet vehicles can provide real-time data on where the delivery is, and when it’s expected, down to the minute.
What was once a general notification of shipment has evolved to a much more specific level of communication, allowing businesses to track a delivery’s progress and plan operations based on this information. This level of granularity provides a great step forward in giving exceptional customer service when it comes to successful and timely deliveries.
Enable your customers to better serve their customers
A shipment’s destination isn’t always the end of the road for the goods delivered. Many businesses rely on these deliveries to serve their own customers. Proof of delivery and estimated arrival times can be key for B2B logistics. For example, an auto repair shop might need a part delivered before fixing a customer’s SUV. Knowing when the part is due allows that mechanic to schedule their time (and even their time off) to get the repair done both quickly and efficiently.
Now “we’ll be able to do it sometime this week, we’ll call you when it’s ready,” becomes, “we’ll take care of that for you tomorrow afternoon by 3.”
Provide visibility into cargo condition
An occasional hiccup in the supply chain is an inevitable occurrence, but IoT helps to keep the customer informed and better able to keep their business running smoothly by providing end-to-end visibility.
IoT solutions can do much more than simply provide information on a shipment’s location. You can also know about its condition –– an important factor in boosting customer service.
Take, for example, a grocery store anticipating a shipment of dairy products to stock its refrigerators. Now, imagine the delivery truck is equipped with IoT fleet monitoring and has alerted the business owner to a 1:00 p.m. arrival time. Knowing this, an extra staff person has been added to the shift to assist in getting the dairy products unloaded and refrigerated quickly.
But what if the delivery truck experiences a breakdown en route? With IoT fleet monitoring, the store owner can be alerted to the delay with a revised arrival time based on either repair plans or the transfer of cargo to a secondary truck, which means that the extra staff person can be reallocated to other tasks.
Additionally, IoT sensors monitoring cargo temperature or condition can inform both the store and the supplier if there is a danger of spoilage or damage. If there is, they both have a much better opportunity to plan and resolve the issue long before the truck arrives. The supplier could dispatch another refrigerated vehicle to the breakdown site, and the store could shift inventory so that room becomes available at the revised arrival time.
Build customer loyalty and trust
Convenience, accuracy and quality all foster brand loyalty. A grocery delivery service might struggle if it is unable to provide a window smaller than “Thursday from 9-5” -- meaning frozen items might sit melting on a doorstep for hours before a customer returns home from work. A competing service able to pinpoint a delivery timeframe is going to have a significant edge.
Likewise, how your drivers perform on the road can have a direct impact on how people perceive your brand. IoT fleet management can improve driver safety and performance – helping ensure your branded vehicles don’t advertise poor driving.
Thanks to automation, IoT doesn’t add extra steps for the fleet operator, but provides significant added value on the customer side. Now companies that rely on vehicles can not only meet their customers’ immediate needs, but build customer trust and loyalty for the future.