【MOL CHART-Chart of the global business operations】(Part 2)/Making the customer first policy part of the culture
In response to the establishment of MOL CHART, which sets forth the values shared within the MOL group, a number of group companies have set forth their own unique values.
MOL Liner, which oversees the liner business at MOL, is headquartered in Hong Kong and has a sales network of 122 offices in 47 countries around the world. In January of 2016, the company set forth its own unique vision MOL CARE with the aim of uniting the approximately 4,600 global staff.
“CARE is a vision that has been synchronized with CHART. It incorporates our strong desire to continue to remain a customer-oriented organization,” states Tsunemichi Mukai, Senior Vice-President of MOL Liner.
Similar to CHART, CARE includes keywords for each of its letters.
C is for “Care for the customer,” A is for “Assure quality,” R is for “Reinforce sales” and E is for “Enhance customer service.”
The liner market is in a difficult situation, and the company is facing life or death competition.
Through the development of alliances, cargo booked by the MOL group is often loaded on containerships operated by other companies.
Given this, how can MOL’s services be differentiated from competitors and branded. Mukai emphasizes that, “Definitely, directly responding to the needs, requirements and expectations of customers is the basis for strengthening sales.”
The aim of designating MOL CARE is to once again draw attention to putting the customer first, which is the foundation for everything.
■Evaluating the needs
Marvis Wong, Assistant Manager in charge of Global Marketing & Communication, explains regarding the foundation of quality in the sales activities that, “It is important to thoroughly listen to the what the customer expects.”
Shipping lines tend to think of transit time as the needs of most customers. However, for some customers, zero document errors or zero cargo damage may take priority.
In addition, providing care not only to direct customers but also to the customer’s customers and suppliers contracted by the customer is what MOL Liner considers to be good service.
For example, when transporting a container from the US to Japan, the first import customer that the company has contact with is the trucking company. Other parties the company must provide care to include freight forwarders, customs brokers, cargo brokers and container terminals.
When aiming to provide such detailed customer care, it is essential to share customer information on a global scale.
MOL Liner has developed an efficient customer relationship management (CRM) system that enables sales teams around the world to access up-to-date customer information.
Senior Manager Jeremy Jose explains, “If a sales rep in Japan or Thailand inputs information obtained during a meeting with the customer into the system, it is possible for staff in the US or Europe to accurately grasp the situation in real time.”
On the other hand, in terms of providing information to customers, the MOL Liner website MOLPOWER.COM is focused on improving the scheduled port of call information. Continued improvements aimed at creating detailed, more accurate and easier to understand information are being made.
The company is working to make daily improvements to respond to customer needs for additional information to the extent possible, including intermodal and feeder schedules and cut-off times.
■“Don’t leave the customer waiting”
It has been 1 year since MOL Liner designated CARE, but the benefits are already slowly starting to become visible.
One example is the significant improvements made to the booking process.
MOL Liner has set a target of sending the confirmation email following the completion of an on-line booking “within 2 hours.” Until 3-4 months ago, the achievement rate was 75%, but it has since increased to a remarkable 94%.
Moreover, the time customers are forced to wait when calling with an inquiry was reduced from 18 seconds in May to 11 seconds in July. Following the introduction of CARE, the awareness of “don’t keep the customer waiting” is spreading among the overseas offices.
In order to promote the vision, MOL Liner has distributed MOL CARE posters to all of the offices, as well as hung them in easy to see locations such as the workplace, meeting rooms and hallways. Furthermore, the company has gathered together successful examples of services that focused on customer satisfaction and is regularly publishing them in the internal newsletter.
“CARE exists because of CHART. Moreover, CARE is a long-term vision, not a task force or project. It will be inscribed in the hearts of each and every employee, form the central pillar of their actions and become a regular part of the company. I want to make it an important part of the MOL Liner culture,” states Mukai, indicating his ambitions for the future.