Managing Supply Chain Issues: How to Communicate with Customers

Managing Supply Chain Issues: How to Communicate with Customers

Managing supply chain issues is critical to minimising risk and ensuring customer satisfaction. Businesses need to inform customers about any issues in the supply chain, regardless of how small or big they are, and keep them up-to-date. Clear and transparent communication can help build trust and maintain customer satisfaction. And businesses want to keep it that way. Problems can’t always be avoided, but if customers find out that you’re keeping it from them, they will feel betrayed. In this article, we explore how to communicate supply issues to customers and how contact centre cloud solutions can aid in managing such issues to ensure you have effective customer communications at all times.

Crafting Effective Customer Communications During Supply Chain Disruptions

In today’s changing business world, supply chain disruptions have become a norm. Leaving businesses needing help to meet customer expectations. In times of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to communicate well with customers to build trust and maintain relationships.

Issues can’t be totally avoided in a supply chain, and during disruption, one way to improve communication is to address customer concerns before they arise.

For instance, businesses can send out regular updates to customers, informing them of any changes to delivery schedules or product availability. You can use channels of communication such as emails, SMS, social media, and chatbots. These can help businesses stay connected with customers.

A supply chain comprises many systems to ensure a product gets from production to shipping to delivery. If even one part is messed up, it will affect all the other parts of the machine, causing a domino effect.

One effective strategy to employ is through a contact centre cloud solution. It is an extensive software that hosts tools, applications, and cloud-hosted services suited for large companies with multiple processes. A contact centre cloud solution allows a company to reach out to customers and convey issues in different messaging platforms.

This software boasts a plethora of features such as call routing, agent management, work monitoring and more that are essential when dealing with supply chain issues and other problems inside and outside your company.

Some events are uncontrollable that cause disruption in the supply chain. During the pandemic, several things caused problems, such as:

• Not being able to meet the rising demand for some products.
• Fewer containers in use by shipping companies mean less space for cargo on ships.
• The need to have more people working in transportation and storage.
• Travel restrictions, closed borders, and few flights.

But how do you communicate such issues to your customers? Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Before the deal

Before customers even start to buy something, they need to know if there may be shipping delays or stock shortages. Here are some ways you can do this:

• Update the ticker and home page of your website to show the current shipping delays
• Include estimates for how long each item will take to ship.
• Change your shipping and FAQ pages to reflect any delays.
• Before big shopping days like Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Make sure customers know when the last day to order is, so they know their items will arrive on time.
• If you need help keeping things in stock, don’t show something out of stock. If this isn’t possible, try suggesting items like what they already have.

2. At the cash register

• Consider offering a discount or an incentive to compensate for any delays, like free shipping or putting off payment until the package is delivered.
• Depending on the goods, you may recommend a subscription so that the customer does not run the risk of the item becoming unavailable in the future.

3. After Sales

• Include in the order confirmation a disclaimer of shipping delays.
• Offer tools for customers to check the status of their own orders.
• If a consumer requires a specific brand that is out of stock, offer an alternative.
• If the shipment takes longer than expected. Give the customer something related to the product. Like a unique service experience or a chance to learn something.
• Make sure to send emails like “product feedback” to customers who are still waiting for their orders.

4. After receiving goods

• Once their order has arrived, express gratitude for their patience. If the delay is long, consider offering a discount code or gift voucher for future purchases.
• If they have questions, be available on your platforms. Social media moderators can help you meet customers where they are. Consider solutions like self-service portals. Also, provide AI chatbots that let customers solve their problems.

Building Trust Through Transparent Supply Chain Communication Strategies

Companies can show they care about doing the right thing by implementing strategies for open communication with their supply chains. When a company is transparent about its supply chain, it informs consumers about its products and how they are made, including sharing details about sourcing, manufacturing, and shipping.

Contact centre cloud solutions can help companies make their supply chains more transparent by giving customer service representatives a place to talk to customers. For instance, call centre staffing calculators can help companies figure out how many people they need to talk to customers.

A contact centre software salesforce’s feature can assist representatives in accessing information about products and supply chains, enabling them to provide accurate information to consumers. Its quality assurance features can also ensure that representatives provide accurate information to consumers.

CRM software for call centres can aid in tracking customer interactions, identify areas for improvement, help companies implement interactive voice responses, and more. Not to mention, the software’s artificial intelligence feature allows for more personalised responses to customer queries.

Companies that focus on communication transparency will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace because transparency enhances corporate accountability. Examples of these are the following:

• Make transparency a policy of the company.
• Confront challenging issues.
• Conduct a “ask me anything” session.
• Make knowledge accessible.
• Participate in decision-making with others.
• Share insights, accomplishments, and failures.
• Weekly key updates.

Turning Supply Chain Challenges into Opportunities for Customer Engagement

Even though supply chain management is complex for businesses to understand, keeping customers happy is still a top priority. Companies are always looking for ways to give customers a smooth experience.

Below are some ways of turning supply chain challenges into opportunities for customer engagement:

• Improved Communication: Reach out to businesses through many channels. It makes it easier for companies to fix problems in the supply chain and keep customers up to date.
• Personalised Support: Allow companies to offer customised support to customers. With access to customer data, agents can tailor their interactions to the customer’s specific needs and preferences.
• Increased Efficiency: Using cloud-based call centre software can help improve the efficiency of customer service operations. Features such as automated routing and smart self-service can help companies reduce wait times and increase first-contact resolution rates.
• Better Analytics: Offer robust analytics capabilities that can help companies gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences. It enables companies to make data-driven decisions and optimise their supply chain operations to meet customer needs better.

Effective Communication Strategies for Managing Supply Chain Issues

To guarantee a great end-to-end experience, communication helps your team stay in touch with stakeholders and suppliers. However, efficient communication goes far beyond in-person or mobile engagements. Try these strategies below:

• Communicate Early

Communicate with your supply chain management as early as possible to ensure that your production is in line with its schedule. This allows you to check whether things are going their way, anticipate any delays and address it even before a delay occurs.

Also, consistent communication is important. Communicate modifications to the production to avoid delays and update other people involved in the process.

• Have A Clear Point of Contact

Supply chain connections go both ways, and constant communication between you and your suppliers will develop a relationship built on reliability. Being reliable always gives suppliers peace of mind and makes it easier to talk to you if there’s a problem.

• Management of Company Resources

Supply chain management (SCM), which includes all of the steps that turn raw materials into finished goods, is the primary way that goods and services move from one place to another. By optimising the supply chain, companies can cut costs on things that aren’t necessary and get goods to customers more quickly and efficiently.

• Constant Communication and Mutual Understanding with Suppliers

Suppliers are not familiar with how a business operates. So, it will be helpful if you explain to them with how things work on your side of the fence. For instance, if there are shortages in raw materials, they should know whom to report this kind of an issue too, and so on.

Significant advantages can come from effective communication. By fostering trust, enhancing risk management, and supporting long-term objectives, integrating effective communication tactics will aid in developing successful supplier relationships.

Consumer Trust: Open Communication During Supply Chain Disruptions

The best way to increase trust between businesses, suppliers, and customers is through supply chain transparency. This gives the impression that the company is trustworthy. After all, a perfect company that’s free from errors is not what customers want; rather, they want an honest one.

Yet, as was previously said, proper supply chain transparency requires information. Support it with evidence rather than assertions. Suppose a brand cannot provide specific information about its product history. In that case, today’s consumers are no longer willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

To enable supply chain transparency, visibility, and reliability, reliable data is essential. Here are some tips on addressing customer concerns during supply chain issues:

• Listen and Empathise

Listening actively is important if you want the other person to feel heard, understood, and served. The more you care about your customers and listen to them, the more they will value their relationship with you and the things you sell.

• Be transparent and Proactive

Be open and honest about the challenges and what you are doing to address them. This means that you have to tell your customers if you’re making changes to your business. Tell them if you have a new product coming out. When you’ve made changes, ask your customers how their experience has changed.

• Use Many Channels of Information

Solve supply chain issues using the same repetition principle. Keep your customers informed with clear, concise, and consistent messaging across platforms. Your customers use different platforms for communication, so you should be present in all.

• Offer Rewards

Start a customer loyalty program or offer frequent shopper rewards. Giving them rewards will make them more likely to buy from you again, keep them interested, and help you build relationships with them.

• Build a feedback loop

Create a feedback loop between you and your customers using any data you have–whether it is digital or analogue. These lessons can help small business owners develop suitable communication methods even after a supply chain crisis.

Conclusion

Effective customer communication is essential for handling supply chain problems. You can reduce the adverse effects of supply chain disruptions through timely and clear communication.

Doing so helps to increase customer satisfaction and foster a sense of trust. Always inform the customers throughout the supply chain process––no matter how short the progress or delay is.

Having a contact centre cloud solution is essential in maintaining consistent and reliable communication with your customers, suppliers, and people in your company as well. Remember, consistent communication is a very effective way of strengthening customer relationships.

At the Institute of Supply Chain Management, we deliver tailored, flexible, professional qualifications in supply chain management to support every learner to progress in the industry. Study supply chain management courses part-time or full-time using our online learning platform with unlimited support from a dedicated learning support advisor. Call 0800 1422 522 for more information.