Now think of all things that are done within your warehouse, supposedly to save time. How many of those things actually worked over long haul? Can you count them on one hand? If so, then what do you do?

It all starts and ends with your warehouse supervisor. When you hire a supervisor what type of person do you look for? Usually it is a “Time Keeper”! Here is a parable: Imagine if someone told you they could look at Sky, day or night, and tell you what time it is. Wouldn’t that be impressive? But what would be even more impressive is a person that could build a clock that would do same thing, a “Clock Maker”!

When interviewing a person for a supervisor’s position we ask them about all of things they have done. We ask their references about things they have done. Then if we like what their past has to tell us, we tell them about all of things our organization has done and how great our company is. Then once they are hired, we seldom provide them with any training and later we wonder why we continue to have same problems. Basically we hire people to maintain status quo. A person who can maintain time! “Is this what you want”? A “Time Keeper”!

Why don’t we tell potential employee about problems we have within our warehouse? Why don’t we tell them what our expectations are? By doing these things does that mean company is not as great? Of course not, we are just being honest with same person we expect to be honest with us. By being completely honest you give them opportunity to give you their vision about how your warehouse should run. A “Clock Maker”! A person with a vision and determination to achieve that vision is much more valuable to your organization, even at warehouse level. Remember, your warehouse is first department to touch product when it arrives from vendor and last department to touch it before customer sees it. Doesn’t this mean we should devote more time and energy to ensuring our customers are completely satisfied?

Think about this, “What is most expensive asset you have within your organization”? Now imagine, “Your Money,” being controlled by a person with no vision and no desire to improve your investment. Would you let your 401k be controlled by someone without telling him or her what your expectations are? Without telling them how much of an increase you are expecting? Would you trust it to someone who could not tell you how he or she plans on improving your investment and in what time frame? Then why trust your organizations largest investment to person with best past and a limited future.

Do these all sound familiar? I‘d be willing to bet you can come up with a book full of things your customers expect. But where do they get audacity to expect, sometimes unreasonable? Right from you! Your competitors did not raise customer service bar, you did. Everyday your call center personnel make promises to customers that raise bar even higher. But isn’t that what you want? Don’t you want your people to respond wonderfully to those, “Moments of Truth?” Your people are merely doing what they have been taught, just like your customers.

How do you respond to an irate customer who received an incorrect shipment? Don’t we ship product Next Day Air to make up for error? Or maybe, we drop everything and make a special delivery to them. How do we respond to a customer who has ordered incorrect item? We often handle it same way as when it is our mistake. We do not want to upset a customer, especially in today’s market. Therefore we are training customer to think, whenever there is an error it will be resolved free of charge. The question that must be asked is, “What is problem with this?” Nothing, if you or your customers don’t make a lot of mistakes.

How is your warehouse these days? I have been told these are hard times? Is that true for your company or your industry? If these are truly difficult times doesn’t that mean every mistake costs you dearly? Doesn’t that also mean each mistake costs your customer even more? You are probably asking yourself, how this article shifted to your warehouse so quickly. Think about it, a shipping error is magnified in economic downturns. Why? Because, if your customer has been thinking of changing suppliers now is time to do it. Or at least fake like they are going to change so they can get a deeper discount. Again, customer training process takes place. Shipping is last non verbal way we communicate to our customers. What are you communicating to your customers? Your Marketing material, your Website, your Catalogue are all tools to get you new business. Your warehouse is one tool you have to maintain your current level of business. If you don’t believe that ask yourself this question, “How many of your customers do your sales personnel visit on a regular basis?” Think about “Pareto Principal”, not many! That means your customers perception of your company is formed from packages that arrive at their receiving dock. What do you think they perceive?