Good logistics is logistics that does not disturb the customer

When we first arrived in Mersin, our Amazon orders were primarily delivered by Kolay Gelsin. Later, Amazon also began working with CargoX. These are two logistics companies carrying the same company's products to the same customer in the same city. Therefore, I had a very good opportunity to compare them and see the difference.

The difference is not in whether they can deliver the package or not. Both of them deliver the package.

The difference lies in how much work they create for the customer while delivering that package.

In the system I experienced with Kolay Gelsin in Mersin, a message arrives as the delivery day approaches. Then a phone call comes. They ask, "Shall we bring it?" A code is required during delivery, and communication is re-established for this. If they cannot find you at some stage, the process can turn into another problem.

When you look at each of these individually, you can find a logical justification.

Is notifying the customer a bad thing? No.

Is calling before delivery bad? No.

Is verifying the delivery bad? Certainly not.

But customer experience is not measured by how logical individual processes are. It is measured by how much burden the entire process places on the customer.

This is where a concept that the technology world loves very much comes into play: "friction".

We can translate this into Turkish as 'sürtünme'.

In a well-designed digital service, the goal is to reduce the friction between what the user wants to do and the result as much as possible. Amazon itself is one of the most successful examples of this in the world. From the moment you see a product until the moment you buy it, there are as few decisions, clicks, forms, and touchpoints as possible.

Because the customer's time is also a cost.

However, when we reach the last few kilometers of the same product in the physical world, this philosophy can suddenly disappear.

The phone rings.

A message arrives.

The phone rings again.

A code is requested.

The address is described.

"Where are you?" is asked.

"Are you at home?" is asked.

In the end, the following question comes to mind:

Am I receiving the cargo, or am I managing a part of the delivery operation?

The experience I had with CargoX is different.

Here, I would like to specifically mention Eren, who makes my deliveries in Mersin. Because what he does is not technologically extraordinary. On the contrary, it is extremely simple.

He doesn't call me unnecessarily.

He arrives, he delivers the package.

Then he needs the delivery code.

We had a small but important problem here too. The phone number in the Amazon account is mine. But when the package arrives, I am not always at the reception. My friends can receive the package, but the four-digit delivery code comes to my phone.

In terms of the system, I understand very well why CargoX needs that code. The delivery needs to be verified.

Initially, Eren was calling me to get the code. I told him something simple:

"Don't call me. Write to me on WhatsApp, and I will send you the code."

He started doing that.

Now the package arrives. My friends receive it. Eren writes to me on WhatsApp. I send the four-digit code.

Done.

What is important here is not WhatsApp.

What is important is that the person doing the job understands the working style of the customer in front of them and organizes the process accordingly without giving up their own obligations.

CargoX needs the delivery code. I, on the other hand, have a need not to have phone conversations during delivery.

The two needs do not conflict with each other.

A poorly designed process makes them conflict.

This issue does not only come up in cargo.

I experience a similar situation with food orders in Mersin. You order from Yemeksepeti. The restaurant might call right after the order. Then the courier calls.

"Brother, can you describe the location?"

You have written the address as clearly as possible.

You have shown the location on the map.

You have even written in the description what will appear in front of them on maps.

The phone rings again.

"Where are you?"

Wasn't the main promise of a digital platform to eliminate these phone calls anyway?

If I am not going to call the restaurant to place an order, if I am not going to describe my address over the phone, if I am not going to discuss how the payment will be made, then the digital platform has a meaning.

If I am still describing the address over the phone after doing all of these, it means we have only digitized the order screen of the process.

I experienced a similar difference with IKEA deliveries.

When we first arrived in Mersin, we had ordered two items from IKEA. At that time, Borusan's logistics operation was carrying out the delivery. The products reaching us turned into a problem that lasted for days. The product could not be found, delivery could not be made, phone calls started. In the end, I reached the point of saying, "If you are not going to bring it by this time, take it back." Then officials from Borusan called. A simple delivery became an operation that the customer also had to manage.

When we shopped from IKEA again about a year and a half ago, this time Horoz Lojistik was doing the delivery.

The experience was completely different.

Information was provided. They arrived at the time stated. Moreover, we are talking about IKEA products; they are not small packages that are easy to carry. The products were brought up one by one and brought to our door.

I didn't have to think about logistics.

I think this is exactly the definition of good logistics.

Good logistics is invisible.

A cargo company sending many messages to the customer, calling many times, or providing information at every stage might look like "caring for the customer" at first glance.

However, the customer does not always want to be cared for.

Sometimes they just want the thing they bought to arrive.

There are two concepts here that companies very often confuse: communication and service.

More communication does not necessarily mean better service.

In fact, the opposite is true in some sectors.

This was one of the important aspects of Uber's success. You write where you are going in the application. The driver sees where you are. You see where they are. Payment is made by the system. Under normal conditions, there is no need for the parties to call each other and manage the process.

What technology does is not to eliminate human relationships.

It is to eliminate unnecessary human interaction.

I think the logistics sector should no longer measure performance only with the question "what percentage of packages were delivered on time?"

Another metric is needed:

How much effort did we ask from the customer to deliver a package?

How many times did we call?

How many messages did we send?

How many times did the customer have to respond?

How many times did they describe the address?

How many times did they interrupt their work for delivery?

Did they have to call customer service to solve the problem?

All of these are costs from the customer's perspective.

Moreover, this cost does not appear on the company's balance sheet.

The tiny change Eren at CargoX made is important to me for this reason. He did not remove the company's security procedure. He still took the delivery code. He still verified the package.

He just tried not to interrupt my work while doing his own.

Actually, we are not talking about a huge innovation in the service sector.

We are talking about understanding what the person in front of you needs.

Perhaps the simplest measure of good service in the digital age is this:

The less the customer has to think about you, the better you are doing your job.

When I buy a product from Amazon, I want to think about Amazon.

Not the cargo company.

When I order food, I want to think about the food.

Not whether the courier can find the way.

When I buy furniture from IKEA, I want to think about where I will put the furniture.

Not where the truck is in Mersin.

Because the task of logistics is not to involve the customer in its own operation.

It is to remove the operation from the customer's life.