1 Features of Logistics Consulting Services
1. 1 Impact Importance
Logistics consulting projects include enterprise logistics management strategy, logistics diagnosis and business restructuring, logistics center planning and design, logistics cost control and so on. These are all very important issues for enterprises. Therefore, once the consultation report is implemented, it will affect the operation of enterprises.
Have an important impact. In this way, objectively, enterprises have high expectations for the quality of logistics consulting, and the quality of consulting services is also one of the most important factors for the survival of consulting companies.
1.2 knowledge
1 Features of Logistics Consulting Services
1. 1 Impact Importance
Logistics consulting projects include enterprise logistics management strategy, logistics diagnosis and business restructuring, logistics center planning and design, logistics cost control and so on. These are all very important issues for enterprises. Therefore, once the consultation report is implemented, it will affect the operation of enterprises.
Have an important impact. In this way, objectively, enterprises have high expectations for the quality of logistics consulting, and the quality of consulting services is also one of the most important factors for the survival of consulting companies.
1.2 knowledge
Logistics consulting service is based on logistics supply chain theory, information technology and network technology, and professional experience. It helps enterprises to solve logistics problems by setting goals, collecting and analyzing data, determining model parameters, system planning and design, project execution and other procedures. It is a highly knowledge-intensive professional service, which requires employees to have high professional quality, so it can be called knowledgeable.
1.3 heterogeneity
Logistics consulting services are provided to different customers, and their needs, situations and experiences are different, so each consulting service is different. In this way, logistics consulting service has the characteristics of heterogeneity. The characteristics of heterogeneity bring considerable difficulties to the process of logistics consulting service. Consultants should first understand the unique needs of customers, the special situation of their industry and their own working ability, and do a good job of investigation and research before providing further services.
1.4 customer participation
The development of logistics consulting projects depends on the interaction between employees and consultants of customer enterprises. Before the start of the project, contact and communicate with the relevant personnel of the customer's enterprise to understand the customer's needs; In the process of project development, the personnel of the enterprise should report to the consultant; After the consultation report is completed, the customer should implement the recommendations in the report. Therefore, the quality of consulting service is also closely related to the quality of customer cooperation.
2 logistics consulting service quality evaluation content
Generally speaking, customers can evaluate the quality of service through the following five aspects:
(1) Reliability: refers to the ability to complete the promised service reliably and accurately.
(2) Responsiveness: refers to the desire to help customers and provide services quickly.
(3) Guarantee: refers to the knowledge, etiquette and ability of service personnel to inspire customer trust and confidence.
(4) Empathy: refers to the ability and desire to put yourself in the customer's shoes.
(5) Tangibility: refers to the appearance of tangible facilities, equipment, personnel and written materials.
For logistics consulting services, these five dimensions refer to the following specific contents:
(1) Reliability means that the consulting company can reliably complete the consulting service within the specified time limit, and there are no errors in the principles, data, calculation, simulation and implementation involved in the service, which can help customers achieve their goals.
(2) Responsiveness means that the employees of consulting companies are willing to help customers solve new problems in practice and provide consulting services as quickly and effectively as possible.
(3) Guarantee means that the employees of the consulting company have rich logistics theoretical knowledge and practical experience, high ideological level and educational background, full of self-confidence, so that the enterprise can be trusted and can strictly keep the relevant secrets of the enterprise.
(4) Empathy means that employees of consulting companies can go deep into the enterprises they serve, think about problems from the standpoint of enterprise decision makers, and put forward the most suitable logistics solutions for enterprises themselves.
(5) Tangibility means that although consulting service has intangible characteristics, some elements in the service should be tangible, such as the obvious effect of logistics solutions, various modern information technologies used in the service, friendly image of consultants and excellent communication skills.
3 ways to improve the quality of logistics consulting services
From the above analysis of the characteristics and service quality of logistics consulting service, it can be seen that improving the quality of consulting service is a comprehensive work, and long-term and short-term strategies should be formulated respectively.
3. 1 Long-term strategy to improve the quality of consulting services
(1) The management of logistics consulting companies should take improving service quality as one of its central tasks. Excellent logistics consulting company managers should first realize that high-quality service is their most important competitive advantage, put customers at the center of corporate values, clearly express the concept of providing customers with the best service, and often convey this requirement to their employees.
Excellent consulting company leaders should also practice the concept of service. They should reasonably design the company's structure, make it close to customers, take consulting projects as the center and flatten it; Select outstanding talents, advocate team spirit and establish a corporate culture of quality service; They should continue to invest in developing new service technologies and serve customers with the latest scientific and technological achievements.
(2) Logistics consulting companies should establish a reasonable human resources development plan to ensure service quality. For logistics consulting companies, excellent professional consulting talents are the greatest wealth and capital, and are the basis for reliable service and guarantee. How to select, cultivate, motivate and retain talents is a long-term challenge for every logistics consulting company. Here are some methods that can be used:
A, compete for the best talents in the talent market. Consulting companies can advertise to top universities to recruit graduates, or invest enough manpower and material resources to develop and use advanced testing methods to screen potential applicants, or strive to become one of the most popular employers in the industry.
B. Give employees excellent training and personal development opportunities. Training can include guidance on working methods, lectures on management skills, the latest information technology, and strengthening related knowledge of consulting projects. Personal development opportunities can be the prospect of common development between employees and the company. The detailed career development ladder plan includes skills and responsibilities description.
C. provide employees with a pleasant working environment and strong logistics support. Logistics consultants are well-educated professionals, so the working atmosphere of consulting companies should be full of human touch, but challenging. Timely and thoughtful logistics support is a strong support for the hard work of consultants.
D. Give employees fair treatment and opportunities for profit sharing. Fair treatment can not only encourage internal fair competition, but also help consultants to confirm their achievements and values and further focus on customer service; Giving consultants the opportunity to share the company's profits will help to increase their sense of identity and improve their loyalty and satisfaction with consulting enterprises.
3. Logistics consulting companies should establish their own knowledge database and software tool library. Logistics consulting company is a knowledge-based organization with specialized service and knowledge-intensive. Every consulting project needs a lot of data, which is realized by professional software analysis and calculation combined with the professional experience of consultants. A good database and software library can provide powerful tools and guarantees for consultants and greatly improve their work efficiency and quality. Accumulating the success or failure cases of our company in the knowledge base can provide reference for similar work in the future. Knowledge is power, and sharing knowledge and experience by using knowledge base and software tool library is to transfer power in the team.
3.2 Short-term strategies to improve the quality of consulting services
(1) Clarify the needs of customers and the results and objectives of the consulting project. High-quality logistics consulting services need to have clear goals from the beginning. This goal should be clearly put forward by consulting enterprises and conform to their own needs and reality. In some cases, enterprises are not clear about their needs and goals from the beginning. At this time, logistics consultants should discuss and analyze with them to help enterprises understand their own needs (such as logistics comprehensive solution consulting or transportation planning consulting, etc.). ) further work.
Some consulting projects are very practical. At this time, it is necessary to clarify the quantitative results of implementation, such as the implementation project of building a sales network, and clearly increase X agents and retail outlets in a period of time; In the implementation of the logistics cost control project, it is stipulated that the logistics cost should be reduced by X percentage points.
Pay attention to the principle of prudent commitment when setting goals. Only with proper commitment can counselors perform their duties better. There are too many promises, and once the promises cannot be fulfilled, the expectations of customers will be dashed, which will damage the image of the consulting company.
With a clear goal, the consultant's work will have a clear direction and a standard for measuring achievements, and the customer's satisfaction will be improved.
(2) Communicate effectively with customers. Logistics consulting service needs the deep participation of customers, so consultants should have the methods and skills to communicate effectively with customers.
First of all, make necessary preparations before communicating with customers, such as interview outline and logistics training outline. Logistics consulting is very professional, but consultants should learn to explain their views to customers in simple terms, not too many abstruse technical terms.
Secondly, we should pay attention to listening and etiquette in communication with customers. Consultants should establish a good relationship with communication objects, regard communication as an opportunity to make friends, and actively cooperate with communication objects in the process of solving problems. In communication, the consultant should take an indirect approach to sensitive organizational structure adjustment and patiently explain his purpose in order to gain the understanding of the other party.
Third, both formal communication and informal communication should be used. Formal communication, such as consulting the regular briefing held by the project team, and the project team timely communicates the project progress and trends to the senior management of the enterprise; Informal communication is often used. For example, always keep in touch with the front-line employees of the enterprise to ensure that the consulting team will not build a car behind closed doors in the laboratory.
(3) Help customers complete the implementation process. The implementation of many consulting reports is ultimately completed by customers. From the beginning, the consulting company should pay full attention to the customer's implementation ability and provide a clear implementation plan, including implementation methods, personnel arrangements, time arrangements, etc. An excellent implementation plan should also take into account the possible changes in the internal and external environment of the customer's enterprise, so that the plan has considerable flexibility and adaptability.
A successful consulting project should also help customers to establish an effective implementation team, inject confidence into customers, track the implementation effect of customers and help customers succeed. The world-famous Bibo Consulting Company concluded: "The success of customers is our success, and the business of customers is our business."