HOW TO HANDLE A HURRICANE-RELATED FREIGHT NIGHTMARE WITH YOUR CLIENT
“We received the first call from the client explaining the problem on a Tuesday, and we resolved everything by Friday that same week.”
I truly believe that we are not only defined by our successes but also by how well we address hurdles along the way. No one is perfect; mistakes happen, and sometimes challenges like weather are beyond anyone’s control. What we can control, however, is how we respond to difficult situations. For example, we received a call from a client that had just received thousands of products from us for a large national rollout for their own client.
Unfortunately, this was not a pleasant call, as many of the products arrived damaged. That’s because a series of hurricanes rocking the South in the US caused our shipment to be rerouted by a freight company, which dropped several pallets while in transit. Although the freight company’s fault, we knew we had to resolve the issue immediately for our client. So we sent our best and brightest down to the client’s warehouse to assess the situation and quickly come up with a targeted game plan.
We ended up coordinating testing of all products on site, replacing defective product and damaged packaging with new ones. We then removed all the damaged materials. We received the first call from the client explaining the problem on a Tuesday, and we resolved everything by Friday that same week. The client was able to then complete their shipments immediately, making them extremely happy with how we resolved the situation.
Problems are inevitable. Make it happen.
Issues happen, how you handle them is what sets you apart and defines who you are as a person and as a company.
The team working together to come up with a solution due to a hurricane-related problem.
