Customer relations and assuaging any fears that clients may have about cargo and related concerns regarding possible supply chain disruption during South Africa’s lockdown period have been placed at the forefront of CFR Freight’s service offering.
As such the company has launched a campaign specially shaped around providing client-centric assistance during the coronavirus pandemic – “We are here for you”.
The group’s newly appointed co-CEO Dave Graham told Freight News that since joining the company at the beginning of May it had become very clear that the focus at CFR/ZacPak was very much on the customer.
Constantly striving towards improved service levels, especially while Covid-19 remained to spread havoc through local and global markets, had become the whole message of the organisation, Graham said.
And although it was a new campaign, the entrenched willingness of CFR’s staff to refocus on the importance of client interest had become plain to see, Graham added.
“In all my interactions with some of the people at CFR since I’ve started it has become clear that customers come first.
“There is so much uncertainty at the moment that we wanted to remind our clients that we are on hand to assist wherever needed – In essence “We are here for you.”
He mentioned the documentation requirements for example of freight subjected to lockdown restrictions.
“It was not initially crystal clear exactly what documents were required to release cargo and although we are very cautious to make sure that we abide by all regulatory requirements, we need to balance this with the needs of our clients.”
Apart from building trust during a trying time, Graham said that the “We are here for you” campaign was predicated on absorbing disruptive incidentals on behalf of the groupage company’s client base.
“We want our clients to know that they don’t have to worry about their freight or CFR.”
Easing market volatility through increased service execution was seen in the recent shift from level five to four of the lockdown, Graham said.
“A lot more cargo came ZacPak’s way.”
The amount of extra time invested in processing freight through the group’s warehousing division ensured that cargo got released with minimal disruption to customers. He added.
“Our staff did an amazing job to make sure that service levels were optimised.”
