Team approach combines technology and personal contact

80% e-bookings by year end the target MAERSK SEALAND is improving service levels through a combination of technology and good old fashioned face to face contact. According to John Reid, branch manager Eastern Cape, Maersk has set up client teams each with a dedicated team leader who provide a single point of contact for clients. The team leaders oversee all import and export shipments within their team, ensuring that specific client needs and expectations are met throughout the organisation. The team provides a link to the full range of services Maersk provides in the background. They direct all queries to the relevant departments and come back with the solution. This saves the clients the problem of having to go from one department to the other. Client teams will also help find more effective ways of moving freight as they get a detailed understanding of their client’s business. “Our objective is to give clients better and more personalised service,” says Reid. At the same time, Maersk and its clients are investing in technology to cater for the ever-increasing levels of sophistication, service and security. “Our target is 80% e-bookings and e-bills of lading by the end of this year,” he says. The big advantage for clients is that human error is minimised. “There is a big improvement in data quality. Bills of lading and invoices can be produced right first time, as electronic details do not need to be manually recaptured,” he says. “Bills of lading are being remotely printed, saving our clients time and money,” says Reid.