Shireen Garrison
Welcome to Smart Supply Chain, a podcast for supply chain professionals who think and work smarter. I’m your host, Shireen Garrison, and I’m here with my sister in supply chain, Sarah Garrison. Hey, Sarah.
Sarah Garrison
Hey, Shireen.
Shireen
What’s been going on? Let’s see. We are today talking about new client onboarding, and we’re talking with some of our teams at ALOM to discuss how we support that activity.
Sarah
Yeah, and you know, I was thinking about this as a subject, the onboarding to a new 3PL and got to poking around online, and I found this interesting study done by Capgemini Consulting, where they looked at 150 people who were utilizing 3PL partnerships, and it had some interesting results. Let me share them with you. Of those surveyed, 91% of the responders indicated that they have successful relationships with their 3PLs that are bringing about positive results. And 75% indicated that using 3PL services had led to overall logistical cost reductions. And 86% said that it led to improved customer service.
Shireen
And that’s really interesting. I mean, I think what that says to me is that utilizing a 3PL can be very valuable and drive value to the companies that are using them.
Sarah
Yeah, I mean, I guess as long as it’s the right partner for them, and I think there are some companies who, for a variety of reasons, are doing their own supply chain functions, and they may benefit from looking into an outsourced 3PL partner.
Shireen
Yeah, or if you’re just not satisfied with your current partner, it may be time to start looking around for alternatives.
Sarah
Yeah, and so that brings us to our subject today, and the start of this series on the importance of great support when onboarding to a new 3PL.
Shireen
Well, I have conducted a series of conversations with several groups in our organization to talk about onboarding, and we’re going to do a three -part series here to kick this off onboarding a new 3PL.
Sarah
And the first one we have to share is your conversation with our COO and CCO about the onboarding program here at ALOM and how that drives value for our clients. And then your discussion about client support and how we guide them through the process.
Shireen
Sounds great. Let’s jump in. And joining me today
are two of our C -suite leaders. I’ve got Fiona Lowbridge, who is our Chief Commercial Officer, and Brandon Marugg, who is our Chief Operating Officer. Fiona, Brandon, welcome to Smart Supply Chain.
Fiona Lowbridge
Thanks, Shireen. Happy to be here.
Brandon Marugg
Yeah, it’s always fun to be here.
Shireen
I know you guys love doing podcasts, so this is one we’re doing an internal podcast with our teams, but we’re gonna talk about . . .
Brandon
Why I got in the supply chain was I was hoping to be in podcasts.
Shireen
Yeah, I mean, I think this could be your new profession.
Fiona
I was going to say as well, why did it take you so long to invite us on?
Shireen
I know. I haven’t I haven’t invited you guys yet to a podcast. So I’m excited that you guys are here. And today I thought we would talk a little bit about client onboarding. So when you think about kind of outsourcing clients, you know, when clients are outsourcing to a supply chain provider. That’s tough, it’s hard for clients to make that change if they have an existing supplier. It’s also hard if they’re doing it like as an in-source type of thing and doing it themselves and handing it over to another company. So it’s hard for clients to do that. We really like to think about ourselves as a partner versus a supplier to our clients. And because you guys own the majority of our teams internally. Fiona, you’re pretty much owning all of our client facing teams and Brandon, you own all of our internal facing teams. So you guys are really the people who are responsible for dedicating resources to this and making sure that our onboarding is successful. So I would love to hear your guys’ perspective about why do we focus on onboarding? Why do you dedicate resources to it? And, you know, maybe some examples of things that have happened in the past. So Fiona, why don’t you kick us off?
Fiona
Sure. Well, onboarding is obviously one of the most critical phases in our relationship. It’s it isn’t just one phase, it is the foundation and it’s how we build the relationship with our clients. So it’s really at that point that a client is getting a pulse on us, first impression, it’s like any relationship, you know, You want to put your best foot forward, you want to make sure that you present really well, that you take the time to listen, to understand the client requirements, to work with them to come up on solutions, to make sure that you’re giving them the best of the best of the resources that you have, so that the experience that they get from the outset is a stellar experience because you’re starting to build retention, satisfaction, and everything at that level.
Shireen
Absolutely. What about for you, Brandon?
Brandon
Yeah. I like the relationship analogy, right? It’s almost like a marriage, so everybody gets very excited that we’re beginning a new relationship, and now we need to actually get to work and start living together and building something, right? And that’s when all the bodies fall out of the closet . . . and everything else that reality starts set in, and I didn’t realize my partner snored, right? Those are the kinds of things that you get into. And so you really have to dedicate a lot of time and a lot of effort. And that’s, you know, even when I get personally involved a lot with onboarding, because it’s, as Fiona said, it’s the foundation of everything. And, you know, nothing succeeds like success, right? So you really want to get in, you want to meet the customer where they’re at, and you want to help them succeed as quickly as possible, and build on that. And dedicating the most resources that you can to it will increase that likelihood, right?
Shireen
Can you guys talk a little bit about how ALOM does onboarding, again, with this idea of meeting customers where they’re at and also really partnering with them, helping their business to grow and making sure that we’re successful with their clients and their customers, more so than just being a supplier. We really think about it more as a partnership. Any thoughts on that?
Brandon
Yeah, for sure. So whenever we bring on a new client, we feel like we’re becoming part of their company a little bit, right? We’re becoming part of their supply chain. So their customers become our customers. We want to hear that voice as well. Wouldn’t you say, Fiona, that’s a big deal for us?
Fiona
Absolutely. And the group that we’re dealing with from an onboarding perspective, they have a spotlight on them from an internal perspective. So everybody within their organization is watching what they’re doing because it’s critical to their success. So we have to ensure that we’re aligning ourselves with them and that we are presenting them in the best possible light, understanding what their goals and objectives are, and trying to get them to that point as quickly as possible. Because you remember that with having the right structure and the right processes and being able to move fast, you actually help them accelerate their value so they can get out ahead of it and start selling their product quicker and driving that level of satisfaction to their end customers. And that’s what our objectives are.
Brandon
Yeah, as you guys said earlier, we have a lot of empathy for people when they make a big choice, like bringing on a supply chain partner like us, right? And from my perspective, when I’m bringing on a new system for ALOM or something like that, our biggest fear is always, oh, we’re going to make this big deal and it’s either going to fail or it’s going to set on a shelf and we’re not going to use it. And building that speed and that rapport very quickly at a high level and dedicating the resources, as we’ve been saying, to making that happen and happen quickly is a big recipe for success, right? That’s what we’ve found the most success is, you know, if I think about, you know, the very rare occasions in the past that things have gone either sideways or not as successful as they could have been. It’s when everyone on both sides have said, “Well, this is not a big deal. Let’s just do this or just do that,” right? In the class world. That word just can be evil, right? We’re not just doing anything. And if we’re not giving that full measure of respect to every single problem that the customers that we’re bringing on board are bringing to us, then we’re doing a disservice to both parties, right?
Fiona
And I think some of the secret of our success has been as well. We like working with clients that we have maybe about 70% of the solution that they’re looking for. And then we like to develop the other piece. When it makes sense to us from a business perspective, but we don’t ever go out to a client and say, well, this is how we do business, so you need to do it this way. We can certainly advise them and say, within the rounds of the operation that you’re in, we would recommend that you do it this way. However, if there are unique specialties that they need, we’re happy to work with them and develop them. And that’s been our success with onboarding and with some of the clients that we’ve had in the past is where they have come into a new piece of business or a new process that they have no experience in whatsoever. And they’ve come to us and asked us, how are we going to do this? And with some of those, we’ve actually onboarded them so fast because we’ve been able to pick and choose the elements of the processes that we already have in place that we’ve spent time developing for prior clients. And now we’re able to develop this full suite of solutions for them very quickly.
Brandon
Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, and kind of identifying where our customers are, right, meeting them, where they’re at, is, like you said, Shireen earlier, some of our customers who are doing this internally, very educated and experienced in, you know, operations and supply chain in general, and they were doing this already, and now they’re outsourcing it. And some of our other customers have no idea about operations or how things actually get shipped. And so identifying that, going through some education, for sure, but then also focusing on different areas of the relationship based on where the customer is coming from. Like, I remember, Fiona, when you called me about that customer with the test kits that needed, that hadn’t– I think they You know had shipped a thousand test kits or something like that out of somebody’s basement or something then all of a sudden they won this huge contract and it was hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands or millions and they called us and said help and and they needed to be live and you know a couple of months or maybe it was even less. They didn’t have any way of taking on demand. They had no integration, right? So that was a fun project, though, and very successful, as I recall.
Fiona
It was. It was probably our fastest, which we wouldn’t recommend everybody moving that fast, but the climate at the time dictated the speed we were working at. But it definitely really pushed us all to see what we were capable of. But we pulled our best out of it, and we made it happen, and it was a great success, for sure.
Brandon
Yeah, I love onboarding. It’s one of the things that keeps me going all the time. It’s a new relationship. It’s exciting. It’s a new problem to solve, a new nut to crack. That’s why I do what I do.
Fiona
Yep, agreed. That’s why we’re here.
Shireen
I think one of our best things as a company is that we do really work together so well as a team and we come together, we make things happen. And it’s one of the great things I think about ALOM. Great. Well, I’m gonna go and chat to a few of your teams and see what they think about the onboarding and we’ll hear what they have to say. So thanks so much for joining me today guys.
Fiona
It’s been a pleasure. I’ve enjoyed the conversation.
Brando
Yeah, lots of fun.
Shireen
See you later.
Sarah
Well, the onboarding relationship is like a marriage.
Shireen
Yes.
Sarah
Will the marriage be successful? Will we need counseling?
Shireen
I hope not. But ALOM has some great support for these two parties that are getting along and getting together, and that is our account management team. That’s who we’re going to talk to next and in our onboarding series. So let’s jump in. Spoiler alert, Sarah, you’re one of the guests in this section, so you get double duty.
Sarah
ice.
Shireen
Hey, everybody, I am here with Sarah Garrison, my sister in supply chain who usually does these podcasts with me. She’s on our strategic account director team, and I’m also here with Taylor Brown. And Taylor is one of our business managers, and she is very involved in onboarding. Thanks for being here, guys.
Taylor Brown
Thanks, Shireen. Thanks for having us.
Sarah
Thanks. It’s fun to be on this side.
Shireen
Yeah. I was going to say, you don’t have to host. You just get to be interviewed in terms of what you do. So let’s kick it off with that. Sarah, what do you do in terms of new client onboarding? How do you get involved?
Sarah
Yeah, so my role as a strategic account manager, I get involved with new clients early on as we’re working through what the fundamentals of the relationship will be. So I get to be in very early on in the process. And my goal as I’m working with new clients is always to understand what the requirements are to the level of detail that really helps us internally plan the right resources, the right capabilities, making sure that we can successfully meet all the requirements that the customer has. So as we work through things like contracting and pricing and all of those fun activities, we get to the point where we have an agreement, we have alignment, and that means that all of the resources at the ALOM side need to be ready and capable of handling all those requirements as we start to do the onboarding activity. And that’s where we bring in our business managers, and typically it’s Taylor Brown.
Taylor
Yeah. Yeah, so I come in a little later than Sarah when the deal has been fully signed, and I stay on until we’ve launched. So my role really is in getting the onboarding team together, introducing the client to the onboarding team who will be working on their account and what they’re doing. And then we work together to put a project plan that works for them. So we’ll outline the milestones, how they want to interact with us. and the big thing is no two clients are alike. So we really want to collaborate with them on how they communicate best. What’s their communication style? Do they want to meet with us once a week? Would they rather handle things via email? And so that’s what my role is.
Shireen
I mean, Taylor, you do a little bit more than that to be honest, but that’s a good overview of what your role is. Sarah, do you think, in your experience, has there been challenges with onboarding new clients? You’ve been involved in a lot of onboardings. What do you think is the hardest part of the challenges that you see most often?
Sarah
There are always challenges to onboarding. That’s always going to be the case. But one of the things that I think people don’t really think about enough when they’re preparing for onboarding is really in thinking about what they’re doing today and how that ends up looking as they move into a new 3PL provider or a new ecosystem. And what I mean is that, you know, there’s a lot of decisions that get to be made, need to be made as they’re getting prepared to do this. And I think what I have found is clients tend to go one of two directions, neither of which I think are great. One is, they say, “Okay, we want everything to remain exactly as it is today, and we’re going to do a shift over to the new facility, and then any changes that we’ll want to make we will make as we go forward.” The other end of the extreme is these people who want perfection, where they say, “Let’s solve every problem we have in terms of process and our procedures and policy and we’ll make all of it perfect in the new facility or the new space. And really, neither of those are uber successful in my mind. So that’s where I really think we try to get our clients kind of thinking through where are their major pain points, where are those things that it makes sense to change now as we move. And that’s not everything, but which are the important ones. And then which ones might get changed later? And how do you make those trade offs and have those conversations? So that, I think, is something that people don’t spend enough time really prepping and planning for at the early stages of onboarding.
Taylor
Yeah.
Shireen
Yeah. I mean, onboarding in trying to kind of change everything at once or not change anything, it’s a risk to those clients, those clients customers, because they might be disrupting some of the experiences that their clients had been having in the past by either not changing something or changing everything.
Sarah
I’m sure, Taylor, you have examples of where this happened.
Taylor
Oh, yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite onboarding was we had a client who had done all of their operations in house and they knew that a lot of their processes were messy. So when they came to us, they had asked us, can you help us clean up all of these processes? And one of the unique things about this onboarding was that this launch touched all of their departments. I’m talking marketing, IT, sales, customer service, every single one of them, and they all had a must-have. We have to do this. And instead of going back and forth on emails over several weeks, we decided to get everyone in the same room, literally in the same room. So we held a joint planning session on site here at ALOM, and we went process by process, documented everything, and then at the end of the day, we had a really well put together project plan. And it was a lot of fun to have everyone in the same room, connect with the client face to face, something that we hadn’t done much since the pandemic. And it led to a really, really successful launch and a really great partnership; like even to this day.
Sarah
That’s another great point is, you know getting everybody in a room is great. That’s not always possible. So the other sort of the critical thing I think early on when you’re looking at the onboarding is really working with the clients to help them to understand that they need to have somebody who’s really strong at driving a lot of these decisions on their side that’s really engaged in the onboarding all the way through. And you can’t always get that, but it’s super helpful when you can.
Taylor
Yeah, agreed.
Shireen
Well, we’ve got lots of good onboarding stories amongst ourselves, lots of good things that we’ve been very successful at partnering with a lot of different clients that all have different needs. And I think, you know, we make it a little but hard on ourselves because we are very flexible with our clients in terms of not trying to force them into a box. And we often set up very unique solutions, I guess, for different clients in terms of what they need, which makes it harder. But again, it also makes us a lot closer with them. It makes a stronger partnership that lasts longer and is generally healthier in the end because they don’t have to start looking for a new supplier because we are solving all of their issues, hopefully.
Taylor
Yeah.
Shireen
So Taylor, let me ask you this question. How do you like onboarding? This is sort of a little bit new to you and not like you’ve been doing this forever, but you are doing a great job at it. So I’d like to hear what do you like about being part of the onboarding for new clients?
Taylor
Yeah, I love it. I actually begged to be on the onboarding team because every day is different and every client is different as well. So it’s really fun to just work with a client and think outside the box. Like how are we going to make this process flexible enough to fit the needs of your end users? So it’s a lot of fun.
Shireen
Well Thanks so much to both of you guys for joining me today on our podcast for onboarding. We’re gonna go chat with one of the other groups and see what they’re up to and how they’re getting involved in the onboarding pieces from the ALOM side as well. So thanks so much for your time, guys.
Taylor
hanks Shireen.
Sarah
Thanks, Shireen.
Shireen
Sarah, great to hear from you and Taylor. Everyone will have to wait for our next installment when I’ll be talking to some of our technical and functional leaders in operations, IT, logistics, and also quality. So please join us then. Thanks, everybody. We’re the Garrison Sisters. Catch you next time on Smart Supply Chain, or check us out anytime at alom.com.
