S P E C I A L F E ATURE SHANKAR RAM, REGIONAL HEAD OF RELOCATIONS AT DELIGHT INTERNATIONAL MOVERS YEMBO COMPANY CONSULTANT GEORGIA ANGELL surveys. Company consultant Georgia Angell claims most movers still regard investment in technology as cost, not as a means of driving their business. With artificial intelligence capturing 80 per cent of the information, people can do more because its quicker, she says. Youre booking faster; booking more. Staff time saved, she adds, can be spent on looking at new ways to grow business. Meanwhile, the move towards digital marketing seems inexorable. And yet, as with virtual surveys, its far from a one-size-fits-all solution. Barner says that for Mobilitas, things have mainly been driven by customers browsing the web to look for movers. Over the past 15 years, his firm has developed interactive tools (such as shipment tracking), websites and much else. However, it does depend on culture, generation, and nationality, so we tailor our approach, he says. One still needs to mix between digital and traditional networking. Strong relationships with corporate clients or partners require the human element that digital can never give you. Were still in the middle of a change in mindset. We need to take into account the generational and cultural gap between the technology averse, who require a more old-school approach, and the more advanced clients. But digital can make us more effective in reaching people at an individual level. Refreshing websites and brochures may be easy but too many channels can create a babble. With social media, clients have less and less time to read, and messages are quickly lost under an avalanche of information, Barner points out. Capturing attention WHAT IS DIGITISATION FOR MOVERS? By Max Kreynin, Voxme Digitisation for movers today means two things. First, replacing all paper-based data-collection processes with appropriate apps and technology. This mainly refers to pre-move surveys (traditionally done on paper cube sheets), packing lists (handwritten by crews) and paper-based bingo sheets for inventory check-off on delivery and in the warehouse. Second, thanks to the industrys largest buyer the US Government and military the push towards the digital inventory and ISO-based data exchange has started. During COVID, the reality of doing everything remotely and electronically helped the industry come to grips with the need to make the switch. The new generation of workers in the industry has been conducive to the mental switch needed as this generation has grown up with computers and smartphones and are used to having an app for everything. Right now, everybody is looking for a practical solution that meets their specific needs, processes and budgets. Moving is a traditional industry and, when it faces a need to embrace new technology, the natural inclination is to find an off-the-shelf solution that can be rolled out with minimum customisation, effort and expenditure. 24 FF306 June-August 22 pp20-27 Digitisation.indd 24 isnt easy unless you have a plan. You must communicate consistently over time. Digital has changed the way Mobilitas marketing department runs internally. We have grown our marketing team we need to communicate quickly, and more frequently. Often, the young are the best at this, and weve learnt to give them more space creatively. Weve also become more collaborative because there are multiple skill sets that need to weigh in on every project analytics, copywriters, design, and so on. Exchanging ideas encourages creativity. We also place much more importance on data to measure success and drive decision-making. Digital marketing is growing and evolving all the time. We should explore developments and apply them if they add value. Ram has been an industry pioneer in the move towards becoming paperless seeking quotes; shipment tracking though admits that, for some people, the switch was never easy. Digital marketing is cost-effective for our business because we can continually evaluate how, and if, its working. We can re-work strategies and put resources into the right projects. But we still hand out brochures we understand that market hasnt totally vanished. However digital is always cost-effective and you have better control. The current market demands new ideas; constant changes and updates and for that, its definitely a boon. We started self-storage services based purely on a successfully run digital platform. Delight now has an in-house digital team that meets monthly to pre-plan and discuss what kind of posts, ads, target audience to focus on. Outcomes are monitored daily, and changes made to match targets. Adams says that making things easy for customers online is absolutely paramount in running a good digital operation. We have a chat facility where you can ask questions and receive real-time answers from a team ready to respond, he says. Gosselin can also sift approaches technologically, so the right person gets back to the customer. Like Barner, hes seen digital, with all its flexibility, drive creative content in the marketing department. Online reviews are now an inextricable part of this world. But theyre a mixed blessing sometimes it seems that for every enthusiast theres a troll. And for anyone in business, they need careful handling. Ram says that not only do they have the power to influence clients decisions but can also strengthen a companys credibility. Theyre another way of customer interaction but there are definite cons we see a small percentage of people who abuse their power. In Adamss experience, the person most likely to spring to the keyboard is an unhappy customer. You have to be responsive when theres negative feedback, he says. For Barner, online reviews are very complex territory. On one hand, people look at them, but on the other we dont always know how the reviews end up on the website. The process lacks transparency. We also find that, once weve got to the bottom of things, theres WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 07/06/2022 09:29 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1