Q&A: DHL USA CEO Hickler shares his views on shipper service, express and logistics markets
When it comes to understanding the many facets of global and domestic supply chain operations, few have DHL Express CEO Hans Hickler beat. With more than two decades of experience in the transportation and logistics industries—first at the NOL Group and its APL and APL Logistics subsidiaries—prior to joining DHL Express as Executive Director of Strategy and Business Implementation in 2004—it is fair to say that Hickler has a very good handle on what it is customers want: attention and service, for starters. And as the “new kid” in the country, with DHL having made its entrance into the U.S. domestic parcel market in 2004, Hickler, who replaced John Mullen as DHL USA CEO in September 2006, is charged with making sure the company is doing everything it can to increase customer awareness of its many express and logistics offerings to ensure that it is being considered as a viable entity by shippers in an extremely crowded marketplace. Logistics Management senior editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Hickler about the steps DHL is taking to increase market share, the current freight transportation environment and related topics, and as the commercials say “putting the service back in shipping.”
LM: Much has been made of DHL’s commitment to improving customer service in the U.S. How are things going on that front?
HH: The important thing to note is that we are not “claiming victory.” What we are doing is putting a stake in the ground. Our industry—whether it is 3PLs, supply chains, or broader logistics—does not have a Starbucks- or Ritz-Carlton-type equivalent that says “this company really gets the customer and is all about driving a better and unique customer experience.” That is what we are targeting.
LM: How are you doing that?
HH: By coming in with the realization that customers in general are not thinking that our industry is about the customer. But we think there is a place for that, and our customers are telling us that as well. Bain & Company surveyed 360 companies that said 80 percent of their customers described their experience as “superior.” That means there is a huge mismatch there, and we want to change that in our industry. It is a bold move, but I think that is what our brand stands for, and we have to do things to stand behind that.
LM: What steps need to be taken for DHL to stand behind that belief?
HH: We believe we need to shift from a performance paradigm to one of service. This industry—rightfully so—has been one that is all about incredibly high performance levels, whether it is express, package delivery, or overnight [among others]. And it is in relation to how our processes are engineered, its relation to the IT capabilities, or just how we can deliver the product. It is a very performance-oriented discussion, and that is so ingrained in the actual fabric of the product that the differentiation lies in the service paradigm. Those are the chips needed to get into the game; we need to be highly reliable across all dimensions, but that doesn’t really define anything that would “wow” the customer. That dimension is service.
LM: How is that being executed within DHL?
HH: We have a customer service initiative overseen by a board member that is accountable for customer experience, and he drives our “first choice” initiative, which is a global, company-wide endeavor for DHL Express and the entire Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) group…focused on becoming the first choice. In our case, it is our ambition to be voted the first choice by our customers as the most responsive express company in the U.S. That’s a dream for us. Statistically, we know which of the 82 touch points we spent two years reviewing matter most to customers, and we scorecard that and review it weekly at our meetings. And we created a customer experience index which has one number we post throughout our network each week [that focuses on] how we did in comparison to five key touch points, which we are trying to build a company cult
