International Freight Forwarding
- Please provide your responses to the following questions related to International Freight Forwarding.
- What companies (if any) are you affiliated or partnered with to provide some or all of your International Freight Forwarding services? Explain your relationships.
- Please provide a summary list of what you consider “best practice” features in your present business relationships, including a summary of the positive aspects.
- Please provide a sampling of your requirements for the following components of an international move:
- surveying
- move itself
- documentation
- packing
- lift vans and air containers
- steamship containers
- storage facilities
- Explain how a staff member may be contacted and your firm’s philosophy on availability (i.e., toll-free phone, voice mail, e-mail, weekends, etc.). How do you provide coverage for an absent staff member?
- How do you accommodate time zone and language barriers?
- Please explain how you will handle contact with the account.
- Please describe your process for communication with the transferee during their relocation process.
- How many employees does your firm employ?
- What is the average tenure of your employees?
- Describe your training program for customer service representatives before working with clients.
- Do you offer any sort of information to the transferee about their destination or upcoming move? What does it include?
- Do you utilize quality surveys to gauge levels of service?
- If so, how and when is this quality survey delivered?
- What specifically does the quality survey rate?
- What is the average satisfaction level rating that your organization and its employees receive?
- Give some examples of actions taken based on poor quality survey results?
- What tools or procedures does your company have in place to ensure customer satisfaction throughout the relocation process?
- Do you have in place a proven schedule of customer service standards, such as ISO 9002:1994 or ISO 9001:2000 Certification?
- Do you belong to all the international household goods associations like OMNI, FIDI, are you FAIM Certified?
- How do you guarantee that your employees are conforming to your quality standards?
- Describe, in general, how you use technology to maximize efficiency and improve customer service.
- Do you have any sort of formal move tracking and tracing system?
- What are your technical capabilities? Do you have web-enabled reporting/billing/tracking functionality? Please describe your capability for electronic transfer of technical and commercial information to and from your customers, suppliers, and partners.
- What are your primary communication methods (e-mail, systems, phones, faxes, etc.)?
- Please describe the standard reports and reporting tools that you provide to your customers.
- May status reports and other technological needs be customized as required by the customer?
- How do you choose vendors to partner with on international relocation?
- How do you measure levels of performance to ensure service quality is met, maintained, and re-evaluated on a continuous basis?
- How are situations where partners do not perform to expectations handled?
- Are you self-insured, or is insurance outsourced?
- What type(s) of insurance do you offer?
- What is your response time to insurance claims?
- Do you work directly with the clients during the settlement process?
- Do you arrange for repairs and/or third party service?
- Do you offer replacement service?
- What level of direct influence do you hold over claims adjudication and payment?
- What is your claims experience?
- Do you offer claims settlement for shipments not insured through your organization?
- What is your standard method of invoicing?
- What are your payment terms?
- What is your standard billing interval?
- What paperwork is required for the billing of an international move?
- May you provide customized electronic billings?
- Will you accept payment in the currency where the service is provided?
- Please provide five references that we may contact.
Household Goods Management | Global Destination Services
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