Customers always come first, but without customer service, there are no customers. A survey released on Tuesday by Gartner has found that less than one-quarter of supply chain organizations have adopted customer enablement to the extent necessary to truly put the customer first.
Gartner surveyed 650 supply chain leaders across geography and industry from August to October 2022 for its flagship Future of Supply Chain report. It found that only 23% currently emphasize customer enablement. Those that do are twice as likely to receive repurchase orders compared to peers that merely focus on customer satisfaction or ease.
“The survey data showed that high-performing supply chain organizations are capturing competitive advantage and have capabilities at operational rates often twice as high compared to their lower performing peers,” said Jennifer Loveland, senior director analyst with Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “These high performing teams have also succeeded in retaining the respect of the C-Suite; 72% are viewed as strategic partners at a time when perception of supply chain management’s importance has declined back to pre-pandemic levels at most organizations.”
