In the fast-paced U.S. logistics industry, understanding the customer journey and competitive landscape and integrating digital solutions is crucial. A shipping insurance company that helps companies protect their shipments through innovative insurance and enhanced carrier protection services recognized this need amongst their small- and mid-size customers. The shipping insurance company brought Evalueserve on board to use customer insights to guide its efforts to become more customer-centric and digitally advanced, particularly for its U.S. customer base.
Our goal was clear from the start: to help the insurer harness customer insights and digital trends to better serve the U.S. market. Our role was to provide the research and analysis needed to inform the client’s strategy, ensuring their services aligned with customer expectations and technological advancements.
Our Approach: Diagnose, Design, Deliver
Based on their objective, we launched multiple projects focused on various aspects, including customer needs, competitive positioning, and emerging market needs. This series of projects was structured into three phases:
Diagnose
Our initial “Diagnose” phase involved close collaboration with the shipping insurer’s product marketing team. We organized workshops to dive deep into the core issues and goals. These workshops were instrumental in aligning our understanding with their vision and identifying the precise customer-related challenges they were facing.
Throughout the various projects, we had a few focal areas:
- Voice of Customer (VoC) Research:
- Customer experience when claims arise from unmet needs, pain points, and customer expectations
- Customer journey from awareness to advocate
- Competitive technology landscape, including positioning and GTM
- Emerging market trends and assessments
By engaging in these discussions, we could pinpoint the areas where the client needed to adapt or innovate to meet customer expectations and stay ahead in the competitive U.S. market. We developed clear objectives with measurable KPIs that each project was then designed to answer.
Design
During the “Design” phase, our focus shifted to constructing the surveys, landscapes, and assessments to collect customer insights.
Each project began with clearly defining the segment(s) to research. Customer segments were defined by location, industry, company size, persona, buying stage, etc. Next, we meticulously crafted the questionnaires to capture the key points of interest effectively. These included profiling companies, assessing growth and adverse effects of shipping issues, shipment protection behavior, and willingness to adopt new offerings.
The process of creating and refining the survey questions was iterative and collaborative. We worked closely with the client’s team to ensure each question would yield actionable data. The questions underwent several rounds of review and adaptation, reflecting both our expertise and their deep understanding of their customers.
The surveys were extensive, reaching several hundred participants across the U.S. and representing a broad spectrum of the shipping insurance company’s customer base.
Based on our findings, we developed strategies for positing new, digitally enabled products and services given customer feedback and competitive offerings.
Deliver
In the “Deliver” phase, we translated the rich survey data into actionable insights. To do this, we developed customer Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards featuring interactive charts and visuals. These dashboards were designed to allow the client’s executive team to quickly grasp key insights while also having the option to dive into more detailed data as needed.
Recognizing the value of long-term knowledge retention and accessibility, we initiated the creation of a knowledge management hub. This hub is intended to consolidate all the findings, insights, and data into a single, easily accessible repository.
Additionally, during this phase, we provided recommendations for action based on these findings, such as creating a differentiated value proposition, market positioning, product functionality, and customer experience.
Business Impact
A major takeaway was the significance of targeted customer insights in shaping product marketing positioning and messaging for key segments in the U.S. market. We also learned the importance of staying agile in response to digital trends and competitive dynamics.
- Enhanced Analytical Approach: Our work enhanced the shipping insurer’s ability to collect, analyze, and interpret VoC data, enabling them to apply these insights strategically.
- Customer-Centric Strategy Development: By integrating VoC into their product development and service packaging, the client learned to prioritize customer feedback in their strategic planning. Our exploration of VoC data with customers provided new perspectives on understanding the competitive landscape, turning vendor relationships into strategic intelligence assets.
- Market Trend Identification: We demonstrated how VoC insights are crucial for identifying and responding to market trends, helping the client align its offerings with market demands.
- Change Management: Our involvement went beyond research and strategy; we supported the insurer in managing the changes. This included adapting to new technologies and evolving market demands, a critical aspect of maintaining their competitive position.
Our collaborative efforts led to significant improvements for the client, including better customer engagement, increased market share, and enhanced compliance with U.S. standards.
This project exemplifies the impact of a focused, customer-centric approach in the logistics insurance industry, especially in a technologically evolving market like the U.S. Our work helped the shipping insurance company align its strategies with customer needs, leveraging digital innovation to enhance its product strategy and roadmap.
