The importance of good Client Management

Chief Commercial Officer, Sam Holden, speaks on the importance of being a partner and not just a supplier.

“We operate in a fiercely competitive industry and it’s important for us and our clients that we strive to differentiate ourselves by acting as a key partner within their organisation. Whilst our service, proposition and delivery are best-in-class, the Yodel Commercial team really get under the skin of our clients to better understand their challenges, requirements and customers, which has led to incredible growth and renewed business for the past two years.

How did we accomplish this? Our Client Management team is without a doubt the best in any industry. The team brings experience from a vast number and wide-ranging sectors; Retail, Banking, Logistics and Customer Services, and we have taken best practice from these industries to clearly define a framework that provides partnership assurance from day one.

We want our clients to know that they’re valued and appreciated; Executive sponsors are allocated to key accounts, ranging from myself to our Chief Operating Officer through to our CEO. We attend clients’ Quarterly Business Reviews so that open and honest conversations can be held and together we can agree on growth strategies that benefit the retailer and their customer.

Our approach was validated when the UK went into its first lockdown. Online retail boomed and our retailer partners were right in the centre. As our Client Management team had already heavily invested themselves within our clients’ businesses, they were able to guide, support and work collaboratively to meet unprecedented customer demands successfully. Our close and collaborative relationships with our clients meant they maintained exceptional service as customer demand and volumes grew.

The increased customer satisfaction scores that we saw during the pandemic proved our partnership approach works and this is why we are investing in this area and currently growing and developing the Client Management function. As we grow, our approach is constantly evolving, and the pandemic has certainly allowed us to reflect, evaluate and learn what worked well and not so well, and identify where there is room for improvement.

Therefore, it’s not only in roles that we are investing; our award-winning client portal, eRin, is ever evolving to better suit our clients’ needs. Through our client partnerships, we understand what additional features are needed to help them better-serve their customers. We’re investing in new Management Information technology tools that support informed, productive, and decisive decision-making allowing fast paced decision-making to become the norm for both ourselves and the client.

I believe that the investment in both our people and technology has underpinned the Yodel turnaround. We will never revert to self-serve for clients and they will continue to be supported by Yodel’s partnership approach.”