Your ideal technology provider helps you increase the efficiency of your business, anticipate trends, and strengthen your relationships with partners and customers. Above all, your technology partner should be exactly that: a partner, not just a vendor who disappears once you’ve purchased their solution. In a recent webinar, we spoke with Diana Bullington of Syfan Logistics, who shared her insights on how to select a technology partner.
Diana, Syfan Logistics’ IT Director, spoke about the qualities that Syfan Logistics looks for in its technology partners and what drove the 3PL to choose to partner with Trucker Tools. Read on to discover more about Syfan Logistics’ process for choosing a technology vendor and what you should look for in a technology partner, no matter where you are in your decision-making process.
Identify the Pain Points That You Want Your Tech Partner To Address
When you’re considering investing your time, hard-earned profits and employee training time in a new solution, it’s vital to know exactly what you’re looking for. Do you know what your pain points are? Have you identified the specific challenges that you want the technology vendor to solve? All of your point pain points likely tie into the level of customer service that you’re able to provide to your shippers.
Syfan Logistics’ primary pain points, prior to partnering with Trucker Tools, were load tracking accuracy, carrier buy-in and shipper service. The other tracking solutions Syfan Logistics had used or considered could only offer load tracking accuracy within a 10-15 mile radius, which wasn’t accurate enough for Syfan Logistics. As for carrier buy-in, Bullington had this to say: “Just to get a driver to agree to download a tracking app was always a challenge.” At the end of the day, Bullington reports that as a customer service driven company, being able to know exactly where trucks are and keeping shippers informed was the greatest hurdle that Syfan Logistics had to overcome.
References: Get the Unfiltered Truth from Current Users, TMS Vendors
Bullington advises that you consider the return on investment for the solution and whether or not it’s going to give you the ability to work faster and more efficiently. But she sees references from current users of the solution and the technology provider’s credibility as arguably the most important factors to consider when choosing a technology partner.
Bullington advises that you consider the return on investment for the solution and whether or not it’s going to give you the ability to work faster and more efficiently.
“When looking at technology in general, I’m obviously going to look at who else is using a solution and how and why they’re using it,” says Bullington. “I want to know how others in the industry view the vendor and their tools. It’s important to know about the ease of implementation and how the solution and our TMS can be integrated. I don’t want a provider who can’t integrate their solution with our current TMS. I want to know how that TMS vendor views the technology provider that I’m considering. It’s all about your relationships. Those are big things as an IT director that I look at. I want an honest answer and I’m going to look for honest answers from those other customers.”
Choose Partners Who Put Customer Service First
In order to provide exceptional customer service to your customers, you need technology vendors that can provide you with hands-on support when you need it most. It’s important to choose technology partners who will help you think outside of the box and bring your company to where you want to be. Your tech partner can help you take your business to the next level by understanding the details of how your business currently operates. Another vital consideration when choosing tech partners is the vendor’s ability to be responsive and communicate with your team when problems arise.
“Anything that arises needs to be addressed quickly,” says Bullington. “With Trucker Tools, it usually doesn’t take more than an hour at the most to get most things resolved. If it’s longer than that, the communication back to us is huge. We always know what’s happening.”
Another factor to consider when choosing the right tech partner is the company’s culture, particularly around customer service. Does their commitment to solving customer problems match your own company’s dedication to customer satisfaction?
“We started working with Trucker Tools almost on a trial basis. We were instantly impressed with how Trucker Tools has built its model, which is similar to the Syfan model, where service is our number one business,” explains Bullington. “Our people are more important than anything else. Trucker Tools has that same culture. Trucker Tools will help you figure out what’s not working and how to make it better. Customer service is, by far, one of the biggest things that I love about having Trucker Tools as a technology partner.”
We were instantly impressed with how Trucker Tools has built its model, which is similar to the Syfan model, where service is our number one business,” explains Bullington.
For even more guidance on partnering with the right tech providers, check out What You Should Consider When Choosing a Technology Partner, our recent webinar with FreightWaves’ CEO Craig Fuller.
If you’re ready to learn more about Trucker Tools’ innovative load tracking and powerful digital freight matching platforms, schedule a demo today.
