DHL 2013 Annual Report Download - page 88

Service quality translates into competitive advantage in the express business
We want to oer our customers the best possible service quality all around the
world and therefore place high demands on our products, processes, infrastructure
and employees. erefore, we keep a constant eye on the changing requirements of our
customers, for example, through our new Insanely Customer Centric Culture 
programme. Whenever our employees – as couriers, in customer service or in sales – are
in contact with a customer, their feedback is documented, evaluated and made available
to all responsible departments within the company. is allows us to continuously trans-
late customer feedback into improvements.
Online, we provide the MyDHL portal as well as the Small Business Solutions section
of our website. ese portals make it easier for, above all, small and medium- sized busi-
ness customers to send their shipments. ey also receive comprehensive information on
the topic of shipping. We use quality control centres to track shipments worldwide and
dynamically adjust our processes. Should unforeseen events occur, ight and shipment
routes can be altered immediately. Our standard service includes tracking all premium
products – for example, Medical Express shipments – until they are delivered. In the case
of sensitive shipments, we also immediately take all necessary measures to ensure that
they reach the recipient at the agreed time and in the agreed quality.
Our operational safety, compliance with standards and the quality of service at our
facilities are reviewed regularly in co-operation with government authorities. More than
 locations – around half of which are in Europe – have been certied by the Trans-
ported Asset Protection Association , one of the world’s most renowned safety
associations, making us the leader in this area. In , we began recording all certi-
cation processes using a uniform system, and managing them globally. We received
global  : certication for our systems in the reporting year. is validated
our policy of harmonising quality standards. Furthermore, we renewed the  
and  standards for Europe.
Better performance translates into competitive advantage
in the freight forwarding business
In order to support a culture of customer advocacy, we conduct biennial surveys
to determine customer satisfaction with our services. Moreover, during the reporting
year we launched a project called Net Promoter Approach, which sees customers rate
the performance of our services immediately aer interacting with us. e knowledge
gained is used immediately to adapt local services where necessary and improve internal
processes.
To further improve our performance, we apply the First Choice Way. By , over
, employees trained in this methodology were employed in our operations and
in the reporting year more than , improvements were made. e vast majority of
the division’s operating performance indicators exceeded our forecasts over the year as
a whole. For example, the rate of customer complaints that were resolved successfully
improved on the prior year by nearly one-h to approximately  .
With the help of our customers, we intend to stabilise processes and improve our
performance. Currently more than  initiatives are underway worldwide. For instance,
the Brazilian team that services a global hardware manufacturer improved the customs
clearance process by reducing processing time by   and enabling   of the les to be
cleared within the target cycle time. Our customers value our continuous improvements
and in , we again received numerous awards for these eorts.
Objectives and strategies, page 
84 Deutsche Post DHL 2013 Annual Report
Non-Financial Figures
Customers and quality
Group Management Report