Facts speak for themselves, but the story behind the facts is what makes us real, makes us approachable, and builds connections with our customers. I have worked for HG Logistics, a third party freight transportation broker in Cincinnati, Ohio, since it first launched in September 2006. Although I have done an array of jobs over the course of the years, my main focus has been in Accounting. In short, I generate invoices, pay vendors, and record payments. These are the facts, but my story is customer service.
Initially, I am not the first person in contact with the customer, but I am a crucial service provider on the backside of our operations, especially when it comes to billing. You would think there would be one simple recipe for billing–enter charges, create invoice, send. Simple, right? Yes, if you stick to these few basic ingredients, but as we have found at HG Logistics LLC, customers have their own special taste when it comes to billing.
Thus, HG Logistics makes the customer our focus and practices flexibility when catering to our customers’ billing preferences. How many ways can you mix up a billing process? Here are a few of our special orders:
- Mail invoices via United States Postal Service
- Email invoices with separate attachments for the invoice and proof of delivery
- Email invoices in one attachment with all documents combined
- Email invoices to one address or email invoices to multiple people
- Upload invoices to customer’s portal system
- Send invoices to customer’s payment service
- Must include specific reference numbers on invoices to be processed
- Mail invoice along with original signed bill of lading
- Consolidate multiple loads for same customer on one invoice
- No Invoice Required–Process through AutoPay; Requires special tracking in our system to ensure payment is applied properly
HG Logistics offers a whole smorgasbord of billing options. We could have stuck with our initial, simple billing menu, but we are customer driver. As part of our vision statement,
“we value our reputation and relationship with our customers,” and provide “personal attention,” to their particular needs.
Thus, correctly billing according to our customers specifications is our story and our story is customer service. Our customers order and HG Logistics delivers.