After consolidating three separate solutions into Package.ai’s complete customer engagement platform to manage its fulfillment process, Bob Mills Furniture saw customer satisfaction and efficiencies increase sharply, helping it achieve the following results:
+30% delivery confirmation rates
-40% failed deliveries
+33% post-delivery feedback
+50% increase in NPS score
+84% same-day resolution of customer problems
+95% positive post-delivery customer happiness
+23% rates of customer reviews
“When we were ready to go live, our IT director laughed. He was like, ‘Are you sure we’re switching because I haven’t had to do much.’ The process was so seamless, and it didn’t take up the resources of our really small IT team.”
Brian Fierro, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Bob Mills Furniture
Over 50 Years of Furniture Retail Heritage
In business since 1971, Bob Mills Furniture has delivered furniture and exceptional customer service for over 50 years. Its locations have grown from the original Bob Mills Furniture corporate office in Oklahoma City to 10 stores and one distribution center serving both Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. It runs a fleet of 29 vehicles, making 160 stops per day, and delivering 750 units.
Why Bob Mills Needed to Adapt
Bob Mills Furniture was using several siloed solutions to manage its fulfillment process, including the industry-standard routing software for deliveries, a separate solution for ticketing issues and completions, and a phone system for customer communication.
These standalone solutions did not interact, forcing staff to copy and paste customer information between each one to ensure information was consistent across all systems. This was not only time-consuming but subject to human error.
Bob Mills Furniture used a mix of phone calls and emails to notify customers, but they could only respond by phoning the call center to speak with a delivery coordinator or contact their sales host.
This meant the customer lacked a strong voice during the fulfillment process, resulting in low levels of customer engagement and not a single positive online review. Delivery confirmation rates were consistently only between 50-60%, and its failed delivery rate was a resource-draining 10%. Things had to change.
The Smooth and Painless Switch From Siloed Solutions to One Platform
Bob Mills Furniture originally made the decision to switch to Package.ai to replace its dispatch software. However, it ended up replacing all its siloed solutions due to the advantages of having everything incorporated within one complete platform.
“We were up and running with all stores using Package.ai within 90 days, including customization and integration with our POS software. Questions were answered immediately and they kept us updated throughout the entire process. All of our locations are now using Package.ai for both Delivery Fulfillment as well as In-Home service.”
Brian Fierro, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Bob Mills Furniture
Package.ai’s customer success team helped onboard staff with several training sessions tailored to specific users in different departments. Live meetings were also used to demonstrate the system and questions were answered along the way.
Benefits of Centralizing All Customer Information
Now, all dispatch planning and routing, customer communications, and delivery updates happen within the Package.ai platform. This allows all information regarding a customer’s purchase, delivery, and interactions with staff in various departments to be stored centrally and immediately available under one customer profile on one screen.
“Having all customer information on one screen means we have reduced the amount of clicks and time going through and trying to find information. Now it is all right there in front of our agents for them to be able to resolve customer issues much better.”
Brian Fierro, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Bob Mills Furniture
The Results: Improved Delivery Confirmations and NPS Score
Delivery confirmation rates are the Achilles heel for many retailers, hurting productivity and a company’s bottom line. But after implementing Package.ai, Bob Mills witnessed an almost instant 30% increase in delivery confirmation rates. This meant less dropped delivery spots and less driver frustration around having to work around a half-full truck. And overall, obviously, happier customers because Bob Mills was able to make sure they were available to receive their delivery.
The implementation of Package.ai also had a massive impact on Bob Mills Furniture’s NPS score, a measure used to gauge customer loyalty, satisfaction, and enthusiasm. It went from between 50 to 60 to being in the 70+ range, along with elite companies like Costco and Apple.
“We’re averaging about 72 to 75 NPS score, which equates to world class levels. Thanks to Package.ai we’re now able to resolve issues much quicker and communicate with our customers far more effectively. And then we have a lot of rich analytics that help us make the best decisions to enhance customer experience.”
Brian Fierro, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Bob Mills Furniture
A Future of Increased Sales Opportunities
The next phase of the rollout of Package.ai will be implementing Sales Chat, to boost sales opportunities, as well as enabling payments via messaging within the platform. The ultimate plan is to connect everything in the organization, building everything around a central and transparent pool of customer information and knowledge.
Key to the commitment by management at Bob Mills Furniture to extend the rollout of Package.ai is the ability for its specific needs to be matched.
“There are some software companies that have a killer system, but you have to use it the way they want it used,” says Bob Mill’s Brian Fierro. “Package.ai has demonstrated the ability to make proactive changes to tailor the software and the platform directly to what is most beneficial to us. So, I would encourage retailers to make the jump because Package.ai is truly a partner you can work with.”
The big fear for companies tied into existing software they’ve used for a long time is will the new solution do what it claims to do and whether can it successfully be integrated into their current IT architecture. Package.ai absolutely delivered on every single one of those and more for Bob Mills.
“The biggest thing that keeps us happy with Package.ai is its commitment to growing with us. We know Bob Mills may not be the biggest and may not be number one in every single market, but we will be the favorite, we will be the one that most people have the pleasure of doing business with and continue recommending to their friends and family. And that’s what keeps our customers coming back to us.”
Brian Fierro, Executive Director of Customer Experience at Bob Mills Furniture