Customer centric experience of companies. Customer focus as one of the main logistics strategies of RZD. Holding values: Customer focus, mutually beneficial long-term partnership with clients, continuous development of the product portfolio and
Traditionally, a lot of attention is paid to improving customer service on the South-Eastern Railway. At the present time, in the conditions of an unstable economic situation and tough competition in the field of transportation, the issue of improving the quality of services provided in railway transport is most acute. Today it is important for us not only to maintain, but also to strengthen our positions in all segments of transport services. Success in this business is possible only through the implementation of a customer-oriented system in the work, from planning to the direct implementation of transportation.
Anatoly Ivanovich Volodko,head of the South-Eastern Railway
As you know, the implementation of the customer focus strategy in our company is based on the main principle - an individual approach to each client, the ability to assess the degree of loyalty and satisfaction of service consumers. What tools do we use to make this principle work at the road level? First of all, these are regional coordination councils held on an ongoing basis on the development of joint programs of constructive cooperation. Their role can hardly be overestimated.
In 2016, two meetings of the regional coordinating council were held on the road - one, with the participation of key shippers, in February in Stary Oskol, the other took place in June in a video conference mode between the Moscow and South-Eastern railways. Clients also took part in it.
Such events allow shippers to get to know more about the activities and services provided by the railway, directly express their wishes. For us, it is an opportunity to correctly assess how satisfied customers are with joint work, to promptly identify and eliminate the problem, to outline further ways of mutually beneficial cooperation. Taking into account the positive experience of this kind of interaction with consumers of railway services, we plan to continue holding working meetings at the sites of the coordination councils.
In conditions market economy a very important criterion for choosing a carrier company for a shipper is the current tariff system, on which transportation costs depend. Currently, shippers often prefer transportation by road because of its mobility, accessibility for some remote regions, and the ease with which shipping documents are issued.
At the service area of \u200b\u200bthe South-Eastern Mainline, rail transport accounts for 75% of the total traffic, while 25% of cargo is transported by cars. In order to ensure the competitiveness of rail transportation, as well as to attract additional cargo volumes to the road, the management of Russian Railways decided to provide reduction factors within the tariff corridors for major partners that ensure loading at or higher than last year.
At the moment, a reduction factor of 0.882 applies to the transport of ferrous metals for export It was adopted for Q1 2016 and extended until the end of the year. As a result, over 5 months there was an increase in the loading of ferrous metals by 161 thousand tons or 2.4% compared to the same period last year.
The implementation of a customer-oriented policy within the framework of Russian Railways also implies continuous interaction between business units and subdivisions within the road. It is achieved through the organization of end-to-end service delivery from planning to completion. The business model, defined by the Development Strategy of the Russian Railways Holding until 2030, provides for the transformation of the company from a transportation company to a transportation and logistics one.
In this regard, on the railway, customers are provided with a new transport product - the organization of the movement of freight trains on a schedule with a fixed time of departure and arrival, which increases the reliability and efficiency of transportation, and corresponds to the working conditions of railway transport in the market environment. Departure of trains on schedule guarantees the client the delivery of goods on time, significantly improves the reliability of delivery of goods.
In order to develop customer focus, reduce administrative barriers and improve the provision of services in the field of freight rail transportation, the Conditions of Transport Services of JSC Russian Railways were approved and put into effect. Today it is enough for the client to sign and submit to any TTSFTO (Territorial Center for Corporate Transport Services) the original application for familiarization and full agreement with the terms and cost of the provision of services posted on the Russian Railways website in order to receive the required service.
Since March 1, 2016, the South-Eastern Directorate for the management of the terminal and warehouse complex has put into effect the Price List for works and services, in which the contractual rates are determined in accordance with the flexible pricing methodology for given view services. This makes it possible to make the tariffs of the directorate more competitive and attractive, allows maintaining customer loyalty, reacting to the actions of competitors, while ensuring economic efficiency of activities.
On the railway, close attention is paid to improving the quality of passenger service, introducing new types of services into practice. At stations, stopping points, the “Passenger's Day” campaigns are systematically held, providing “feedback” with the passenger and allowing to take prompt measures to eliminate deficiencies in work.
In order to preserve the volume of suburban traffic, improve transport services for the population, in cooperation with auto enterprises, regional administrations, work is being carried out to develop multimodal communications ("train + bus") in passenger and suburban transportation.
Since February 2016, the opportunity to pay for services has been implemented cellular communication through ticket printing machines at 24 points of sale. In September 2016, payment for Internet providers will be introduced at the stations Voronezh-1, Belgorod, Michurinsk Uralsky, Liski, o.p. Mashmet.
At the stations Voronezh-1, Liski, Michurinsk-Uralsky, Belgorod, the possibility of non-cash payment for travel on a suburban train with a bank card has been opened.
The Voronezh station complex hosts the InPost POSTAMAT, the installation of which has become a convenient element of the station infrastructure and has increased the attractiveness of the station complex as a whole.
At the Voronezh and Liski railway stations, interactive kiosks have been installed, which make it possible to inform the consumer in a convenient and accessible form about the services (of the station complex and other city organizations), sights and routes of the city.
In order to support the national program to promote reading among citizens, a number of stations have implemented the Bookcrossing for Passengers project, which in turn is an additional free service.
In April 2016, the “Library on Wheels” project was launched for passengers of suburban trains of JSC PPK Chernozemye.
For the convenience of cyclists, bicycle parking has appeared at the Voronezh, Liski, Povorino, Uglyanets stations.
The suburban passenger company, together with the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, is working on the appointment of new routes for suburban trains on the road range and the development of intracity transportation. Currently, the Voronezh Region administration is considering the issue of returning the train that ran in April-May of this year on the direct route Pridacha-Rossosh.
In the fall of 2015, the City Train project was launched in the city of Tambov, designed to increase throughput the main streets of the regional center, freeing them from traffic jams during rush hours, reduce the burden on the environment, improve the investment attractiveness and social situation in the region. A similar project is planned for the Voronezh Region.
Until the end of 2016, much remains to be done to improve the quality of service for commuters. This is the transfer of season tickets to plastic media; development of online sales of travel documents, development of an interactive map on the site of the "Chernozemye" company with detailed information about railway stations, stopping points, stations, socially significant objects and much more.
In order to increase the attractiveness of long-distance rail passenger transportation, since July 31, 2015, the train No. 45/46 Moscow-Voronezh has been replaced by a two-story train with seating, which is in great demand among passengers. During the period of increased demand (from May to mid-September), the double-decker train runs in an increased composition of up to 15 cars, during the period of decrease in passenger traffic - 7 cars daily.
In July 2016, the replacement of wagons on train No. 69/70 Voronezh-Moscow with double-deck carriages was organized.
To meet the demand for passenger transportation to the Black Sea coast resorts, the South-Eastern branch of FPK JSC assigned an additional train No. 403/404 Moscow-Adler.
Since January 14, 2016, the "Dynamic Pricing" implementation site, which, along with others, includes the South-Eastern Railways routes - Voronezh-Moscow, Voronezh-St. Petersburg, Belgorod-Moscow, Tambov-Moscow and Lipetsk-Moscow - has been replenished with Stary Oskol directions -Moscow and Belgorod-Novosibirsk.
"Dynamic pricing" of trains traveling in the above directions is used in Lux, SV and compartment wagons.
The program allows the passenger to plan their trip in advance and purchase a ticket at the lowest price. The earlier a ticket is purchased, the cheaper it is.
Since July 1, 2016, passengers traveling in compartment cars of branded trains formed by the South-Eastern branch have the opportunity to choose a diet from the proposed menu when purchasing a travel document.
The implementation of all these measures will make it possible to improve passenger service, increase the level of customer focus, and contribute to strengthening the image of Russian Railways.
In a competitive environment, staying afloat and continuing to dominate your industry requires being responsive to changing market conditions. Therefore, we intend to continue to work on creating an effective system for selling services, providing users with new transport and logistics products.
At present, the focus on customer needs is becoming a cornerstone for the further development of Russian Railways. The carrier's turn to the consumer is connected with the solution of two fundamental questions: what criteria are most important for the customer and how to meet them?
Carrier: keeping up with the times
During the dialogue between national carriers and shippers, held within the framework of the X International Business Forum "Strategic Partnership 1520" in Sochi, market participants stated that the impact of the economic crisis on the railway complex can be considered twofold, since a decrease in loading volumes is accompanied by the market entering a new high-quality step. Against this background, putting the topic of customer focus on the foreground looks absolutely logical. Vadim Morozov, First Vice President of Russian Railways, notes that a systematic approach to this area is quite new for the holding, and it had to start with developing a single concept. “We defined customer focus as the ability to generate an additional stream of customers by fully meeting their needs,” he explains.
“The first and foremost thing for us is how customer-oriented the company is. And only the client himself can decide this and never - her management. Second, customer orientation should be accompanied by the effect of increasing Russian Railways revenues, while the company will support the interests of key customers. The concept of “client” is not limited to consumers of services, it is also necessary to form an internal customer focus, that is, to ensure the well-coordinated work of business units responsible for infrastructure and freight transportation, provision of transport and logistics services and the development of passenger transportation. The coordination of these directions is key point customer focus policy ”.
Customer orientation is one of the elements of crisis management and gives the carrier new opportunities that are especially valuable in the context of a recession in transportation. What are the specific steps? At the end of December 2014, a department for business development and customer focus was formed at Russian Railways. “The structure was created by optimizing resources without increasing the staff, - emphasizes V. Morozov, - its mission is to create a corporate policy of internal and external customer focus, provided for by the Holding Development Strategy until 2030”. The stages of its implementation were also determined: first, the development of a unified policy, then the creation of a concept (including detailed options for each type of business), implementation tools, as well as assessment methods and implementation programs. The list of current tasks includes the formation of an optimal package of services, excluding intercompany competition, and the creation of a unified catalog of services. “Organization of end-to-end processes from the moment of planning a service to its implementation implies the integration of actions on a network scale, and by the end of the year we will form this vertical,” V. Morozov promises.
Thus, the vector of the holding's development has been set. Roman Baskin, head of the business development and customer focus department of Russian Railways, claims that the tasks set for the new division are not easy, so the staff sought to recruit creative people with experience not only within Russian Railways, but also outside the company. “This is very important for the development of a methodology and concept of customer focus, that is, documents that are common for the holding, as well as for solving current problems, for example, for creating a customer questionnaire system,” concludes R. Baskin.
“Long-term pricing is important for a shipper in the current environment. We have moved away from this model and now we make decisions manually, but returning to it is also a serious tool for increasing customer focus. In addition, we believe that the company needs to go into logistics: better work with the port infrastructure, create service chains. Pricing tools are good, but they are not a panacea, but improving customer relations technologies is the right path to quality. "
Integration in Kazakh
The current tasks of JSC Russian Railways are well known to JSC NC Kazakstan Temir Zholy, a national carrier that has assumed the role of an integrator of the republic's transport assets, including port infrastructure and the TLC network. How is this task accomplished? Kanat Alpysbayev, Vice-President for Logistics of NC "KTZ", notes that efforts are directed primarily at the development of regions. “We have a positive experience of joint implementation of investment projects with clients with a subsequent return on investment on certain terms,” he notes.
In addition, KTZ has created an integrated planning unit dealing with transportation, tariff setting and marketing. “The task of the new structure is to remove unnecessary processes and speed up customer service,” K. Alpysbaev emphasizes. Changes are taking place at all levels: for example, the post of deputy chief for logistics has appeared in the road departments. Basically, this is an account manager who works with clients on a daily basis.
The railway complex of Kazakhstan (as well as the RF) is characterized by a high degree of regulation. According to K. Alpysbaev, it complicates the introduction of new services, but KTZ is trying to solve this problem. “The first thing we want is to remove from the regulation of the antimonopoly services of Kazakhstan railway transportation on those routes where there is competition with other modes of transport, in particular with road,” says K. Alpysbayev. The second issue is related to the unification of various shipping documents for the purpose of their use in multimodal transportation. “For example, we have to negotiate with the customs authorities for a long time so that when transporting cargo to the airport there are no delays due to transit invoices,” he clarifies. Another problem lies in the lack of a full-fledged regulatory framework for container shipping. Now they intend to do this very seriously in order to be in tandem with the times.
KTZ considers the creation of a single window to be one of the key tasks related to customer focus. “We want to connect all the assets under our management to its solution,” says K. Alpysbaev. “Moreover, UTLC already has experience in creating a unified platform for managing the rolling stock and sales of services, and it should be developed, including when implementing other joint projects.”
Non-zero-sum game
As you can see, the experience of national carriers testifies to the relevance of a customer-oriented policy. How do those for whom it is intended evaluate it? Deputy general director OJSC MC Kuzbassrazrezugol Irina Olkhovskaya believes that the efforts of OJSC Russian Railways are beneficial to the coal industry. “We see a fairly steady growth in exports, the positions of our coal miners in the world markets are preserved,” she says. - These results are achieved thanks to working together". It is about building up infrastructure and technological development transportation, including at the Eastern range, a noticeable reduction in the time of delivery of goods to the port compared to 2013–2014. and most importantly, the convergence of the positions of the transport business participants. “The confirmation of the last thesis was the adjustment of the tariff corridor of the Russian Railways in early 2015 in favor of the shippers of the coal industry, - says I. Olkhovskaya. "We were treated with understanding."
Of course, the cost of services is a very important criterion for the shipper for assessing the level of customer focus of the carrier, but not the only one. Denis Ilatovsky, Deputy General Director for Logistics of OJSC SUEK, believes that price disputes are akin to a zero-sum game, while there are many other parameters that the carrier and the client can jointly improve, gaining mutual benefit. For example, in 2013, the technology for managing the fleet of various operators on the approach to the ports of Murmansk and Vanino was improved, which led to an increase in the speed of coal delivery, and back side the acceleration was the decrease in SUEK's demand for cars “In 2012–2013. we attracted 52–55 thousand cars, now 45 thousand is enough, because due to the acceleration of the rolling stock turnover the demand for it has decreased, ”explains D. Ilatovsky.
Another important parameter for the cargo owner is the routing of cargo transportation. Together with Russian Railways in SUEK, its level was brought to 70%, but the partners are not going to stop there. Another topic is increasing the carrying capacity of network sections. SUEK analyzed traffic on the Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Vanino stretch: after the Kuznetsovsky tunnel was commissioned, the train length was increased, but due to problems with traction, it returned to the previous 53–55 cars, while the volume of traffic still increased due to the increase in train weight consisting entirely of innovative rolling stock.
How to beat the highway?
The carrier's retail customers using wagon shipments are increasingly finding alternative solutions to rail transport on the market, transferring cargo to the road transport segment. Konstantin Zasov, member of the board of directors of CJSC Rusagrotrans, cites disappointing statistics: the share of motor transport in grain transportation has grown by 10% since 2009 (up to 65%), and by 2020 it may reach 80%, for finished metallurgical products the same indicator since 2005 increased by 49% (up to 69%), for scrap - by 45% (up to 50%) by 2013, although in 2014 due to tariffs freezing it decreased to 38%. According to the expert, there is real competition here, and the situation requires a solution, which should be sought together with Russian Railways.
Of particular concern is the inability to compete with vehicles at distances of up to 1,000 km. According to K. Zasov, the situation can be changed only by simplifying the mechanism for applying the tariff corridor of the Russian Railways or by abolishing the regulation of the railway tariff in such segments. “The possibility of regulating the infrastructure component depending on the type of cargo would also help,” he said.
To ensure equal conditions for competition with road transport, it is proposed to amend the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in terms of changing the base for levying transport tax, differentiating rates depending on the mass and number of vehicle axles, as well as to tighten remote control over compliance with regulatory parameters, including weight standards for cars. on highways of federal and regional subordination. In addition, Rusagrotrans considers it necessary to license road cargo transportation and introduce restrictions in the field of technical regulation - similar to how it works on railway transport, with amendments to the technical regulations Customs Union... “The state needs to formulate a clear position,” sums up K. Zasov. "Otherwise, we will fight for equal conditions endlessly."
German experience
According to industry experts, the experience of Deutsche Bahn is very interesting, since before the transformation the company faced many problems associated with customer focus. One of them was the underdevelopment of the business culture: the management thought within the framework of separate business blocks and did not take into account general goals, respectively, the approach to sales was carried out with an emphasis on the revenue of one division. Another disadvantage was the scattered operational planning of the movement by numerous departments located in different regions and even countries, which led to inefficient use of assets.
Lack of uniform commercial terms when selling the same products, the person responsible for loading the assets, and overall strategy The development of the network, implying the formation of transport corridors, was complicated by many inter-functional conflicts, since the organizational structure of Deutsche Bahn was rather complex, there were insurmountable barriers in communication between divisions. Taken together, all these shortcomings led to a loss of focus on the interests of the client.
According to the partner and managing director of BCG in Russia Andrey Timofeev, the organization of the transport and logistics business of Russian Railways was influenced by both the remnants of the Soviet economy and the partial liberalization of the railway industry. The result is the duplication of functions within the holding. In general, a situation has arisen when the production service prevails over the commercial one, and the latter does not have the tools to influence the production process. The processes of sales support and commercial work with clients also require improvement.
“It is obvious that two key decisions could correct the situation,” A. Timofeev believes. - First of all, we are talking about the formation of a service offer, integrated with both sales and operations. Second, it is about industry-level one-stop-shop customer service. ”
Andrey Timofeev,
Partner and Managing Director of BCG Russia
“Undoubtedly, customer focus on railway transport should develop against the background of fair competition: if we do not establish equal conditions, we will not be able to attract cargo. Our task is to look at the volumes that are transported in alternative routes, and compete for them together with the carrier. Today, fluctuations in road transport rates during the year reach from 50 to 250%, while the railway tariff remains unchanged. Thus, we have practically no tools to fight for cargo. In addition, with the existing system of tariff setting, it is impossible to beat vehicles at distances of up to 1,000 km; special solutions are needed here, which must be developed together with the Federal Tariff Service, "- Konstantin Zasov, member of the board of directors of CJSC Rusagrotrans.
Thus, price regulation and technology improvements represent two options for increasing the level of customer focus. However, the possibilities of increasing tariffs are limited, and it is difficult for the carrier to form an investment program at the expense of the client. So there is only one tool left to increase revenue - work with the client.
Marina Ermolenko
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