The UK's favourite delivery company DPD scooped two major prizes at the Motor Transport Awards 2014, at a gala dinner for over 1,600 guests at the Grosvenor Hotel in London's Park Lane, hosted by actor and comedian Rob Brydon.
The awards - known as the transport industry ‘Oscars' - celebrate the achievements of the industry and recognise innovation, outstanding service, efficiency and quality. They are judged by an independent panel of experts drawn from the industry.
The Customer Care award follows a string of recent similar accolades including topping Money Saving Expert's high profile consumer satisfaction poll for parcel carriers.
Judges said DPD was a real "stand out" entry, praising its strong corporate approach towards customer service, good use of social networking and impressive staff buy-in, as well as strong measurement of KPIs and innovative personal touches for customers.
DPD won the Best Use of Technology award for the recent improvements to its Predict service which enables customers to watch a Google Maps graphic showing their DPD driver's progress towards their address and counting down to a 15-minute delivery slot. The service also allows customers to relay instructions to the driver at any time, if they can't be home to accept a delivery.
The judges described the improvements as "a clear development on an already great system", demonstrating "industry-leading best practice" and delivering "tangible benefits to both operator and customer".
Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO, commented; "What a night! To win two awards is a fantastic achievement and the recognition means an awful lot to everyone that works at DPD. We pride ourselves on our technology - we've worked hard to be the best over a number of years by continually investing and constantly challenging ourselves to think like our customers and use technology to exceed their expectations.
"However, an award for great customer care is the most important recognition we can receive and I'm delighted for our whole team. We've been consistently winning big customer services awards for a few years now, which tells you everything you need to know about the dedication of the people involved and the effort that goes in. Consistency is what really matters with customer service - the whole team, doing the right things, every time - that's what we aim for and it is clearly what comes through in these awards."
"DPD is the fastest growing home delivery company in the UK and we continually invest in our technology, people and delivery infrastructure to ensure that we meet the demands of the online retail sector and provide a truly innovative service that outstrips anything else on the market."
Best Use of Technology Award
DPD's Predict system was launched in 2009 as the first in the parcels market to text and email home shoppers with a one-hour delivery window. Since then, the company has made several improvements.
In 2013 the Follow my parcel service was introduced allowing customers to go online and track their DPD driver approaching their address. From the evening before delivery up until the point the driver arrives at their doorstep customers now have access to a total of five ‘in-flight' options designed to prevent them experiencing a failed delivery in the first place.
Customer Care Award
DPD operates a clear, three-step strategy to ensure excellent customer service is a priority for all employees: first, to deliver the best service money can buy; second, to use the best technology available to man; and third, to retain and develop the most customer-centric people in the industry.
DPD's CEO Dwain McDonald summed it up in the award submission; "We love our customers, we obsess about them, we never take them for granted and we assume they could leave us tomorrow."
The company appointed its first director of customer experience in January 2013, Sinead Croke and has had a string of customer care successes, including topping Money Saving Expert's consumer satisfaction poll for parcel carriers.