New Approach Elevates Service, Opportunities

A new day is dawning for Atlas’ military business. And it brings good things for Atlas agents.

In 2009, Uncle Sam introduced a new method for allocating military moves. Referred to as DP3, it puts a new emphasis on service. Avail is answering this new emphasis to create more opportunities for Atlas agents.

“It used to be fairly standard, especially during the peak season, for us to pick shipments up and warehouse them until we could get them routed,” says Bob Ewing, Senior Director of Military Services.

“We now load directly onto the truck for delivery, it’s our new standard procedure,” says Bob. “This will enhance our service and timeliness, which will help us earn a greater volume of military moves. It makes good business sense.”

Agent, Choose Your Load
To keep agents abreast of opportunities, Avail worked with Atlas IT to develop an online “move board.” Agents can view the available military loads in the Atlas system and pick the ones they wish to pack and haul.

“We rolled the move board out in March,” says Bob. “Participation is by invitation—we want to make sure agents have the training and understand the rules of engagement. As with any tool, knowing how to use it makes a difference.”

Military Specialists Support Agent Performance
The military evaluates the satisfaction of its service personnel through completed surveys. Providers who score well get more business. Those who do not receive less or, in some cases, are eliminated from consideration. To help Atlas agents achieve their desired scores, Avail supports them with two full-time Military Specialists, Lisa Weis and Mike Smith.

“We analyze the performance data and feed it back to the agents,” says Mike. “We want them to know what they are doing well, and where they can improve performance.”

Mike and Lisa send reports to agents monthly. These often include specific comments from customers, which are helpful in understanding the reasons for scores. Earlier this year, they reviewed the more than 400 customer comments received during 2012.

“We identified the top five service opportunities overall,” says Lisa. “Individually, we don’t react to just one comment, but in total we look at patterns of what makes customers happy or unhappy.”

“We want to make our reports as relevant to each agent’s success as we can,” says Mike. “When they have a special need for information, all they have to do is let us know and we’ll get it.”