IMPROVING FREIGHT FORWARDING PERFORMANCE BY BUILDING COMPETENCIES TO EXECUTE CUSTOMER SERVICE TRANSACTION ELEMENTS

Abstract

The results of a World Bank survey in the form of the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in 2023 showed that Indonesia's logistics have regressed. Questionnaire indicators in LPI showed the importance of the role of freight forwarding in supporting logistics and international transportation. Customer service as a frontline plays an important role in improving the performance of freight forwarding companies. Customer service requires clear competencies to support their duties and work in freight forwarding companies.  This study aims to examine the effect of four customer service competencies on the performance of freight forwarding companies mediated by customer service transaction elements. The four competencies are customer insight skills, freight forwarding management, customer service management, and stakeholder management. The study used quantitative methods with 6 variable constructs and 35 indicators that have been measured, valid, and reliable. The four customer service competencies are exogenous variables, freight forwarding company performance is endogenous variables, and customer service transaction elements are intervening variables. The questionnaire was distributed to customer service employees at ALFI member freight forwarding companies in Jakarta, especially in manager or supervisor positions. The respondents of the study are 210 people. The data was processed using structural equation modeling analysis techniques with the help of AMOS version 24 statistical software.

The novelty of this research is to develop customer service competencies for logistics, especially freight forwarding services, through customer service transaction elements. The results showed that the four customer service competencies had a direct positive effect on the performance of freight forwarding companies and had an indirect effect through customer service transaction elements. This research recommends that freight forwarding companies provide more opportunities for customer service to interact with their customers and get enough training to be able to carry out the elements of customer service transactions well. Educational institutions can cooperate with the government in issuing special customer service certifications in the freight forwarding service industry. Further research can be directed to customer service with more juniors to get a broader view of the scope of work of customer service freight forwarding services.