Pioneering Customer Service with Planes Moving and Storage
Planes Moving and Storage has been serving customers for several decades, with an enduring commitment to making sure every customer feels like family. From humble beginnings to a booming business, Planes is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 4 other locations in the Midwest: Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago. They’ve been named one of Cincinnati’s Top 100 Workplaces for 3 years in a row (2014, 2015, and 2016). Planes also received the 2016 United Van Lines President’s Quality Award, which recognizes the top service achievement in the carrier’s network of moving agencies across the country.
Recently, we sat down with the award-winning Planes team to discuss their philosophy, customer service, and their experience since adopting Updater.
What makes Planes Moving and Storage a unique moving company?
In 1921, with just a single truck in the city of Cincinnati, the first generation of the Planes family entered into the moving and storage business. Today, the company is in its third generation, operating a 5-location company with over 200 trucks and 400 employees.
When the grandfather of John Planes, our CEO, opened the doors to Planes Moving and Storage, he not only started a moving company; he also created a way for us to do business. Since then, our first priority has been to provide quality service to our customers. Whatever the request — whenever the goods need to arrive or wherever they have to be delivered — Planes strives to provide excellent customer service.
We make it a top priority to provide the best service we can for each move. Our focus is always on customer service and going above and beyond to make sure the customer is happy. We take a hands-on approach when it comes to coordinating moves, and some counselors will even get to know their customer on a personal level. They take extra steps that service representatives at other moving companies don’t to ensure that customers feel a sense of comfort during the moving process.
Our team takes quality customer service to heart, and you can tell how important it is to them in their own words:
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“We are very customer service-oriented and hands-on. We like to be a part of our customer’s move from start to finish, so they feel that one-on-one connection and can rely on someone to be there for them throughout the move.”
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“I try to find a way to connect with customers on a more personal level. Say they like traveling, sports, animals, etc. I try to find a way to connect; I listen and remember little things they tell me so I can check back in. ‘Is your (sick) husband feeling better?’ or ‘So you told me about traveling out West. What was your favorite state?’”
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“I would say that Planes truly cares about customer satisfaction — that we strive daily to pull strings to make miracles in the moving business happen.”
In your opinion, what makes a great customer experience?
We believe that a great customer experience means meeting or exceeding every customer’s expectations during their move. We pride ourselves on our commitment to providing excellent customer service, so we want every customer to feel as though they’re a part of the Planes family. Our team aims to relieve the stresses of moving and provide every customer with a seamless transition.
How easy was it to get started with Updater?
It was extremely easy to get started. After the initial gathering of information to decide which customers we should send invites to, it was very simple.
That’s great to hear. What is one thing Updater has changed about your team’s day-to-day operations?
We are now able to offer a tool to make our customer’s transition to their new city much easier. When we tell them that this is a free service, they are eager to get more information. They are excited that this feature potentially saves them time and even costs related to services in their new area.
Absolutely. How have your customers responded to Updater?
We have had a great response from our customers. They understand that this is a great benefit — a time-saving tool that not only allows them to change addresses and set up utilities, but also get acclimated to their new city. We have had customers contact us to say that they either lost or don’t think they’ve received their email invite, and they request that we resend the info because they are so excited to use it.
On a similar note, how has it been working with the Updater team?
The Updater team has been very responsive to our needs. The regular reports we receive are informative, as well as the talking points. Those have been a huge help for the counselors who promote this service to our customers.
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