How does the moving industry measure quality?

By Eric Anders • Mar 17th, 2011 • Category: COMMENTARY

Several months ago I received a short note asking,

"How does the moving industry measure quality?"

That's it. One sentence! No salutation; no signature.

Come out, come out, wherever you are

Other than a nondescript user name, there was no hint of the age, gender, location, budget or relocation schedule of the owner of the generic email account. Based on the time it was delivered, it could have been sent from an insomniac in St. Louis or a HR professional in Innsbruck.

It took a while to prepare a response to the anonymous inquiry. The first draft was almost a page long. Since more visitors to RELORT are coming from other countries, however, the explanation was modified to make it more generic — sorta a FIDI/Faim version to conform to standard industry 'best practices' for international relocations.

As I prepared to post my response, I thought, What if they're moving locally? Closing my email service, it occurred to me that maybe my visitor was not moving household goods.

I was still wrestling with how to respond when I received a second, nearly identical email the following morning.

This one was from a Wall Street professional who was starting to plan for a move next year after her husband retires. Although he's an executive – and an expat – employed by an international enterprise in New York, the couple is arranging and paying for their overseas relocation themselves. Although a bit more friendly and forthcoming, the inquiry still didn't say where they were moving from and to.

I finally responded to the first guest. Basically I suggested they request each service provider being considered provide their on-time pick and delivery performance; estimating, claim history and billing accuracy results; and internal customer satisfaction ratings for the last three years.

That's it. One sentence!

I attached a link to RELORT's How to.. instructional pages and the Moving Cost Estimate Comparison worksheet. I also included a copy of the instructions on how to use it to make things a bit easier to understand. Then I sent the same info to the gal in Manhattan.

Last week there was another note in the Inbox asking virtually the same question. Only this time, the visitor wanted to know 'who' they should consider and "what information should I believe?"

Chest-thumping, self aggrandizement

During the last few weeks, no less than a dozen emails from industry vendors or their advertising and marketing agencies containing PR 'news' information particular to their brand or client have showed up in personal and industry email list servers.

Many of these contain van line or trade association quality awards or exceptional performance announcements. Some refer to outstanding van operator accommodations or excellent customer service accolades. Most consist of the typical well-circulated media hype and corporate BS that their recipients choose to ignore.

Unfortunately, NONE of them explain what criteria were used to measure the quality of performance being reported on or publicly touted.

Based on the type and frequency of the questions RELO Roundtable has been receiving recently, that signifies a huge communications gap for anxious consumers and inexperienced corporate managers shopping for some type of relocation product or transportation service provider.

Carpenters and plumbers don't build or install without having measurements outlined on a blueprint. A doctor and dentist take X-rays before they operate or drill. It seems the industry's customers increasingly want to know what specific service criteria household goods movers and third party providers use to measure their effectiveness.

What's going on in local search?

The internet has dramatically changed the way the industry's customer purchase moving and storage products and relocation services.

Attendees at SMX West, a search and social media marketing event recently held in San Jose, learned that 80% of consumers are searching online at least weekly; 55 percent completed an online purchase in 2010. Gregg Stewart of 15miles, a full-service interactive division of TMP Directional Marketing, reported to the group that local search site share for “Moving and Storage categories” has grown 20 percentage points since 2007.

That number will undoubtedly grow even more rapidly as cheaper, faster, and more reliable hand-held mobile technology captures consumer interest and invades the marketplace – especially with the recent introduction of the next generation of smartphone and tablet apps.

According to the SM pros, sixty-four (64%) of those shopping for local businesses online expect the results to show vendors within 15 miles of their search parameters. Many larger van line agents and independent movers already fulfill those expectations.

Unfortunately, their expensive marketing messages and page rank placements are often diluted by the lead-gen advertisers and 'virtual' movers who blanket the local search space with the promise of 'free' estimates, misleading ads and exaggerated quality claims.

Show me the money metrics!

Without a specific set of easily understandable quality metrics and measurable performance results, conscientious consumers shopping online for the best value for their relocation buck frequently can't see the relationship between the 'talk' and the 'walk'.

It seems most advertisers in the local moving and storage search space paint their company's picture with such broad strokes of marketing gobbledegook, corporate brown-nosing, and evasive legal jargon that what confused buyers often see is a intimidating blotch of overgrown forest and not a single tree.

What uniform, measurable metrics does your moving and storage company, national van line, or international mobility service provider use to support their quality service claims?

How does someone shopping online for real "value" and consistent, professional performance find them among all the advertising minutia and bargain-basement pricing in the virtual moving marketplace?

A Case for Disclosure – A RELO Roundtable Whitepaper

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