The term “white glove” calls to mind a butler or other high class service provider, using delicate gloves to ensure that the wealthy individuals they serve enjoy the highest level of cleanliness. In the fulfillment industry, we use the term to describe a certain kind of service, one that most 3PL providers aren’t able to offer.
Here’s an explanation of what we mean when we refer to Spectra as a provider of white glove fulfillment, and a rundown of the reasons you won’t find the same type of service available from most of our competitors. It’s not easy for a team to live up to the expectations created by this term, but at Spectra we have a long history of satisfying even clients with the most demanding fulfillment projects.
Organization Comes First
The first step in providing truly great fulfillment is organization. Visitors to the Spectra facility might have a preconceived idea of what a warehouse looks like, with boxes sitting everywhere, workers running around frantically, and pallets of materials being shuffled here and there to make room for new arrivals.
In reality, Spectra’s facility is very quiet. At any given time, the environment is peaceful and uncluttered. That’s not because there isn’t very much work going on, but rather that the facility is so well organized that chaos is successfully avoided. When a truck pulls up to our dock with a client’s shipment, the receiving process is already established in detail, a designated staff member is ready to inspect and document the pallets, and there is a place on our shelves where the items belong. Everything happens quickly and smoothly, rather than creating confusion for the rest of the day.
Inspections and Spot Testing
A major service that we find clients want from their outsourced fulfillment provider is inspection and spot testing of their products. Many clients supply liquids, aerosols, cosmetic products, nonperishable foods, and other items that are vulnerable to extremes in temperature and humidity. While our warehouse is climate controlled, there is value in being able to inspect these products while they are in inventory to make sure they have retained their quality while being transported to Spectra.
A standard fulfillment service is mainly focused on one goal: getting pallets of product received and shipped out as quickly as possible. Spot testing and inspections require time and documentation, which most 3PLs are not willing to spend on an individual client’s needs. However, at Spectra we offer these services as part of our “white glove” approach to fulfillment. Our clients can rest easy knowing that their products are being checked for quality and that they are in compliance with their internal policies regarding spot testing with the Spectra team’s help.
Expert Kitting Service
You wouldn’t expect a service referred to as “white glove” to ship out boxes filled with incorrect orders, insufficient packing materials, or damaged products. The Spectra team takes kitting and pick and pack fulfillment very seriously, implementing internal quality and accuracy checks to get every shipment exactly right.
With our reputation for accommodating special requests on the part of our fulfillment clients, we often have new clients inquire about our packaging options. We use high quality packing materials with all of our fulfillment orders, using our experience and knowledge of the shipping industry to choose the best options for each particular shipment. Some clients, however, have very detailed instructions for how their products can be safely packed. We also incorporate client requests for labeling, placarding, and other modifications to packaging before we ship their orders.
Communication At Its Best
At Spectra, our fulfillment clients know that when they send us an email, it gets read, processed, and responded to very quickly. No questions or update requests disappear into an inbox or get deleted without the attention of a team member who is empowered to respond to it. This is a critical part of our “white glove fulfillment” philosophy, and it guarantees that the partnership between Spectra and a fulfillment client is as profitable as it can be.
We have always described outsourcing fulfillment to Spectra as gaining an expert fulfillment department overnight. An in-house fulfillment staff would be in close communication with the rest of your company, aligning their department’s activities with your goals and doing everything possible to move the company forward. That’s just how it feels to work with Spectra. Through excellent communication, we learn everything we need to know about what your organization is all about and how we can use our fulfillment knowledge to make it even better.
Customers That Feel Cared For
The leaders of any organization want the customers they serve to feel cared for. Unfortunately, a disorganized, slow-moving, or mistake-prone fulfillment system creates just the opposite impression. Customers who receive the wrong shipment or don’t get a delivery within the expected timeframe feel neglected, and if they have the option to switch to a competitor for the products and materials they are ordering, they will probably do so.
Spectra uses its decades of experience in fulfillment, working with all major e-commerce platforms, CRMs, and order management software, to give each customer of each client an excellent user experience. By choosing Spectra’s white glove fulfillment, a client ensures that their customers will always have a good experience ordering from them.
Spectra’s expertise in online storefront management is a big part of the customer experience. Through a secure portal managed by Spectra, customers can see what items are offered and all the relevant details, in a format that is reminiscent of the most popular online retail websites. B2B customers can be given unique login credentials, which can be used to control what products and materials are made available to them through the online ordering system. The result is an intuitive online shopping process that is easy to use, and with Spectra’s fulfillment expertise behind it, they know they will receive their order on time and in great condition.
There are many more details included in Spectra’s white glove fulfillment services. Make an appointment for a consultation and find out all about them.
