Welcome To The Party!

Mitch Mac Donald, DC Velocity's Group Editorial Director, highlights an "ah-ha!" concept in the November issue(www.dcvelocity.com) that more people ought to be latching on to.  A few organizations, in both B2B and B2C channels, have discovered that logistics and supply chain management are the customer-facing components of their businesses.

Those who heard the penny drop early on took bold steps, such as having Customer Service report to the logistics organization, or - even more dangerously - allowing supply chain folks to go on sales calls.

What's remarkable is that so few have figured this out, not to mention that even fewer have had the vision or the courage to challenge the 19th-century thinking that sends sellers out to sell, while the rest of us tote barges or lift bales, or whatever.

Maybe its time for some 21st-century thinking - and risk-taking - that recognizes the synergies of teaming up those who sell with those who actually deliver on the much-vaunted "promise of the brand."