Customer Lead at Lesaffre

Job Description Mission:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for key customers, ensuring a seamless and exceptional customer experience
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams address customer needs, resolve issues, and maintain strong customer relationships
• Contribute to develop the overall customer satisfaction and loyalty of Lesaffre South Africa, Aries Baking Supplies, and Bakelab
• Act as the bridge between the commercial teams and customers
• Lead and coach teams to ensure flawless customer service across the business

Position Summary:

• Reporting to the Supply Chain Manager, the Customer Lead is responsible for managing the relationship with the organization's key customers, serving as their primary point of contact and advocate. This role plays a critical part in ensuring customer satisfaction, loyalty, and the effective coordination of customer-related activities across the organization.

Main Responsibilities:
Customer Relationship Management:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned key customers, providing responsive and personalized support
• Understand the customers' business needs, challenges, and objectives, and align the organization's offerings to meet their requirements
• Responsible for providing an excellent customer service experience to increase customer satisfaction
• Oversee the quality of service provided to customers to ensure that the organisation’s responsibilities as a seller are fulfilled
• Maintain regular communication with customers, proactively address customer concerns/complaints and providing updates on order status, delivery, and any other relevant information
• Collaborate with the Sales, Customer Service, and Supply Chain teams to ensure the seamless execution of customer orders and the resolution of any issues
• Keep order management systems such as SAP/CRM up to date with current information and customer records

Order Management and Fulfilments:

• Manage the end-to-end order fulfilment process for key customers, including order entry, inventory allocation, and delivery coordination
• Provide customers with accurate and timely information on order status, shipment tracking, and any delivery exceptions
• Escalate and resolve any order-related issues, such as order discrepancies, product quality concerns, or delivery problems
• Maintain detailed records of customer orders, shipments, and interactions to ensure accurate reporting and traceability
• Monitor and analyse order processing metrics to identify trends and improvement opportunities
• Document the order management process and ensures it is well understood and accessible, aiding in training and process standardization
• Process customer complaints
• Drive timely feedback and resolution back to the customer

Customer Feedback and Insights:

• Gather and analyse customer feedback, including complaints, suggestions, and satisfaction levels
• Identify trends and patterns in customer feedback, and communicate insights to the relevant cross-functional teams
• Collaborate with the Sales, Marketing, and Product teams to provide customer-centric input on product development, pricing, and go-to-market strategies

Supply Chain Coordination:

• Liaise with the Procurement, Production, Warehouse, and Logistics teams to ensure the timely availability of products and the efficient delivery of customer orders
• Provide the Supply Chain team with customer-specific requirements, such as delivery schedules, special handling instructions, or packaging preferences
• Communicate any changes in customer demand, order patterns, or special requests to the relevant supply chain functions
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of customer-facing activities
• Exceeding and improving on OTIF (On time and In Full) metrics and resolution on Customer complaints within agreed timeline along with mitigation measures to prevent recurrence
• Facilitate meetings between the CSD team and Sales, Customer Service, and Supply Chain teams and Customer complaints discussions
• Provide feedback and recommendations to the Supply Chain Manager on ways to improve the overall customer experience
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement innovative solutions to address customer needs

Stakeholder engagement:

• Work closely with the Sales, Customer Service, and Supply Chain teams to align customer-related activities and ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience
• Communicate effectively with the Supply Chain Manager, as well as other cross-functional stakeholders, to provide updates, share insights, and address concerns
• Serve as a subject matter expert and provide input to the Supply Chain Manager on customer-related matters
• Support account department with account receivables
• Support sales with tracking of projects and tracking of sales data

Qualifications Qualifications and Skills:
Education and Experience:

• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in a customer-facing role, preferably in a manufacturing or distribution environment
• Proven track record of building and maintaining strong customer relationships and delivering exceptional customer service

Technical Skills:

• Proficient in using customer relationship management (CRM) systems, order management software, and data analysis tools
• Strong understanding of supply chain operations, including procurement, production planning, inventory management, and logistics
• Familiarity with industry-specific regulations, quality standards, and customer service best practices

Personal Attributes:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage with customers and cross-functional teams
• Problem-solving and conflict resolution skills to address customer issues and concerns
• Adaptability and flexibility to respond to changing customer requirements and market conditions
• Strong organizational and time management skills to prioritize and coordinate multiple tasks
• Commitment to continuous improvement and the delivery of exceptional customer service

Additional Information Line Management

• Reporting directly to the Supply Chain Manager