Exclusive - LATAM Cargo Reinvents Itself

Leadership in Latin America is part of its DNA, states LATAM Cargo confidently, while presenting their brand new commercial strategy. This fresh approach goes hand in hand with the new culture, announces the carrier.

The change in mindset was triggered by three factors: their customers’ needs, unification of the group’s individual members with the aim of creating a single identity and last but not least the cut-throat intense competition in Latin America’s cargo landscape.

Seamless services   
The new approach offers clients of LATAM Cargo unified services throughout the network, robust products and integrated communication channels. “Our new strategy, which is focused on agility, reliability and trust, sets improved standards of service that will enable us to continue being the best air transport option to and from Latin America,” raves Álvaro Carril, LATAM Cargo’s Marketing & Sales VP. The executive adds that the intended transformation that will lead to superior services reflects an internal advancement in terms of performance, promises and solutions based on the development of new processes and systems.

Fighting flat markets
The carrier’s move, mainly triggered by its focus on customers’ needs and their evolution, happens to be a much-needed step with respect to the collapse of the market in Brazil, the economic hiccups in some neighboring countries and the dire consequences the regional players in air freight are hit by, including LATAM Cargo.

But what is this management declared “new strategy” all about? When asked by CargoForwarder Global, Mr. Carril explained it like this: “We have our customers at the center of all of our company’s decisions, initiatives and developments and we are structuring our new strategy around building trusty relationships supported by highly convenient and reliable solutions.”

To make the initiative a success, a dedicated team will focus on collecting client feedback, channel the information gathered and transform it into practical action. LATAM Cargo will concentrate its efforts on the timely development of projects that will significantly improve the service experience, according to the management.

Quite an ambitious and very comprehensive program that surely will need some time to be fully implemented!

Developments on the horizon
The permanent flow of information “is key to the construction of a unified and consistent service, adapted to customers’ needs. Our customized offer is based on three pillars: trust, agility and reliability,” declared Gabriel Oliva, VP of Global Marketing and Commercial Development. 

One of the main developments, of this process, that will be launched in 2016 is the new product portfolio. “This new product portfolio will offer a higher level of transparency, and consistency in its delivery. It will include different types of products, which will offer specific attributes to meet our customers’ needs. Moreover, these products will also offer different routing and priority options with clear service level agreements,” per Mr. Oliva.

A prime example of what direction the efforts will take is the Pharma Product, launched in 2015, which was specifically designed for the reliable and effective shipping of pharmaceutical supplies or any commodity that is highly temperature sensitive. Even though still very young, it shows remarkable results and good market acceptance, assures the airline. Forwarding agents booking this product get top loading priority, special care from start to finish (avoiding temperature fluctuations) and are offered a constant exchange of information. It’s an additional tool, offered to all clients, in order to further enhance the operational quality of LATAM Cargo.

Mileage program works well for Cargo
On top of all this, the ‘Cargo Rewards’ loyalty program, introduced in 2015, has turned into a success story so far, claims the carrier. The plan grants participants mileage benefits when using LATAM Cargo capacity for transporting their tonnage. Users can convert their accumulated miles into flight tickets for taking a trip on board any member airline of the oneworld alliance. “Currently, the program rewards roughly 80 percent of all tons flown on board our fleet”, states señor Oliva.   

By placing the continuously updated customers’ needs at the center of its new strategy, LATAM Cargo will design and implement actions aimed at offering added value and a team dedicated to catering to their needs, while also guaranteeing new and improved standards of service. It’s a long distance race and “by pursuing this new strategy, LATAM Cargo will be better positioned to gain customers preference, and it will enable us to capture additional market shares,” Mr. Carril sums up.  

Heiner Siegmund  /  Michael Taweel