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Expert's insights
What makes a logistics partnership truly work? According to Julia Westerholt, Consumer Global Key Account Manager at Kuehne+Nagel, it’s about more than rates and optimised routes.
The beating heart behind a successful partnership is a relational trifecta: trust, empathy, and consistency.
With two decades of experience at Kuehne+Nagel, we asked Julia to share her recipe for successful retail partnerships.
She breaks down the six essential ingredients to establish a connection that is resilient, responsive, and built to grow.
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1. Trust is foundational
“Trust is essential. A customer who doesn’t trust their service provider won’t stay. Reliability and consistency are what build that trust,” Julia shared.
Trust isn’t built overnight. It’s earned through consistent, reliable service and regular communication. She compares it to personal relationships, sharing, “If you only talk twice a month, it’s hard to build something meaningful.”
2. Consistency builds confidence
“You need to show the customer that everything you’re saying and you’re doing is reliable at the end,” Julia said.
Consistent communication and delivery build confidence. In short, it’s important to have a dependable logistics service provider (LSP), especially in the current volatile market environment.
You cannot have a partnership that works well from day one. That’s definitely impossible. And that’s what I learned during my 20 years within Kuehne+Nagel. It’s still a people business, and you need to get to know a customer."
Julia Westerholt
3. Build empathy and human connection: Put people first
“It’s a people business at the end of the day, and if you’re not connecting with your counterpart, then it’s quite difficult to build up a true partnership,” Julia shared.
In retail, understanding the person and the needs behind the business is crucial. Julia believes face-to-face meetings and genuine empathy are critical to building long-term relationships.
“It really makes a difference to see someone in person. You can see their faces, what is impacting them, what are their biggest challenges, what are their biggest needs, and what is their biggest pain point,” Julia said.
4. Provide market expertise and transparency: Educate to empower
“Retailers are choosing not only a logistics provider. They are choosing a strategic partner who brings transparency to their whole supply chain.”
Regardless of a customer’s experience within logistics, it’s important to bring deep market knowledge to the table, especially during disruptions. Julia explains the importance of education in the retailer-LSP relationship, sharing:
“Let's say that the customer does not have enough knowledge in the logistics industry. They will choose a strategic logistics partner because they need someone who can inform them and bring transparency to their whole supply chain. Risk management in times of supply chain disruptions has become essential...
I realised that this is the foundation of trust in a partnership. I was able to bring my expertise to the customer and tell them, ‘Hey, this is how the situation is. We know these are the disruptions that keep happening, whether it’s seasonal fluctuations, weather-related challenges like the hurricanes in the U.S, or other global events. Because of this, we need to plan ahead and be prepared.’
This is what I realised: a trusted partnership is powerful. I was able to bring international market expertise to the customer and support them with proactive solutions within their supply chain.”
5. Offer tailored, integrated solutions: One Kuehne+Nagel, one team
“Once I know the specific needs of the customer, I get in contact with the specialist departments within the company and connect these experts with the customer… We come back as one Kuehne+Nagel—not just one department,” Julia said.
This part of Julia’s interview was striking. In short, you can’t fake a united front. Customers can tell when a company isn’t operating as a cohesive unit. Her suggested approach is collaborative and cross-functional. She brings together internal experts across the board – international supply chain management, sea, road, Sea-Air, contract, project logistics and more – to co-create solutions that are tailored to each customer’s unique needs, presenting a united case.
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Communication is key. If you’re not communicating, you can stop the relationship—it’s not working".
Julia Westerholt
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate
When we asked Julia if she could sum up retail partnership success in one line, she said, “Communication is key.” After 20 years of developing successful partnerships at Kuehne+Nagel, this statement might just be her M.O. – her magnum opus and her modus operandi. Whether it’s anticipating disruptions like the Suez Canal blockage or aligning internal teams, Julia believes proactive, transparent communication is the glue that holds everything together.