News

Vita Remezaitė-Mateikienė, Head of Customer Experience Management at LTG Cargo

At first glance, trust seems to be built on simple things: quality service, keeping promises, caring for the customer, and the ability not only to listen but truly to hear. It sounds straightforward—until you start examining how it works in practice and whether it is sufficient.

In business, trust and partnership are a two-way street—inseparable from one another. Mutual openness, respect, and a genuine interest in each other’s success are the foundations of a strong relationship. Both the customer and the service provider must work and generate value to operate successfully, grow sustainably, and ensure business security and stability. To make this more than just a declaration, a significant shift is often required—first and foremost in our own mindset. Changing the way we think is not easy, especially when conversations with partners must cover not only what works well but also what does not—and that is not always comfortable or safe. After all, it is easy when things go smoothly; it is far less pleasant when mistakes are made, especially if they recur.

One of the key challenges for larger organizations in building trust is ensuring that customer care is genuine, not just formal. How do we reach a point where a service provider truly cares about the customer’s success, and where this mindset is reflected across all levels of the organization and in every operation? It requires employees to see beyond documents and invoices—to clearly understand the value they deliver to the end customer. It means caring that the service is clear and simple, taking ownership, acting responsibly, and representing the customer’s interests—becoming their ambassadors within the organization. This also involves sharing feedback with clients and recognizing that we expect the same from them. It is not easy, but it is what builds trust.

We clearly understand that this is the direction we must take. It is impossible to standardize every scenario or define rules for all situations. Standardization covers described cases and expected actions, often targeting the “low-hanging fruit.” We invest significant effort here, and feedback shows that it works. At the same time, we recognize that this approach will only be effective for another year or two. When unexpected situations arise, employees must think with a customer-first mindset—because all non-standard cases are ultimately about trust. This shift is neither quick nor easy.

Alongside these softer aspects, it is equally important not to lose sight of why customers choose us in the first place: high-quality, easily accessible services. We are doing substantial groundwork here—improving internal processes, conducting tests and trials, and continuously monitoring performance metrics. After all, what you do not measure, you cannot manage. As quality management pioneer William Edwards Deming famously said: “In God we trust; all others must bring data.” In recent years, our focus has been to understand how everything works, and if it does not—why, and what we can do to make it work. Today, we see much more clearly; we have started measuring processes, which has already enabled us to make informed decisions.

Do we always succeed? What does quality mean in freight transportation? We are currently at a stage of maturity where our goals may still sound quite simple at first glance: wagons delivered on time, and cargo transported safely and punctually. However, anyone familiar with the realities of logistics knows that this “simplicity” can be misleading—we still have work to do. What matters most is that results are measured not by what we consider good performance, but by how the logistics market operates and evolves, and what customers expect from us. Much of what we are doing to achieve this remains invisible to customers for now, but I believe the change is already being felt. Once the data confirms that our processes operate as intended, we will be ready to present these improvements and speak openly about them.

Customer service is a separate but closely related aspect of trust. I often say that the best service is when the customer does not need any service at all—when everything simply works. In such cases, service evolves into partnership, understanding of needs, and alignment of expectations. True service, as problem-solving, is a consequence; the primary task is to deliver the service customers expect from us. And, of course, to ensure the value it creates. Are there situations that require customers to reach out and seek solutions? Ideally, there should be as few as possible.

Over the past few years, customer satisfaction has increased significantly—and so has trust in us. We have been quite successful in picking the “low-hanging fruit.” However, trust is a journey, not a destination. There is no final point. We can only move forward step by step toward a sustainable, trust-based partnership built on mutual respect.