Assistant Manager - Imports

Job description / Role

Customer Service – Imports
• Receive inquiries from customers, overseas agents and sales support for imports and ensure proactive and prompt resolution of service by self and CSE.
• Understand customers business needs, their shipment pattern, cargo particulars, and frequency of shipments, volumes, trade lanes, etc.
• Follow up with customers for additional bookings as per customer potential and explore leads from other divisions.
• Procure cost effective rates from overseas agents, local liners, consolidators and/or export pricing team to ensure rates negotiated are cost effective for CSE team and generates maximum profitability.
• Respond to RFQs from Customers/Sales, follow up on quotes and secure booking.
• Negotiate further where required. In case quotes don’t get accepted, resulting in loss of business, revert to agents on outcome.
• Ensure that all shipments are undertaken to meet, as a minimum, or exceed the customer’s expectations in terms of the standard of service provided, cost agreed and specified time frames and that all shipments are handled in line with company procedures and policies.
• Liaise with customers as needed to coordinate shipments, provide shipment updates and obtain missing information necessary to execute shipment.
• Ensure that CSE team maintains customer profiles including contacts, special requirements, rates, fees, preferred routing/services, etc.
• Identify market trends and competitive rate actions, communicating those trends to the teams internally.
• Other duties as assigned by the Company.

Job Management:
• Job planning, interdepartmental collaboration and coordination to ensure high delivery.
• To maintain close working relation with local vendors to get the most competitive pricing and support from them
• On booking confirmation, open job card in the system, send routing order instructions and follow up with agents/service providers on shipment status and update Customer/Agents/Sales.
• Keep customer updated on flight schedule (air shipment), vessel details (sea freight), status of shipment movement, follow up until shipment arrives in Dubai.
• Follow up with agents/service provider for departure status and update customers. In case of delays arrange for delay notice and relay to customers. Ensure that the CSE team are also doing the same for customers being handled by them
• Follow up on pre-alert/B/L/AWB draft from agents and finalization of documentation.
• Maintain customer contact throughout the process.
• Once shipment arrives in Dubai, ensure smooth work flow and handover of job file to Operations team, follow up regularly and keep customer updated.
• Ensure that team will manage the processing of import consignments in compliance with import regulations and in line with an agreed standard operating procedure.
• Ensure that all debit notes are confirmed and approved by CSE Team and relayed to Finance Department ensuring that debit note rate tallies with rates quoted by the service provider.
• Work closely with Finance to resolve invoicing and other financial management issues related to the accounts.
• Monitor job status, enquiry status sheet are prepared by CSE Team (and self for customers being handled by CSS) for analysis on conversion ratio and for sharing with concerned as and when asked for.
• Work closely with CSE / operations /documentation team in carrying out the operational responsibilities.

Customer Relationship Management
• Communicate, develop and maintain customer and carrier relationships ensuring customer satisfaction through proactive initiatives.
• Ensure that key customers are met up with on a regular basis along with Sales personnel
• Initiate Customer Services Executives to meet up with their respective customers
• Ensure that CSE team maintains customers’ focus at all times and answer to customers enquiries using the standard guidelines.
• Build long term relationships with account portfolio via phone calls, emails, and job quality follow up.
• Ensure that all customers’ queries are well-investigated and resolved, and escalating queries if appropriate to Imports Director.
• Act as a liaison between clients and operations & other departments to ensure efficient service levels are delivered to the clients.
• Ensure that CS Department performs various customer service activities, including upselling and handling new & existing accounts.
• Keep customers and colleagues abreast of market trend, updates on services, etc.

• Indepth knowledge of complete Imports, Air & Ocean, Pricing, Operations, Customer Services, Sales support
• Leadership
• Managing a team of 12-15 people
• Good communication skills both Verbal and Written

Salary:
AED 10,000 to 13,000 per month inclusive of fixed allowances.

About the Company

We are a group of humble, energetic, and result-oriented experts in UAE, collectively called HR Orb. We officially commenced our HR Partner services in 2021! Our highlight is our experience in HR Partner services in the UAE, and we thought 2021 was the perfect time to start working as a team. We believe that dates or years don’t matter, but the way we conduct our end-to-end services, being your HR Partner, is the star of the show!