Dimitre Kirilov of Montway Auto Transport: Why Prioritizing In-House Support Over Pure Transactional Logistics Builds Unbreakable Consumer Trust

As part of my series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dimitre Kirilov.

Dimitre Kirilov is the President and CEO of Montway Auto Transport, an auto transport company. Montway is one of the largest transportation brokerages servicing all 50 U.S. states, Hawaii, Alaska, and Europe, 365 days a year. Starting his career at Montway as an office manager 11 years ago and rising to CEO, Dimitre continues to provide leadership to all departments and assists in implementing an all-around satisfactory customer experience.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

After working in freight logistics for a number of years, I joined Montway in 2010. At that time, Montway was still getting its footing in the industry and I saw the potential to contribute. I went through the ranks and held several positions, including Office Manager and General Manager, before becoming CEO in May 2018.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

We built the whole Montway business on trial and error. Making mistakes was part of the process and the way we learned and improved our operation. While I don’t really have a story to share about a funny mistake, I do have an entertaining customer story that illustrates how we began valuing the customer experience, even at our start.

Early in our business, we had a gentleman inquire about transporting his 15-year-old Toyota Camry. We quoted the service and successfully completed the shipment for his vehicle. A few days later, he called me, wanting to make a claim because the muffler on his car fell off. I asked, “Where was the vehicle when this occurred?” He said, “In the driveway.” Now, I already knew that this was not related to our service, but I wanted the customer to feel heard and understood. So, I asked, “Does the muffler show signs of damage from transport?” He answered, “No.” I asked, “Did you see it fall off while it was on the trailer?” “No,” he answered, without hesitation. After a pause, he said, “So, you’re not going to cover my muffler?” “No,” I politely replied. No matter what the situation, customers deserve to have a good experience with your business.

None of us is able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I agree that everyone needs help and inspiration to be successful. For me, that inspiration came from Mike Mihaylov. I met Mike early in his ownership of Montway when he had already accomplished a lot with the company and was preparing to take it to the next level. He and I were opposites in regard to our characteristics and work styles. He is a hustler and a critical thinker. I am a logical person and look at things from different perspectives to analyze potential outcomes. We both brought unique strengths to the table that complimented each other. I learned a lot from Mike. Being open to that opportunity helped me grow as a leader and helped Montway grow to become one of the largest auto transport brokers in the United States.

Thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main focus of our interview. This might be intuitive, but I think it’s helpful to specifically articulate it. In your words, can you share a few reasons why great customer service and a great customer experience is essential for success in business?

The truth is that even with all the technology out there, word of mouth is still strong. Customers talk and make referrals. Technology amplifies those opinions. Word spreads fast in online reviews and social media. If you want to survive you must provide good customer service.

Reputation is always very important. My father said, once you betray the trust of the people you’re doing business with, you’re done. I first heard this 45 years ago and keep it in mind — even today. The most important thing is not to look at the bottom line today, but what it’s going to be tomorrow, and this is based on how you provide customer service today.

Let me relate that to our industry. As consumers purchase cars online, they become far more selective and critical of their choices. Dealers need access to a far wider variety of cars, models, colors, and technology packages than what they have on their lot. So, to better meet the surge of online demand, dealers need reliable transportation to move vehicles across cities, states and coast-to-coast in order to fulfill online orders.

It’s not easy to ship something like a vehicle across the country. Dealers specialize in selling cars, not transcontinental logistics. Checking online orders, managing individual transport companies on shipping status, facilitating shipping payment are all major impediments to dealers offering a WOW! customer service and experience, especially as they’re facing stiff competition from online auto disruptors.

For dealers looking to capitalize on online sales, my advice is to prepare for customers who want all shipping to be as efficient and easy as Amazon. They don’t want the traditional in-person experience and will expect home delivery. Dealers understand the importance of customer service and experience more than many other industries because one great sales experience can create a lifelong customer. If dealers don’t have a well-planned online delivery service, those customers will never return and it’s important your logistics needs are covered.

We have all had times either in a store or online when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?

In the transportation and shipping industry, many independent companies focus on the sales transaction over the customer experience. The fact is, running an independent logistics company is very hard work and I don’t blame companies for neglecting the customer experience. The day-to-day of chasing orders, picking up loads, meeting deadlines, updating dispatchers, and maximizing efficiency for profit distracts from customer service.

To provide a consistently good customer experience you must make the customer the number one priority. At Montway Auto Transport, we handle customer service in-house which allows the carriers we work with to focus on their core competency — moving vehicles. Customers who want updates on their orders call our representatives, who know exactly who to contact at the carrier level. Streamlining customer communication is critical for an industry driven by online demand.

Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve the customer experience?

Yes, without question. Competition is always healthy. It forces businesses to do better. For example, today there is the new competition between dealerships and online disruptors in the car-buying market, and now it’s super-charged by COVID-19 and the demanding expectations of online shopping. It is forcing dealerships to change. Dealers are now trying to efficiently offer home delivery services, advertising to customers far beyond their traditional local market, and are integrating with transportation companies to provide more options for their customers.

Montway anticipated this shift in the car buying experience and planned accordingly by launching our Home Delivery Solution. It empowers car dealerships with the technology to seamlessly offer home delivery to their customers while leaving the actual transport arrangements to the experts. In this case, both the dealerships and the end-user are our customers and we’re innovating to meet the needs of both.

Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?

We had a customer ship a 1934 Ford Tudor sedan from Indianapolis, IN to Honolulu, HI. Now, this is a beautiful collector car that deserves white-glove service. The car was being shipped during the winter — causing the owner to be concerned about the unpredictable weather, the storms and potential accidents on the road.

The Montway agent recommended an enclosed trailer to protect the precious cargo during transit to a port in Long Beach, CA. When the vehicle arrived in the Honolulu port five days earlier than expected, the customer was overjoyed and further impressed that his car was spotless. The customer was pleased that the Montway agent answered all of his questions and kept in touch with him during the entire process.

Did that Wow! experience have any long-term ripple effects? Can you share the story?

Hearing great customer service stories validates our commitment to customer service. Our goal is first to become a trusted advisor for our customers and always listen to their concerns. Good communication is important. That’s what earns you the business and it makes your job as a salesperson easier. Once customers learn a bit more about how auto transport works, they understand our value. Montway may not be the cheapest option, but our service is high quality. We are not in business just for today, but for the long haul.

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a founder or CEO should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience. Please share a story or an example for each.

Know Your Business

Most people don’t take the time to learn their own business and it’s critical that everyone in an organization understands it in order to succeed. When the company was small, everyone was doing everything — from sales to customer services, which was a really good way to learn the business because you were involved from beginning to end. Even though Montway has grown and added more staff, we insist that everyone understands our business. We have new hire training courses and ongoing learning opportunities so that everyone understands how they impact the organization and can contribute ideas to improve our operation.

Create a Healthy and Positive Culture

Montway has an inclusive, collaborative culture that provides team-building activities, social engagement and inspires camaraderie. We want our people to feel like they belong to something special and can make an impact. You never know who is going to have the next great idea. If you don’t encourage employees to offer new ideas, you won’t get any and you won’t grow.

Be Honest and Transparent

Like I have said earlier, it’s important to become a trusted advisor. Customers may not like everything you have to say but overpromising and under-delivering is not a sustainable business practice. We want to continue to be the best provider and continue to grow, which is why we’re transparent with customers and our business partners.

Don’t be Afraid of Failure

The only way to learn is to make a mistake. It’s how our business was originally built, by trial and error. There may be hundreds of factors to consider when shipping a vehicle — the driver, modes of transportation, routes, pricing, weather, timing — the list may seem endless. But based on your experience and learnings from past mistakes, you can make an educated decision. No one is 100% right all the time. You just do your best.

Value and Strive for Collaboration

Mike and I might have been the driving forces in building the business, but we didn’t do it alone. We had a lot of people around us, giving us their ideas and offering sales and customer service experience. Always be willing to look at new ideas, at new ways to improve your operation. Not all ideas are good, but it’s important to encourage them or you’ll never get any.

Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?

I always recommend establishing yourself as an honest broker and a consultant for your customer. They are coming to you for help with an issue, so you need to be the person they can trust. If you approach every potential sale as an opportunity to help someone, then you earn their trust. The minute the customer feels uneasy or no longer confident with your advice, you lose that customer’s trust in the service you provide.

Keep the lines of communication open. If something occurs that pushes back the customer’s deadline, be the first to let them know what happened and what you’re doing to rectify it. Customers understand that mistakes happen, but how you choose to handle them makes all the difference. A positive, empathetic attitude can completely change a situation and allow you to gain loyal customers.

It’s also important to know you won’t always be successful in satisfying every customer. Customers can be complicated and even difficult to work with at times. Do the best you can with what you have and don’t worry about the things you can’t control.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

That’s an intriguing question! I don’t know if I have a movement, but I would like to encourage people to be more understanding of each other, kinder and more respectful. We need to learn how to live with each other even if our beliefs are different and appreciate each other’s perspectives.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

They can find me on LinkedIn, and follow Montway on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.