Maersk makes bold bid at differentiation by teaming with CRM giant

There was much talk at IANA this week about ocean carrier's failure to differentiate their services amid ever greater consolidation and alliances. Some of that apprehension may have been addressed by Maersk today when it announced that it has teamed with Salesforce, the San Francisco-based leader in CRM.

Maersk Line—a worldwide leader in transportation and logistics, with a fleet of more than 600 vessels that move in excess of 12 million shipping containers each year—is expanding its use of Salesforce, adding Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Einstein Analytics and Community Cloud to its current deployment of Sales Cloud and Service Cloud.

Steen Erik Larsen, Senior Director IT at Maersk Line A/S notes that success in the complex and high-stakes world of global transport and logistics relies on meeting customer expectations every step of the way.

With Salesforce, he says, Maersk is bringing the entire shipper "journey," on one platform and adding analytics to get deeper insights that will the carrier to prepare for evolving needs.

Maritime industry analysts have be challenging the idea that carriers are adequately prepared for today's dynamic and fluid marketplace.

But Cindy Bolt, SVP, Salesforce Industries, Manufacturing and Consumer Goods, maintains that this partnership is a sign that one major player is shipper-focused.

“Shipping line operations are immensely complex,” she says.  “Equally complex is the ability to provide seamless customer experiences on a global scale. Maersk Line is addressing this challenge by unifying its sales, service and marketing on Salesforce, which will lead to more personalized, 1-to-1 experiences across the customer lifecycle.”