Regional And Same Day | Same Day Courier Services, Essex

Posts Tagged ‘Regional and Same Day’

Where’s the marketing in your delivery?

Posted on January 7th, 2010 No Comments

When you have a product delivered to your customers, it can be the first physical impression they have of your company. Often if selling goods that need delivering, the customer may not meet the business, it’s owner or a salesperson until a sale has taken place. Back to impressions – You need to make sure it is the right one. You also need to make sure it is consistent with your marketing message. If you brand your business as a premium product or service, how do you look if you use a second rate courier service? or even send the item with ‘a mate who is going your way…’

: Image by gregwake via Flickr

If your products, that you carefully make, are collected and then delivered in a scruffy, battered van, then you can imagine what your customers will think when they see it. Then we have the driver. If the driver is scruffy, unkempt and cannot recall when they last had a bath, they are not creating a good impression of your company. The delivery aspect is so often overlooked, but if a customer is paying a premium for your product, you are not very likely to gain repeat business by having it delivered by someone who couldn’t care less.

Whats more worrying is if the courier service in question doesn’t care about their own image, how can you be sure they will care about your product? If your goods are fragile, how will you know they are looking after them? You may not think this matters as your business gave the customer great service, and a great item that they needed. Many people will have helped make the sale, and now one scruffy driver, who couldn’t care less has blown it for you.

If you are less than confident in the courier service that is completing your deliveries, then you may find you are calling them more often to find out what is going on, where they are and how long they will be. You may find that you worry more about the delivery than the work you should be doing, because the trust just isn’t there.

If you are sending items to high calibre businesses you need a courier service that understands what this means. You will need one with smart, tidy vans and drivers that are motivated and well treated. They are the drivers that will deliver your items as you intended them to be delivered, with courtesy and respect. They are the ones that will be polite and well mannered to the receptionist of your clients company. They are the ones that will make sure the right person signs for the item, and will carry out your instructions so that the delivery is reflective of the overall service that you provide. They will continue to see your marketing message and brand values are delivered in a manner that reflects positively on your business.

Knowing how much it costs to win a client, can you afford to use a courier service who delivers less than what it should?

Sarah

0844 884 3331

Posted in courier services

Time critical deliveries from couriers and saving you money

Posted on September 29th, 2009 No Comments

Courier delivery services can save time for either individuals or businesses.

There are times throughout the year that we need either a local or long-distance deliveries for gifts or other time sensitive packages. These types of delivery services can ensure that your package arrives on time, as agreed.

You’ll find that these services will provide you with the comfort of knowing that your package is safe, and of course in good hands.

: Image via Wikipedia

Even if there is plenty of time, talk to your courier service about getting the items delivered sooner. Last minute planning puts a premium on these kinds of courier services.

Depending on the company you choose, it could be a large operation, right down to a one-man and his van. Furthermore, you can have regularly scheduled pick-ups and drop-offs to specific locations (known as multi-drop), or to drop off points that are predetermined by the delivery service. These predetermined drop-off points will more likely be less expensive than the latter.

The biggest time savings when using a courier or van delivery come in the the form of saving you hours arranging quotes and chasing prices.

Quite simply an excellent service will save you hours on the phone, hours that you should be using to generate sales in your business and elsewhere. Often a courier company will get a quote into a company and a company will ring round trying to save two or three pounds on a delivery! On one hundred packages, that’s a big difference but on one item?

An hour later they call back and book the service – in that hour they have called lots of people for quotes. The cost of the phone calls and the cost of the person making them is far more expensive than the saving made!

Sarah Arrow

Same day couriers that deliver from all over the UK and back again.

Posted in Courier Business, Sameday Courier

Firing a customer

Posted on September 25th, 2009 4 Comments

There may be a recession on and there may be people looking for work, but today we are in the process of firing a new customer.

The customer in question has told us, the delivery company all kinds of lies about their products in order to get them delivered. As an ethical company, we have explained to them we do not deal with dishonesty in clients – we need mutual trust and respect.

What does the company do that is so bad? And how can you not manage it? I hear you ask…

: Image by Esthr via Flickr

…Well, lets start at the beginning, the company call for a quote, they have read our website and they have read our blogs, like our style and would like us to quote for their deliveries and it will be several hundred consignments a week.

BUT they don’t want to pay for the warehouse space they will use, they don’t want to pay for the forklift truck drivers use and they don’t want their goods stored long term, they want a next day delivery service. In other words they would like our existing customers to pay for their use of our services. They don’t tell us this until their first load arrives.

We don’t work like that. Customers cannot and do not subsidise each other in our business. Share resources when appropriate, but it should not be assumed. What happens when their deliveries finish? We are a greener company, we use what we need. We do not waste resources and we do not have a stockpile of surplus resources.

They want high value service, and our skills but don’t want to pay for it. So we talk some more and we make an agreement.

Straight away that company breaches that agreement. We point that out to them that we value honesty and transparency in our relationships, and they have been less than honest. They admit they have lied, they have lied about the amounts, the consignments themselves and the service that they require. We point out we are not happy with this, we have no trust. They are not bothered.

We agree we will deliver the good for them this week. We are reluctant to do so, they have lied this much so far, what’s next?

We get phone calls asking where the goods are on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Thats right, they want the budget delivery but have decided they are entitled to a different style of delivery. On their paperwork, they have given no numbers for us to call the customers meaning our drivers have to pull over, google the address and then contact them that way. It adds nearly 20 minutes to every delivery taking place. We call the company and and explain to their head office what is going on and they deny calling us to ask where the goods are!

Getting your goods delivered professionally is a two way street, the information has to flow and we trust you to answer honestly. If the service you are getting isn’t what you wanted, think back to what you actually asked for.

Did you want the budget option? did you tell the courier company the true nature of your consignments? Did you give them the information to do the job correctly? Did you turn up on time when you were delivering to their depot? Did you take it for granted that the company would confirm to your way of doing business with no regard to their own business?

Quite simply we deliver, we look after your goods as if they were our own. We are not going to cover up and lie to your customers too – we don’t work that way. Being honest and respectful to your customers and in our working relationships is what our company is about.

Quite simply you get what you pay for. We pay our drivers well, they deliver professionally, they are trained and developed and have been with us some time. If you want to pay cheap rates, go to a company with a high staff turnover, go and have no continuity and no relationship – it seems that’s what you want.

In seven years of trading working with companies of all sizes and capabilities this is our first run in with people who operate so unethically and unprofessionally, we are pleased to be firing you.

Sarah