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Making time for your delivery

March 7, 2011 By

Often a delivery takes seconds, the item is handed to the customer and then they sign and it’s completed from the customers point of view.

From our customers side of things, they are still waiting delivery confirmation so when the courier returns to their vehicle they then phone that through, and the job is almost complete for them.

For the courier, the job is not complete, they have the next delivery to do as well and each one takes a varying amount of time from seconds to hours.

Yes, hours…

Sometimes customers are unable to take a delivery at a scheduled time -

  • They may have no space in their warehouse
  • They may have staff out at lunch
  • They may need a forklift to unload

It’s important that you let the company you book your courier service through know there may be delays and they can take that into account when they do their schedules. Delays that can’t be built in often occur waiting time which makes the delivery more expensive.

Think about making time for your delivery before you ring through the booking, you can save yourself some money and some hassle.

Sarah

 

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Awkward items, do you need a two man delivery team?

November 12, 2010 By

Two man delivery teams can be a tough job to quote for. When it comes to awkward and oversized freight there is no hard and fast rule as to whether you need a two man (or two woman) team or not.

hand truck
Image by neufcent9 via Flickr

Manual handling says that any items of 25kgs have to be lifted by two people, or as many people is appropriate.

Can your courier service deliver the heavier items when there is not forklift truck at the end destination? It all depends on what is being delivered and how well your courier’s van is equipped. Ours contain sack barrows and with careful, safe manouvering the item can be loaded onto the sack barrow and delivered into the warehouse with ease.

If the cost of two men teams is too high, you can always source help at the loading and delivery points. This works well for business to business customers but not so well for business to customer deliveries.

Business to customer deliveries

Communication between warehouse, store and courier service is essential in business to customer deliveries. Often the customers relay vital information regarding the delivery to the store. It’s essential this information is passed on to the warehouse and they also must pass it on. Information like elderly recipients (so likely to need extra help in bringing the items into the house) or those with disabilities. It helps the courier service prioritise their routes according to the customers needs. If the info is left in store the courier service cannot perform the tasks as well as they would want to.

Customers service is the difference in delivery

Customer complaints about stores triple when it comes to the delivery aspect, and often the culprit is bad or ineffective communication. If you are a retailer looking to lower the amount of delivery complaints, then communication is where you first look.

A two man delivery team can help you get even the most awkward, ugly sized freight delivered what they cannot do is read your mind :)

Sarah

Local delivery services

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What is a courier service?

July 6, 2010 By

Working on our latest ebook, one of the questions that came up in the feedback was “What exactly is a courier service, and what are the differences?”. So I thought I would start of with the easy one ;-)

What is a courier service?

A courier service  according to Wikipedia is

A courier is a person or a company employed to deliver messages, packages and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of services, and committed delivery times, which are optional for most everyday mail services. As a premium service, couriers are usually more expensive than usual mail services, and their use is typically restricted to packages where one or more of these features are considered important enough to warrant the cost.

Simple really… except for the small fact that there are many types of service and used for many different things. All have their unique points and advantages for the customer, hence the writing of the ebook, which will make courier services easier to distinguish from each other as well as save time and money for the customer.

At this stage I would like to give thanks to two people who have helped me no end in clarifying the ebook project in my mind – Ann Godridge and Mike Korner.

Now, I must stop getting distracted by making the Forbes top 100 websites for women list and Stephen Fry commenting on a blog of ours and get to work on the book :)

Of course, if you would like a copy, you are welcome to sign up for our newsletter where we send monthly parcel discount codes, packing tips and other useful information. The link for this is under Kev’s photo.

Sarah

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How to recommend a same day courier service

May 6, 2010 By

Often you see ‘asks’ or ‘requests’ for a same day courier on twitter or in forums. Then a flurry of tweets that recommend suitable couriers to the person that asked.

Normally the person doesn’t specify the type of courier they require and say “same day courier” because they want the items to get their the same day, then squeak at the cost. I shall address the pricing issue in a moment.

There are a huge range of courier services available, just take a look at some of the ones that we do -

Same day courier

Overnight Courier

Two man delivery teams

High value delivery

Airfreight couriers

Parcel courier

Time critical delivery

Quite a few! So when you are crowd sourcing your courier it helps to be specific about what needs to be moved -

  • “I need a courier to collect and deliver a sideboard”
  • “I need a courier to collect and deliver office equipment”
  • “I need a courier to deliver documents today”

They will all get you the right kind of courier, providing that the person recommending knows what type of courier you actually are.

Also remember, different items need different size vehicles so recommending a courier service that only has transit vans will cost more than a courier service with a mixed fleet or small vans.

Courier pricing, this always gets a sharp intake of breath as people compare the cost of a courier to the cost of posting something by the Royal Mail. If it can go by post and isn’t that urgent and it doesn’t matter if it’s lost or delayed, then sending it by Royal Mail will always be the cheapest option. If you have regular items for mail, you can get a franking machine or smartpost and save a few pence per stamp.

If an item has to be delivered halfway across the country, 5 hours driving and a tank of fuel don’t expect it to cost £20 to  be delivered.

Seriously, think twice before trying to work out what you courier will cost. Get a few quotes for courier services and decide which one best fits your needs, and that may not be the cheapest and it may not be the all singing all dancing version. If you absolutely insist on trying to calculate roughly how much it would be you need to factor in

  • Drivers time at at least minimum wage
  • Fuel
  • Time spent loading and unloading
  • How many people are required to complete the delivery
  • How long you are prepared to wait for the item to arrive

Then you may get a ball park figure, remember to add in some profit as well, you don’t work for nothing so don’t expect your courier company too!

When calculating the fuel remember that a commercial vehicle is heavier than most domestic vehicles, so the fuel consumption is greater.

Phew! Quite a lot to consider and you only wanted a courier service recommendation didn’t you!

Bear this in mind and next time you see a forum post asking for one or a tweet with someone looking for one, a few questions may be in order to find the right kind of courier service for the person.

Sarah

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Where’s the marketing in your delivery?

January 7, 2010 By

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…’

Parkins Independent Trading Co
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

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