1. It’s going direct
Same day is the equivalent of chauffeuring your Very Important Parcels (VIPs) – like court documents, passports or even medical equipment – because they need to get to their destination QUICK. Courier A quotes £50, Courier B quotes £25. So client goes for Courier B. But Courier B can only afford to charge 50% of the price because he takes 2 consignments. So he picks up your VIP, then goes to his other clients to pick up their VIP, then delivers the other clients VIP then delivers yours. You’re basically getting a consolidated courier. Which, when it really urgent, ain’t gonna cut the mustard.
Make sure your same day courier chauffeurs your Very Import Parcels (VIPs).
2. Tracking makes a courier better
To be honest if you have the time to track a courier from Guildford to London (i.e. 60 -90 minutes) you need to manage your time better! Instead ask for email notification of delivery so you can rest assured it’s delivered without monitoring your courier. If your courier needs monitoring then you’ve either got too much time on your hands or their not very good.
You should be able to book and then not worry about its delivery – trusting your reliable courier to deliver on time every time.
So make sure your courier is so reliable you don’t have to check up on them
3. Big is best
It ain’t. Even if you spend £50000 a year do you really think one of the big four who turnover in excess of £500 million a year are going to care about your account? In the end you are just a number. The sales person will care briefly about the commission, but after that you are a faceless number in their big corporate machine.
Make sure your courier is big enough to cope and small enough to care. With locally owner managed depots you can guarantee that smaller companies really care.
4. My courier will find me the best price option
Did your insurance company offer you the best price option at renewal? Well neither will most courier companies on services, other than your core requirement. Every different carrier has a different speciality subject and needs to be played to its advantage both in its service provision and its pricing. Some aren’t good at fragile stuff and some will volume you out sooner rather than later. Some are poor at same day and others don’t do 24 hour. So choose with care.
Or choose a courier who offers a multi carrier solution to adapt to your needs.
5. It doesn’t matter who delivers or collects my goods
Hello?? This is so not true. A courier is the lifeline of your business and will fundamentally make or break your client relations. You want an ambassador for your company, a high quality service provider and a great problem solver. Because if your goods don’t get where they need to be, think of the actual client impact of that.
Choose a courier who gets this and provides guaranteed service standard – or your money back.
6. It’s all about price.
No. It’s all about COST not PRICE. Anyone can compare an overnight delivery pound for pound, and the fuel surcharge. But what is their guarantee, what is their customer services, what do they do when, sometimes, things go wrong. This is the true COST of logistics. Efficient logistics saves you time and money in more ways than a pre booking charge. It streamlines operations, relives admin and simplifies booking.
So beware of low cost so called solutions providers – they make their money somewhere and that will be by cutting corners somewhere.
Choose a courier who prices with enough margin to provide you with quality.
7. There is nothing to differentiate a courier other than cost
Hmm. Other than insurance, reputation, customer care, awards, trading records, staff turnover, courier relations, vehicles, appearance and general helpfulness, then I guess no. Or not!
All couriers are not the same.
8. A courier is a just a COST to my business
A courier can be just that. Just a drain on your bottom line. Just another figure in your ever escalating profit and loss. Or they can be your greatest ally, a solution provider to make your logistics nil cost and in some instances help you turn a profit on logistics.
It just depends what kind of courier you choose.
