Obviously, a vital part of a same day courier service is speed. Make sure the courier company you choose can guarantee your delivery deadlines. The best same day courier services have full insurance cover so you can have total peace of mind when sending your parcels. Essentially, this means that all of your items are kept safe and handled in the very best manner possible in the process as it is. The same day delivery providers also offer the highest level of reliability, smooth and quick product delivery along with reliable services. This is very much how this type of service will typically work and operate from a process point of view.
Assess the customer service levels and approaches
You might have a shortlist of contenders by this point, so now you can start calling the courier service themselves and start asking detailed questions about them. One of the most important things a good courier service will have is great customer service. Call their customer service and ask them questions. This will give you a pretty good idea of how they treat customers and potential leads. How eager are they to answer all your questions? Do they get impatient and try to run you off the phone or are they patient enough to deal with all your idiosyncrasies? Also, see how long it takes you to speak to a real live human being, rather than a recording or a machine. This will be important when you are trying to get hold of customer service in an emergency sameday courier situation.
Experience is everything
Another important thing to note of – how much experience does the courier service have in your particular industry. If you have to deliver unusual entities all the time, like human organs or vaccines, you want to ensure that the courier service you choose has the expertise to handle your courier deliveries. In addition, you will want to ask them how much experience they have in general. That is, how long they have been in the business. You don’t want to choose a courier service and have them disappear. Or go bankrupt a year or a few months after you start working with them. That would be quite an annoyance. And a huge detriment to your business reliability.
Areas covered
Many courier services have an industry they specialise in, and also areas that they cover. Ensure that the courier services you are about to choose can cover all the areas that you are interested in delivering to. If they are an international courier service, then you have nothing to worry about. But if they are a local courier service that only delivers province-wide, then you might need to reconsider.
A local service can also be wise from a cost point of view
With massive overhead costs and the sheer scale of many large courier firms mean that that can drive prices up for courier prices. A smaller, local firm will have less distance to travel, meaning that the cost of fuel and labor will be less. This is also ideal for a local same-day courier service. Most larger companies would charge an obscene amount of money to do a relatively easy transporting job in your local area. This is due to them having to travel a considerable way to your area to receive the package. With a local courier firm, they will always have drivers in your area. It means that the price and times it takes to deliver your package are reasonable and affordable.
A local service can be easier to manage
One of the biggest jobs involved with dealing with a large courier service provider is actually getting to speak to the right person! You are often put through to massive call centers with various different departments, which can be tricky to convey what you are actually after. This means that communicating and going back and forth on your order is difficult because they are processing a high number of orders at all times. With a local courier service, their output will be a lot lower. They will be able to spend more time helping you. The same too with tracking your parcel or making any amendments.
A local courier service will be much more focused on individual customer service and ensuring that your needs are met across the whole of the delivery process. This is especially helpful if you need to make amends or changes to your order. You’ll find that the customer service team is smaller. They will be more focused, and able to access your details more quickly than a large courier company.
A good service will help you in being able to scale up your business
If you are a new business or an established one your business output and customer base will differ from month to month. If you are customer-facing and deal in products, the best way that you can get your packages to arrive with your customers is to use a local courier service. On top of this, if you suddenly get a new influx of orders, you may not be able to keep up with your demands of fulfilment and delivery.
This is where a local courier can step in and take some of the demands and pressure off. Simply contact your local courier service and inform them of the details of your parcels and they can take care of the rest. The last thing you want is for goods to be delivered late or there to be a backlog of orders. This could impact the reputation of your business and result in poor or negative reviews. Using a local courier service mitigates all these problems. It ensures that your packages are delivered to your customers safely and in good time.
Speed is key
One of the most important factors to consider is speed. In this modern age, customers expect packages to arrive within a couple of days. In fact, certain people expect a same-day delivery service depending on where they live. So, it’s crucial when hiring a courier service to ask what range of speeds they can deliver at. Some couriers may only offer a standard delivery option which is usually several days.
Overall – what you need to know
Customers often associate courier services with the business they purchased from. They don’t always know that the courier is a third party who is working in partnership with the business. With this in mind, you should understand that the courier will be representing you whilst out in public. So, when you first meet them, take note of your first impressions of them. If they are polite and look professional, then it’s going to boost your image. However, if they are the opposite, then you need to decide if they can negatively affect you. And, a majority of the time, the answer is yes.
Sure, you want to save money on shipping, but that doesn’t mean hiring the cheapest courier service in town. Often, cheap equal low-quality service. What you want instead is to work with a company that offers the best value for your money. Ask for a quote and enquire exactly what you’re paying for. Note that you may have to pay a little more for superior service. It also pays to get multiple quotes and compare them before making your final destination. This way, you ensure that you aren’t overcharged for the service.
