Exactly how reliable and competent you are when it comes to delivering products to customers will have a marked impact on your reputation. Not only this, but also how many customers are willing to come back to you for repeat orders, or perhaps recommend your services to others. The simple fact of the matter is that if you do not perform in line with their expectations, you cannot expect them to retain any faith in you.

Of course, there will always be instances that are entirely out of your hands and cannot be avoided.  For the most part though, improving and enhancing delivery services is something that you do indeed have plenty of control over. It’s simply a case of being proactive about things, rather than adopting something of an ‘it is what it is’ attitude.

So for anyone looking to make genuine improvements to their current delivery services, here’s a quick rundown of just a few simple yet effective tips for getting off to a good start:

Simplify Internal Processes

First of all, the more complicated your internal processes when it comes to preparing and executing deliveries, the less efficient they are likely to be. If it has come to your attention that any of your internal processes have become unnecessarily long and complicated, you might want to think about taking things back to the drawing board. The quicker and more easily you can prepare and execute deliveries, the better.

Stock Control

Don’t run the risk of running out of key items, simply as a means by which to reduce the amount of on-hand inventory you have. It is always better to ensure that you have at least a little more of the items you are likely to need, given the way in which stock shortages are directly linked to fulfilment issues.

Be Honest

Never under any circumstances agree to deliver anything by a certain deadline if you are not literally 100% convinced you can do exactly that. If you promise next day delivery and the package arrives after three days, chances are the customer will be seriously annoyed. Nevertheless, if you promised the same customer three-day delivery without there being any alteration to the price whatsoever, they would be more than satisfied with the package arrived, given the way in which it arrived as expected.

Consider Alternative Couriers

If you’ve been attached to the same delivery service(s) for many years now, it’s worth taking into account the fact that hundreds of new service providers have joined the market. Depending on what it is you are looking to ship and in what kinds of quantities, there’s every chance you could be far better off elsewhere.

Use Addressing Software

Using simple software to ensure that every postal address you receive is accurate can be a great way of avoiding wasted time, effort and money by posting things to inaccurate addresses. Getting into the habit of double-checking everything can help minimise various problems.

Send Extras

Last but not least, you can rest assured that in any instance where the recipient of a package receives something additional they weren’t expecting, this can be pure gold for customer retention. Which of course counts double in any instance where deliveries arrive late – a little freebie here and there can grease the wheels brilliantly. Even if it’s something as simple as a voucher for 20% off their next order, a little additional thought and effort go a long way.