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Taken from the March 2005 TLOMA Today
By Rhonwen
Derbez
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Gone
are the days of the pony express. In this age of
high-speed
internet and cellular phone technology,
modern-day courier
and messenger companies have a great opportunity to provide
superior quality to their clients. Not all
companies take equal
advantage of recent technological advancements and, with more
and more sophisticated options to choose from,
it’s important
to know what to look for.
To assess your current supplier you can ask yourself
three questions. First, is your current courier
order management
SYSTEM the most efficient and effective system available?
Second, are your needs being met for SERVICES and
CUSTOMER SERVICE?
And finally, are you getting the best VALUE? It will take
very little effort to find out the answers to these questions
and when you do, your firm can save serious time and money as
a result. Here are a few guidelines to help
you:
SYSTEM
The latest
technology available
now has revolutionized courier management. You no longer have
to phone your service provider to order a pick up.
You can order
it quickly and easily on-line from a
web-site. It’s
also easy to get price quotes, to track your packages and to
get proof of delivery (POD). Consider the
time you lose
(unnecessarily) waiting on hold with a
call-in service.
If you want a POD, for example, you call in and often wait on
hold to be served; then the agent has to contact
the dispatcher;
then the dispatcher will call the driver who often will have
to pull over and go through his waybills, call back
the dispatcher
who will call the agent back who, finally, can get
back to you.
With a good on-line system you enter or click
on your order
number and the status and/or POD comes up on the
screen.
Up-to-date courier companies use
handheld devices
that scan bar-coded labels to upload delivery
and tracking
information and capture signatures for on-line POD. You
can track your packages on-line and have the
option to receive
proactive delivery notification by e-mail.
The most advanced messengers carry devices
which allow
you to see a POD in real time as your package is
being delivered.
Waybills are no longer necessary; rather a legal Manifest
or signature pad is used to capture signature. All
the information
is on-line and backed up for security. It just
doesn’t
make sense to continue using older, more time-consuming
systems for courier management. If you still use a
phone-in
service (or “home-made” inefficient Internet
based system) you could instantly save 50% of
the time spent
on courier management by switching to a supplier
that uses the
latest internet technologies.
SERVICES & CUSTOMER
SERVICE
Though both
specialize in delivery,
courier and messenger companies traditionally
provide different
services. Courier companies today provide
world-wide service,
with privately owned air fleets and multiple
distribution centres
around the world. Messengers generally take care of
local, same-day
delivery requirements with services which range from economy
to urgent, and some provide overnight service as
well.
However, not all companies are created equal. While
types of service may be similar amongst courier and messenger
companies, there is a huge differential in quality
of service.
The technology itself can help improve customer
service in allowing
agents to be available to help you when you need
help (they’re
not busy entering thousands of orders a day).
Good service
can save you time and money. If you’re wasting
time correcting
avoidable problems or chasing people down,
you’re diverting
your valuable time away from other projects.
How often do you receive a call or visit
from your account
representative? A good rep will check in on a
regular basis
to ensure that you’re receiving the best
service possible.
Some companies create an agreement with their
customers outlining
specific needs and commitment to service. And what about when
you have a problem? Another sign of good
service is “recovery
time” from mistakes. Because, let’s face
it, mistakes
happen. If the company is well managed and
equipped, and appropriate
people are ready to act, errors will be minimized
and corrected
quickly when they occur.
As we move into the future we’re
beginning to see
some changes in service. Alliances are forming. Some courier
and messenger companies are uniting to offer you
Total Courier
Solutions while for the first time, a group of
independent Canadian
messenger services are uniting to form the
(Sea
to Sea Messenger Service)
aiming to provide national companies a cohesive and reliable
solution to nation-wide messenger service.
VALUE
It’s
important to remember
that value doesn’t always mean the lowest price. Though
it may seem like the most obvious way to save
money, a low price
can cost you more in the end if it means
sacrificing reliability,
service options and quality. Delivery companies
today are saving
their clients more by reducing staff workload than they could
by lowering rates.
Look for a company who has value added options, such
as flexible billing options that can save you time
in your accounting
department. Your invoice can be sorted by reference or matter
number for easy allocation to individual files and
your courier
management can also be billed back to your clients,
saving your
firm more money. Your invoice can be provided electronically
and integrated directly with your accounting
system.
Change is inevitable over time. Your firm is evolving
and it’s important to be up to date and do business with
people who are committed to providing the best
service possible
for today’s changing market. We’re all
busy, but taking
the time to make sure you’re getting the best value from
your courier and messenger companies will pay off in the long
run.
HOW TO
MAKE BETTER USE OF
YOUR COURIER & MESSENGER SERVICES
- Minimize your
courier management time by being up to date on the latest
technology. Courier companies today are saving
clients more
by reducing staff workload than by lowering
prices.
- Communicate
with your service provider. Work with people
who are anxious
to provide solutions for your
business.
- Remember that
value doesn’t always mean the lowest price. If the
service is effective without mistakes, that
saves time and
money.
- Choose service
providers who understand the nature of your business and
can offer service and solutions that fit your
needs.
- Be informed
and open to better options. Make sure your
business is getting
the best value.
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