What’s the Difference Between a Good Courier and a Bad Courier?
UK writer and courier consultant Ian Sheldon shares his insights on how to distinguish a good courier service from a bad one. Ian works with MPExcel in London.
There are literally thousands of Courier Companies in the UK, and many more thousand across the world. Different couriers offer different services such as International, Domestic, Same Day, Next Day and Overnight. On the face of it all Courier Companies look to offer the same service – or do they?
The engine behind a good Courier company is the procedures that they set out and adhere to on their day to day running of the business. It’s these standards, or values, that separate the good companies from the not so good.
The fine line between a good and bad courier could seriously affect the image of your own business. For example. If you book your courier to collect a parcel before midday and by 1pm they haven’t shown the chances are that it is not going to get to its destination on time. From your customers point of view this doesn’t look good on you so you need to find a courier that you can trust.
Do you find that you have to constantly chase your courier to see where your shipment is? The chances are if you do that you can find a much better courier providing a better service. Does your courier offer real time tracking of your packages? If not, again there are many that do.
As reasonable people we all realize that from time to time there are certain circumstances beyond anyone’s control, and if your courier gets held up by a traffic queue that has put them behind schedule then that’s a fact of driving on major roads – however, if you find out from someone else the roads are clear and the ‘traffic’ excuse was just that, an excuse, then you are not going to be too impressed.
When you make a phone call to your courier can you speak to the person you need to straight away, and is the phone answered in a professional manor or does it sound like answering the phone was a job that somebody ‘had to do’. In any industry customer service is absolutely paramount and it can make or break the relationship with a client.
Understanding what makes a good courier company is one of the most important aspects of choosing to use the services of one. To help you make the decision in choosing the right courier it might be worth talking to an independent consultant. The consultant will have already done their homework on the better companies that meet certain criteria – so all the hard work is done. You can then simply go through the good companies to see who you prefer (and which is the cheapest of course!)
IC Consulting are the UKs leading International Courier consultant and provide carefully researched information on how to help your business save money on your International Courier costs.
Category: Business Tips & Resources
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