subject: From doorstep to doorstep – delivery companies go the whole distance between [print this page] From doorstep to doorstep delivery companies go the whole distance between
Many embryonic businesses have been born thanks to the internet. And in lots of cases, the people behind them have had little or no previous experience of using worldwide couriers.
Yet once they have put their goods up for sale online, they are effectively opening their doors to the world. There is no way to control where a website is viewed from after all, a successful product in one market has a good chance of garnering similar demand in other territories so a company has to be prepared to field enquiries from well outside their usual trading sphere.
That may be something which many businesses do consider when they are formulating their plans for marketing their products online. But for those plans to work as they should, there are other links in the chain which need to be put in place.
Most important, of course, is a strategy for delivering the goods which others find on a website, and are so interested that they are compelled to place an order.
The customer will certainly give little thought to how the business which it has asked to fulfil their order intends to do so. All he or she will care about is whether that business can live up to its promise of being able to provide the goods it has described, for the price at when they are advertised, and within a timescale that they are happy with.
For this reason, a business which fosters good relationships with its delivery partners is building an extra layer into the foundations on which it will achieve its success. And that extra layer will make the whole service more robust and better able to meet customers' demands.
Many small-scale business operators enjoy the immediate contact they have with their clients, and say they would miss this greatly were their enterprises to grow larger. As this happens, though, it could be the case that the business managers have to decide which aspects of their work they will outsource. Deliveries are often one area where this is most easily achieved. Trusted and well-resourced couriers cover their territory comprehensively, and can collect and deliver orders according to a business's needs, and at a cost which often negates the need to buy and maintain a separate fleet of delivery vehicles.
This, of course, is exactly as the company would do if it was delivering the goods itself. But when a perfectly suitable white knight' is available, to take away all the bother of doing it themselves, then why should they bother?
Courier companies reputations are built on them being able to offer a reliable, door-to-door, service. When they include such extra benefits as overnight delivery when required as well, their services can be well worth the outlay.
