If you’re running a business selling physical goods, you need a high-quality shipping and delivery company to get your products to your customers.
Whether you’ll be operating locally or on a national level, sending hundreds of packages per day can lead to mistakes, lost and damaged packages, and even backlogs.
Keep reading to learn about the 6 most common mistakes with deliveries you can make for your business and how to avoid them.
1. You Use Low-Quality Packaging
High-quality packaging is a must if you want your products to arrive intact in the hands of customers. This is especially true if you’re delivering large packages that’ll travel across the country.
Though low-quality packaging may be cheaper for you, it can cost you more money in the long run if you need to replace or resend packages that were damaged during shipping.
2. You Have Shipping Backlogs
Shipping backlogs are easy to build up if you miss even just a few shipments. This is especially tricky for new businesses that don’t have enough time or employees for speedy shipments. If this is the case, you might want to get extra vehicles for deliveries so each package can be shipped as soon as it’s ordered.
3. You Use One Carrier for All Shipments
To speed up the delivery process, you need to have multiple options for carriers to make sure each package arrives on time and in great shape. For example, you need one or two reliable local carriers as well as a few private options like FedEx and DHL to cover same-day or international shipping.
A high-quality courier service will ship your packages quickly and efficiently so you don’t have to worry about delays or damages.
4. You Don’t Automate the Shipping Process
An automated shipping process will save you a lot of time, money, and complaints from unhappy customers. The faster you automate deliveries, the faster you can send out new ones and keep your customers happy.
5. You Miscalculate the Package Weight
If you’re just starting out in business, be careful with calculating package weight. When you send packages to the carrier, they’ll weigh them again. Any difference between weights will be your responsibility to cover, so make sure you weigh every package accurately to prevent miscalculation and unnecessary expenses.
6. You Don’t Offer Multiple Shipping Options
If you want to run a serious delivery business, you need to offer multiple options for shipping to your customers. For example, you can offer free or affordable shipping which takes longer but also more expensive shipping which means same-day or one-day delivery.
Customers will most often choose to pay more in order to get the package faster which means more business for you.
Don’t Make These Mistakes With Deliveries for Your Business
Whether you’re a small business owner or have several stores, these mistakes with deliveries are easy to make if you’re not careful. They can affect your customer service and lead to unnecessary expenses and damages that you’ll need to pay for. Want more business tips? Check out some of the other articles we’ve written on these topics to help you launch and run a successful company.
