To establish a long-lasting business partnership with a courier, you need to make sure they’re someone you can trust. A trustworthy partner will be great communicators, keeping you up to date with what’s happening and offering excellent customer service.
But how do you know if a courier is trustworthy? Here are a few signs to look out for.
First and foremost, you need to work with a courier that’s consistent. They should provide the same level of excellent service every time you need them. This consistency makes it easier for you to deal with clients as you’ll be able to make certain promises, safe in the knowledge that the courier will be able to meet your expectations.
A good way of spotting consistency in a courier is via their accreditations. If they’ve been consistent enough to earn certain awards, then you know they’re a partner you can trust.
This can seem obvious but you’d be surprised. A trustworthy courier should want the best for your business, even if it means offering you a service that is less profitable for them. A trustworthy courier partner will assess all of the options available to you and guide you towards the best course of action.
To test this idea, ask your current courier for help when choosing the right delivery service. If they recommend an expensive and unnecessary service, then they aren’t a good fit for your business.
If there’s a problem with a shipment and you need fast support, you want to know that your courier partner will be on hand to offer quick and effective assistance. No matter what time of day it is, trustworthy partners will be available to find a solution.
Determine the courier’s customer service policy. Do they offer comprehensive support to make sure everything is running smoothly? Will they keep you regularly updated in a calm and informative way so that you can keep your clients happy?
When sending items around the world, you’re going to have to deal with unique requests that need flexibility from the courier. If you’re working with a courier that’s inflexible and rigid, then you know you won’t be able to trust them to deal with your last-minute shipments in the future.
Think about the last time you needed a bespoke service or you had a difficult delivery that you needed help with. Were they flexible with the support they offered? Did they offer the right advice so that you could find a solution?
Even the most experienced couriers know that there’s always more to learn. The industry is evolving quickly, so it’s easy to fall behind if you don’t proactively seek out the latest techniques and ideas. If they aren’t willing to adopt new ideas, then you could be missing out on better services from a courier that’s using the latest thinking.
We’ve already mentioned that accreditations are a good way of testing a courier’s willingness to learn. You can also ask how they plan their routes. Have they been doing it the same way for years or have they found a better solution?
With some of the larger couriers, each time you contact them, it's likely a different person will greet you. It’s hard to feel like you can trust a courier that has thousands of other clients to think about.
A trustworthy courier will have an account manager that gets to know the ins and outs of your business. They’ll understand how you work and what your goals are. You’re looking for a business that wants to be your partner as well as your courier.
Finding the right courier to work with isn’t an easy process. There are pages and pages of possible options online for you to sort through. All of them seem like they can offer what your business needs, so narrowing down your options without help can be tricky.
We’ve put together a free checklist that can help you to make the right choice of courier. It covers signs that your current provider isn’t up to scratch and then outlines some of the features you should expect to find.
Without the right preparation, you’ll likely be back where you started, choosing a new courier in a few months because the partnership didn’t work out. Make sure you find a long-term solution who’s going to meet your needs and help you to grow.
Download our free checklist now using the link below.