How to Address the 4 Biggest Challenges of Owning and Running a Courier Business
Growth in the Courier and Delivery Industry Since the Pandemic
The courier business is more lucrative than ever and expanding exponentially. Thanks to courier and delivery, products are reaching consumers much more quickly and conveniently. The pandemic has only bolstered growth, and along with globalisation sped the process of expansion in the industry.
With this type of rapid expansion comes new challenges. Customers want faster, more reliable, more efficient, and more trackable service. Competition skyrockets as old hats and newbies clamour for attention. Whether you’re just entering the courier and delivery market, transitioning from conventional services, or looking to expand, you can find solutions to 4 of the biggest challenges of owning and running a courier business here.
1. Understanding and Responding to Customer Demands.
Encouraging growth in your business means getting to know your audience. You can use digital tools to interpret data that can help you better understand your market’s behaviours and demands. Without this knowledge and marketing that speaks to the needs revealed by these tools, your delivery business may lag behind competitors.
The pandemic has exemplified how unpredictable market demands can be. A courier business that wants to grow and truly reach its audience needs to stay up to date with what the data says their customers want and need. It’s not enough to have live tracking and the other competitive advantages if you aren’t using market data to better your business.
What Do Courier Customers Want? Here are a few common demands:
- Accountability. To stay accountable to the customer, it’s important to take responsibility for the process from A to Z. If a customer has complaints, turning them away could turn them into advocates against your business. Alternatively, addressing their concerns with understanding and patience could turn them into loyal supporters of your business. Through accountability and taking ownership when issues arise, courier businesses can stay on good terms and build good relationships with all parties involved.
- Proactive Approach. Proactive people think ahead and take action based on what they preempt. Start by working to understand your customer and problems or challenges they may face. You can then be proactive by creating solutions for these problems before they even arise. Innovation is the key here.
- Availability. Are you available to help when the customer really needs it? Often, delivery and courier companies step out of the picture once the package has delivered. Why not take things a step further and find out if the customer received their package as expected?
- Responsiveness. The speed with which a company responds to the needs of their audience will dictate whether they soar or simply float in the delivery services sector. People may not be saying they need something out loud, but the data speaks for itself. Leaders n the industry often respond fast with innovative and transformative ideas.
- Ubuntu. Customers want to know you are on their side and represent them at the company they are buying from. The same goes for the company who you are delivering for. A professional, clean vehicle and neat, presentable staff complement can contribute from the business side of things.
2. The Need for More Employees
You may have the best systems possible in place. Even so, things can get out of hand when Black Friday hits and deliveries skyrocket. Without stringent processes and systems in place, it’s easy to hire too many staff and yet have lots of loopholes.
Even with training and standardisation, one cannot remove the human element or the chance that something holds up the system every now and again. As a result, employees may be preoccupied with putting out fires, managing truck issues, and dealing with an unexpected workload.
You may also find some staff members overworked while others do little. Creating balance in your teams is crucial to keep staffing needs from shooting up. Your goals would be for each order to be managed with careful discipline, no matter how busy it gets, and for each staff member to take part in a way that makes sense and adds o the bottom line.
Of course, there’s an easier way than hiring and hiring to keep up with demands: automation. Takealot is an outstanding example of how far you can take automation. The more parts of the process you can automate, the less of the human element there is to create havoc. Automation will cut costs and help things run more smoothly.
3. Competing with Industry Giants.
How can you compete when going up against industry giants like DHL and the Courier Guy? These dominant brands have the advantage of wide networks and a strong technological and financial support system. Leveraging brand identity and the technology available to you to claim a niche is the answer. A niche is something that makes your business unique. Instead of trying to be big, you can aim for specialised services and a more personal touch to endear your business to customers.
4. Covering Your Business Against Theft, Hijacking, Accidents, and More.
A courier and delivery company faces unique risks. When much of your staff complement is on the road, and you own a fleet of business vehicles, accidents, hijackings, and theft can cause major financial difficulties. Luckily there are South African insurance companies who offer courier business insurance policies to cover yourself should these unwanted events occur. You can find a courier delivery insurance company to cover these risks by getting a free quote on our site.
What kind of insurance plan does a courier delivery company need? For your delivery management software and tech, there’s fraud insurance. Your vehicles may need fleet insurance, and the packages you deliver may need goods-in-transit cover. Some business insurance providers even offer plans designed to cover the unique risks of courier and delivery companies.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and not legal, medical, or financial advice. Facts stated in this article are correct at the date it was published.
Sources: fixlastmile.com;
