Deciding to go it alone – start your own courier company
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual, Courier prices on Feb 15th, 2011 | 0 comments
In the old days, and I mean before-fax-machines-came-along sort of old days, you could set up a courier company with just a pen, a reporter’s notebook, an ashtray and a kettle for the couriers, an old van to do some of the deliveries in, and a typewriter for the invoicing. A few cards around local offices, and you’d soon be delivering urgent letters for local businesses.
How times have changed.
Since then, the same day courier industry has had to adapt to survive many changes.
Email has replaced the courier for pretty much any correspondence that the fax machine hadn’t already accounted for, and...
How to go selling for customers who use couriers
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier prices, Sales technique for couriers on Feb 15th, 2011 | 0 comments
When looking for business in your area, start with mailshots. You can use a combination of postcards, letters and emails.
Postcards are effective, because they can attract more attention, but can be more time consuming. They can be addressed by hand, unless you can get hold of good address labels. Don’t be distracted by the need to get all set up with a database and a pc and labels; better to get stuck in by writing out a few hundred addresses by hand. If you are already equipped with the right stuff on your pc, all well and good.
Your postcard can say something simple like this:
are a same day...
Courier sales letters
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Sales letters for couriers, Sales technique for couriers on Feb 15th, 2011 | 0 comments
Letters can be vary according to the sort of customer you are aiming at, but here’s an example. As you will see, it is a letter to send as a follow-up to a phone conversation. Perhaps after you have sent a mailshot, and followed it up with a phone call.
You have to push yourself do all of this, including the phone calls, as just sending out letters, or any kind of mailshot, is pointless. It makes you feel like you’re doing some sales, but without sales phone calls, sending mailshots never, ever, produces any results.
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Proof of Delivery for Couriers
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual on Feb 15th, 2011 | 0 comments
Getting proof of delivery (POD)
The actual “Proof of Delivery” is made up of three pieces of information, provided by the recipient:
– The actual signature.
– The printed name.
– The time signed for.
The “actual signature” is very rarely needed except if something goes to court (which is when you know you’re really in trouble with your POD arrangements), when you’ll be pleased you got one, and that you kept the paper sheet filed safely.
The “printed name” and the “time signed for” are the two bits of information that you’ll be asked for time and time again,...
Getting paid for the courier work you have done
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual on Feb 14th, 2011 | 0 comments
You should expect to be paid weekly, and at worst monthly, by your courier company. If you’re being asked to wait longer than that, you probably should look elsewhere for work, as it suggests that your money is at risk. If the courier company goes bust, the longer you’re waiting for your money, the more money you’ll lose.
It’s also worth making a few discreet enquiries with the other couriers about whether there’s ever been any problem with payments.
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Invoicing for courier work
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual, Courier Owner Driver, Courier Software on Feb 14th, 2011 | 0 comments
Unless the company you do courier work for operates ”self-billing” (ie they produce your invoice for you and send it to you with your money) you’ll need a simple way of invoicing for the work you do.
You can start with a simple invoice book from a stationer, or just use MS Word or Excel (Google for invoice templates to use), or use a simple online invoicing system as provided by websites like www.mtvan.com. [Note: Tony’s Guide is mtvan’s sister website, so we’re bound to reccommend it!].
When choosing an invoicing system, the simpler the better. What you want is something...
