Doing courier work for more than one courier company
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual, Courier prices on Feb 14th, 2011 | 0 comments
Your next step could be to work for more than one courier company. The benefits of doing this, are that you are more free to set your own prices, your times of work and availability, and your payment terms.
The difference is, that instead of being one of the regular daily couriers used by a courier company, you offer yourself as being available as and when they need you. This helps the courier company cover their busy times. In return, the courier company accepts that occasionally you may not be available, as someone else may have booked you.
Experience shows that although it’s worth speaking to...
Following up with a sales phone call
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Sales technique for couriers on Feb 14th, 2011 | 0 comments
People never respond to the mailshot letter itself, but they may remember getting the letter or postcard when you call soon afterwards.
People who say “I’ve sent out loads of letters and heard nothing” just need to get on the phone and do the proper follow-up.
If you simply can’t bring yourself to make the calls, try asking someone else to do it for you. Offer a small amount of money for each appointment made. Some people just have the knack.
It is often possible to find out contact names by phone, to send the letters to. If you call a company and ask politely for the person in charge of...
Marketing for courier businesses
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier prices, Marketing for couriers on Feb 14th, 2011 | 0 comments
Marketing is sometimes described as “the whole idea of your business”. What your service is, at what price, when it’s available, the people it’s aimed at, how those people should actually buy from it, what colours it uses, the name, the pricing, its location and coverage, and so on.
As the person in charge of marketing your courier company, it’s your job to match the features, advantages and benefits (“FAB”) of your service with the wants and needs of your customers. Once you’ve worked out the FAB of your marketing, you need to communicate it to the people you’re aiming...
Making yourself available for courier work
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual on Feb 11th, 2011 | 0 comments
As an owner-driver courier, you are free to make yourself available at times to suit yourself. This can mean that you can work full time or part time. However, if your customer (the courier company) is relying on you to be available to enable him to service his customer, some kind of arrangement and commitment between you and the courier company may well help everyone.
Basically, a controller will always favours someone who can always say “yes” to a job when offered. Obviously this isn’t always possible, but it’s a reputation you need to work towards.
There is however a real...
Behaviour and care as a courier
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier Operations Manual on Feb 1st, 2011 | 0 comments
It goes without saying that courier companies expect all couriers to behave reasonably and to take care in actually doing the job. Your actions, good or bad, will be seen as representative of the courier company as a whole and of course will be representative of their customer at the delivery point. Most of what follows will be obvious to anyone who has had any kind of customer-facing job in the past, but just in case it helps, let me spell it out:
Behaviour
You should remain polite and helpful when dealing with customers at all times, even when under stress. For example, you might arrive at a...
How much to charge for courier services
Posted by Tim Gilbert in Courier prices, Marketing for couriers on Jan 31st, 2011 | 0 comments
People often ask: “What should I charge?”
The main thing which affects this, is what everyone else in your area is charging. There’ll be a range, and you have to find your place in that range.
It’s important that customers feel they can get what they really want at a price they regard as fair. Don’t undersell yourself, and don’t try to be the cheapest, as most people know that if something is cheap it’s likely to be disappointing. You have to let them know it’s not the cheapest, but that it is good value for what they are getting.
The price is an important part of your image and will...
