delivery services – Growing Forward

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, business owners and managers are preparing for a long period of recovery. With normal operations suspended or greatly reduced, the effects of COVID-19 will be felt throughout every industry. However, there are a variety of innovative ways you can safeguard your business against the long-term impacts of the pandemic…

Adapt to different delivery methods

Businesses that already operate online will be well-primed to continue delivering services to customers. For companies that rely on face-to-face interactions or bricks and mortar stores, however, things will be trickier. To overcome the barriers your business faces, explore alternative delivery methods to ensure your customers can still access your products and services.

Adaptability is a valuable trait, and, in these testing times, your business has a chance to show just how versatile it can be. Restaurants switching to subscription-style food deliveries, theatre groups hosting online performances and teachers delivering lessons in real-time via the internet are just a few examples of how you can adapt your operations to continue trading, despite the disruption to your business.

Diversify your product range

Coronavirus is affecting every sector but it’s having a varying impact. While some industries are effectively on hiatus, others are under immense pressure to increase their output to serve local, national and global communities.

Depending on your set and facilities, you may be able to modify your processes to join in the effort to overcome COVID-19. If your company has its own production line, for example, the addition of sanitary tubing may enable you to start manufacturing products and equipment for the medical or food and drink industry. By diversifying your product range in this way, you can continue to operate and deliver extremely valuable support when it’s needed most.

Consider the long-lasting impact self-isolation has

As people are either encouraged or required to stay at home, the way we live, work and interact is changing. With an increasing reliance on technology, remote working facilities, at-home entertainment, and delivery services are in higher demand in ever before. However, don’t assume that things will ‘return to normal’ following the outbreak of coronavirus.

Instead, take the time to consider how this period of self-isolation and ‘lockdown’ will change your customers’ behaviors. By doing so, you can get ahead of the curve and begin to tweak your business operations to satisfy your target audience in a post-coronavirus environment.

Keep Your Company Operational Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

Depending on your specific location and the nature of your business, you may be prevented from trading as normal while the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc. Many firms considered ‘non-essential’ are being asked or instructed to close until further notice, for example.

If you’re prevented from trading as normal, this doesn’t prevent you from modifying your processes to continue operating. Furthermore, you can still safeguard your business by planning your return to standard trading. With a compassionate outlook, patient perseverance and creative solutions, your business can continue to serve its customers during these unprecedented and unpredictable times.

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Customers have very high expectations when it comes to shipping. Big companies like Amazon can get products out to people the following day or even the same day in some places. You’re not going to be able to compete with that, and that’s ok, but it does mean that your customers are still going to expect quick and efficient shipping. If your products don’t arrive when you said they would, it’s likely that you’re going to lose that customer for good. Problems arise from time to time and products will arrive late for reasons that are outside of your control, but if it’s happening a lot, you’ve got a big problem on your hands. If you’re struggling to get your products out on time, here are some of the best ways to improve your shipping service.

Choose A Better Courier

A lot of smaller businesses will outsource their shipping to a third party. When you’re choosing a courier to handle your shipping, it’s important that you choose wisely. If you find that you’re getting a lot of complaints from customers about late shipping but you’re sure that you’re processing orders quickly on your end, it’s probably an issue with your courier. Often, new businesses try to cut costs by going with the cheapest company, but they’re cheap for a reason. You should ask your courier to explain why your products are arriving late and what they’re going to do about it. If you find that you’re still having problems after that, it’s time to find a new courier service, even if it costs you a bit more.

Evaluate Delivery Routes

If you aren’t outsourcing shipping and you’re handling it yourself, you’ve got nobody else to blame. There must be a reason why your products aren’t getting to customers on time and more often than not, it has to do with your delivery routes. If you don’t plan your routes effectively, your drivers are covering more distance than they need to and that leads to lateness. You can easily get around that by using telematics software to evaluate your delivery routes. It will help you to identify the most efficient route possible. That means your deliveries will get out on time and you’ll be spending less money on fuel costs as well.

Manage Expansion

So many businesses run into trouble with their deliveries because they don’t manage expansion properly. They get products out on time just fine when they’re first starting out, but as the business starts to expand, they can’t handle the increase in orders properly and that’s when they fall behind. It’s important that you manage expansion properly by creating sales projections and working out what your demand is likely to be. Then you need to increase staff levels and add more delivery routes as sales increase, so you can maintain the same level of service that you were offering before.

It only takes one late delivery to lose a customer for good, and they’re likely to tell their friends about it as well. That’s why it’s so important that you deal with delivery issues straight away before they kill your business entirely.