If you run your own business and are considering using a courier service to deliver goods to customers then what sorts of things do you need to consider when selecting whom to use? Well, there are quite a lot of things that you may wish to take into account in your selection process some of which we mention below.

Speed of delivery

If you are ordering goods for yourself then you will want to ensure you use a company that has a good reputation for delivering on time. You will also want to make sure that your goods are delivered as quickly as possible to your customers as this helps create a good impression of your business and may lead to future orders and/or recommendations. It would be a good idea to offer a range of service levels ranging from same day delivery, next day delivery or delivery in say 3 days. The more options that you can provide the better.

Price

How much you pay is of course important but as they say in life “you get what you pay for”. Different couriers charge a variety of prices so you may wish to shop around with a view to getting a competitive deal.

Service

You will want to make sure that the courier service you decide upon has a good reputation for its level of customer service. You do not really want to employ a business that regularly is late delivering parcels and occasionally breaks items. You do not want a courier service that has a poor reputation for its delivery service.

It would be great if you had one point of contact at the courier service but with larger companies this is less likely to be possible.

Appearance

You will want a courier who is delivering parcels on your behalf to be smart and tidy as first impressions count. If a courier is untidy, this creates a bad impression and could result in one or more clients not using you again,

Tracking

You may wish to choose a courier business that offers a tracking service that both you and your customers can monitor so that you know when the parcel is going to be delivered.

National or local company

There are both large national courier businesses and smaller local ones so you will need to decide which one to use. There are potential pros and cons of both. For instance, by using a small courier service you may feel that you are getting a more personal service but using a larger one may give you greater peace of mind, for instance, if the courier driver were taken ill someone else could step in and take over the deliveries.

We hope that the above is of benefit to those of you considering using a courier.