Are you REALLY committed to delivering a service that you are proud of?

So why is it that many companies invest in branding, marketing campaigns, sales teams, CRMs (the list goes on) but fail to invest in the last piece of the puzzle, the final mile delivery experience offered to customers?  

Every day we speak to operations directors, transport managers and logistics professionals, like you, who are running a delivery operation that they are possibly not as proud of as they would like to be.  Let’s talk about you here… do you still rely on paper tickets?  Do you have full visibility of what products you have moving around where?  Do you really understand the impact that a poor delivery service has on your business?  Is this as good as it gets for the final mile of our product journey?

We’ve all read the reports that state how much easier it is to sell to existing customers versus finding new business.  For many businesses the final mile is the only human interaction that your customer has with your organisation.  Orders are placed online or via phone, so the actual face to face brand experience relies on your drivers being punctual, being polite and being professional.

Now we can do little to help you with how your drivers behave (although we would suggest putting your service through its paces, see our other blog on this topic) but we can help you get your deliveries to the right place, at the right time, every time.
 

So, what do you currently do if a driver is running late, or accidentally misses a drop?  In many cases we see transport managers taking calls from customers, then having to call the driver to get an updated ETA, then calling the customer back to update them.  That’s not good service.  What is good service is sending out accurate ETA notifications at multiple points during the delivery experience and providing your customers with tracking links so they can see where their delivery is, what drop number they are, how far the item is away, what the updated ETA is.  Now just imagine if there was a solution that could do just that with one smart cloud-based back-office system and an easy-to-use driver app?!

Well, as luck would have it such tools are available, and the purchase price pales into insignificance when compared to the benefits that you will experience as a result.  If you choose wisely, and carefully review your supplier (read our other blog on this very topic), you will find that there are solutions out there that will give you a range of features in one system.  Take Podfather, for example.  We offer route planning and optimisation, vehicle checks, ETA notifications, driver tracking, electronic proof of delivery and reporting in one, single fee package.  Charges are based on a per driver per month basis and the flexibility of our solution, and scalability of our pricing model, means that irrespective of your fleet size (20, 50, 100 or 1000+) we can work with you to deliver a solution that will enable you to deliver outstanding service to your customer base. 

Yes, yes, I’m sure you are nodding along at this point but as costs are rising it is becoming harder to get decision makers on board with new investments.  Or is it?  With our proven Return on Investment calculator, we can quickly show you how much you could be saving.  We take your everyday operating costs, look at your distribution model, and then return a ROI figure that will be in the ballpark of what you can expect to save.  This is based on our 20+ years’ experience in the logistics industry.  

If you are thinking that you might be interested, or you are considering making the change to improve your service offering then look at what we’ve been doing with our other customers:

Podfather specialises in the development, delivery and support of route optimisation and electronic proof of delivery technology.  We are a UK-based team, located in Edinburgh, and we are passionate about what we do.  We work with companies of all shapes and sizes, from industry giants such as Tarmac and Breedon to well-known names such as Rexel and ODDBOX and everything else in between.  It doesn’t matter what you are delivering but if you have a multi drop distribution operation and are looking to make changes then we can help.  Our solution includes the following as standard:

• Route planning and optimisation
• Vehicle checks
• Customer ETA notifications
• Driver tracking
• electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD)

Together we can help you improve cashflow, reduce empty running across your fleet, improve delivery performance and get costs under control.  Get in touch with us today!