| Small business owners have a lot to do every day, but packing and shipping merchandise can be one of the most complicated tasks. Failure to plan can result in overpayment and lost sales, especially if you can’t provide your customers with cost-effective and reliable Shipping Services. Below, we’ll look at some factors you should consider before shipping your products.
Matching Fees and Delivery Requirements |
Once you’ve chosen a provider, you should work closely with its small business team to match services and fees with your shipping requirements, delivery timing and transportation mode. Talk to your provider about air vs. ground shipping; your company’s savings depend largely upon shipping distance and the package’s weight, size and value.
Establish Chargeback Policies
To eliminate misunderstandings, you should have a clear policy on when your business will pay the shipping fees, and when it’s the customer’s responsibility to pay for shipping. For instance, three-day mail may be a part of your standard package, and express or overnight services are paid for by customers. Once you have a policy in place, review it with your customer service and sales staff.
Know When to Combine Shipping
When you’re sending shipments between 150 and 20,000 pounds (commonly called LTL or “less than truckload”), consider hiring a freight consolidation service, which combines your shipments with others to form a truckload. LTL rates are usually higher than those for containers or full truckloads; if you have a full shipment, you’ll save a lot of transit time and money, too.
Track Your Carrier’s Performance
An easy way to do it is to ask your carrier to track cost and service with a scorecard. Factors considered can include delivery, pickup, response to inquiries, online tracking data access, and meeting delivery time and transit time obligations from door to door. Cost factors to consider typically include distance and weight baselines, costs according to service level, and extra fees such as time-specific delivery and special handling. You should work closely with your shipping services in Salt Lake City to find and fix failures in cost performance and service, and you should continually seek customer input.
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