You know when you go to your regular coffee joint and the barista knows exactly what you want the moment you walk in?
As soon as you get to the counter, they’re already jotting down “regular flat white, one sugar” on that little plastic lid while beaming at you “How’s your morning been?”
Feels nice, doesn’t it?
There are people we interact with everyday, and the more we try to get to know them, the more they understand what we like and need.
This is why it’s so important to get to know your daily couriers. Your couriers are the face of your brand at the time of delivery, so don’t you want to set a positive impression? Here’s how you can:
Be hospitable
First things first, courier drivers are on the road all day. They don’t have easy access to bathroom facilities or water, so something as small as offering them a glass of water or coffee can go a really long way.
The first thing you should do when you meet a new courier is ask them if they need anything. Ask them if they need to use the bathroom, or prepare some ready to take away drinks and snacks they can leave with.
A little generosity can go a long way, and your courier will want to repay you with prompt pickups and an amazing delivery experience for your customers.
Treat your courier like a human, not a delivery driver
When we get lost in the frenzy of fulfilling orders, it’s easy to become impatient and short tempered with anyone who distracts us. Courier drivers are dealing with hundreds of people everyday, and not everyone is polite and hospitable.
Remember that your courier driver is a human too, who’s just as busy and stressed as you. Remember to treat them with respect and give them your attention, regardless of how busy you are.
You may not notice the change straight away, but treating your courier drivers as a friend is one of the best ways to ensure regular and timely pickups. At Shippit, we’ve even heard of cases where courier drivers will text message retailers that they’re not working for the day so the retailer has time to organise a different courier service.
Ask for their direct contact number
Once you and your courier drivers are getting along like a house on fire, you might want to ask them for their direct contact number. This means you’ll be able to contact them directly if you’re really concerned about priority orders or when he’ll be arriving.
And if you nail the above two tips, they certainly won’t mind hearing from their favourite customer!
Get to know their routine
Courier drivers will generally arrive in different locations at certain times in the day. They run by a tight schedule of picking up deliveries for sorting centres, as well as delivering orders on time. You’ll probably notice your courier drivers come at the same time everyday, so it’s worth taking note and preparing all your orders for their arrival.
Don’t make them wait
One of the biggest complaints we hear from courier drivers is that many retailers don’t have their orders packed and ready by the time the courier arrives.
Being organised and ready by the time your courier arrives is critical to maintaining a healthy courier/retailer relationship.
We understand it’s a lot of hard work running a business, and sometimes it’s not possible to keep up with everything. Just remember, courier drivers are busy too, and delays in the pickup process delay the rest of the deliveries for they day, and could even delay when the driver can clock off for the day.
Be understanding about delays
No one likes waiting. And there’s nothing more frustrating when a courier driver doesn’t arrive on time. Sometimes we feel like it’s necessary to complain or get angry at our courier driver for their tardiness, but it’s not always their fault.
Courier drivers get stuck in traffic, they often need to wait for people to collect and sign for deliveries, sometimes they’re given the incorrect address which wastes more time, and sometimes it’s just hard to locate where the delivery address is.
We understand it’s frustrating when things are delayed, but being understanding with your courier is the first step to building a strong long term relationship. Instead of asking them: “What took you so long!”, try asking them: “Busy day?”
They’ll appreciate the compassion and will be happy to pick up deliveries from someone that demonstrates empathy instead of frustration.
And it’s that simple!
Remember to be kind and hospitable to your courier drivers, they’re human just like us!