The big picture of customer service is simple: businesses are supposed to make their customers happy. Businesses small and large employ numerous strategies so that their customers get the best possible experience and walk away happy. Ensuring client satisfaction boils down to the details and some things your business might be overlooking could in the long run lead to higher customer satisfaction and conversion. Shipping, for example, can be a speed bump for many small businesses that don’t properly assess the options available to them before sending products to their clients.
Developing a well-thought out plan for shipping can make things easier on both ends of doing business. The fact is that there are several high-quality delivery services available that all make concessions to facilitate small businesses. The choice between United Parcel Service (UPS), the US Postal Service (USPS) and Federal Express (FedEx) is a quandary faced by small business owners every day, and each has redeeming features that could potentially make it the best bet for your company.
The ultimate choice is for the small business to make, as each of the three is a competent and reliable delivery service. Depending on your budget and the speed of delivery service you require, each of the three offer sensible options for the small business owner. Careful consideration of the options available could in the long run lead to a more satisfied customer and less frequent headaches while dealing with shipping logistics.
FedEx has a solid reputation and a variety of services. FedEx locations also offer printing options, making FedEx a good idea for document printing and shipping. FedEx offers a myriad of services catering to small business owners’ demands for convenience and efficiency including a pickup service. Their shipping rates are competitive with UPS and USPS. Fedex can schedule package pickups from your company location and simply bill your account for the service. All the business is required to do is fill out pre-printed labels for the packages it is sending depending on the carriage method required.
USPS is the longest-established of the options available. USPS was the first of the group to introduce flat-rate shipping on a large scale, meaning that any piece of postage you send will cost the same regardless of distance to destination or package weight. Flat-rate shipping costs are consistently very similar to the cost of shipping an identical package conventionally and usually cheaper for heavier packages and the ability to instantly print labels online can be very convenient for prompt shipments. USPS ground shipping or standard mail is also the most affordable of the group, making lower-priority shipments less of a nuisance.
UPS has risen to power in the parcel delivery industry due in large part to their reliability in shipping. UPS offers a similar suite of features to small business owners with one significant bonus: regular package pickup from your place of business. UPS offers reliable ground shipping and is beginning to introduce a flat-rate shipping service of its own to compete with USPS.