Why is the concept of time so important in the courier industry?

Time – something which many of us never seem to have enough of these days and something which is critical and crucial to all areas of life. If you are a business, then time is an even more important concept because your organisation literally lives and breathes around the operation of the clock. For a courier, time is one of the central factors in the business model and for more reasons than you might think is initially obvious. In this article we’ll take a closer look at why time is so important and the implications of this.

The whole concept of the courier industry is underpinned by time – or more precisely, being on time. Whether a courier delivers packages, letters, or large items such as displays or antiques, getting to the correct destination at the agreed time is essential. A lot of the reason behind this is down to the relationship between customer and courier. People expect couriers to keep promises and deliver when they say they will. Everyone can accept or be lenient for occasional circumstances beyond control, but there is an expectation that courier services are fast and prompt and this is obviously where time comes in. If couriers start delivering hours (or even days) after promises have been made, this erodes trust between the customer and business. Eventually this can spread to the whole industry, and it doesn’t take much for all to become tarnished with the same brush, because the courier and delivery industry is not only very competitive, but closely and intra-related. You can get groceries, takeaway food and even a plumber, any time of the day or night. So why not a same day courier, too? As much as we’d love to just go home and put our feet up every evening, the world doesn’t stop at 5pm. Life goes on and we realise our customers might have delivery emergencies at any time. Rock Solid Deliveries is set up to meet the needs of a 24/7 world.

There are many more reasons why ‘time’ is one of the biggest factors for couriers.

* Sometimes once an item is delivered, this is not the end of the process for that item. A delivery of parts for aircraft for example does not stop once the shipment arrives, it finishes when the mechanics have done the maintenance and the aircraft is able to fly again. A late courier in this circumstance can not only annoy their customer but also cost them thousands of pounds in lost revenue. Would you choose this courier for repeat business again?

* Some items or packages have strict guidelines associated with their contents. This is why someone might choose to use same day couriers for example. Documents might need to be signed or returned within a certain narrow window of time. Lateness of a courier can potentially shorten a small time window even more, or perhaps even make that opportunity expire all together.

* Some products which are shipped or sent by couriers have naturally short shelf lives (medicines or food goods for example.) This can also apply to temperature sensitive goods, where lateness or slow delivery has meant that the goods have gone past being in a safe temperature environment for too long. Once again, the result is a waste or expiry of these products.

* Many couriers are a third party delivering on behalf of a company, business or organisation. Whilst lateness does not impact them directly, it ultimately means more hassle for the business because they have to compensate or smooth things over with their customers. As a courier who is a business in it’s own right, this doesn’t do any favours for that organisation either.

As you may have discovered, keeping good time is so much more than making sure you have your clothes order from the retailer the next day. Lateness costs business thousands upon thousands of pounds a year, and this is not to mention the consequential loss which can follow from this. It stands to reason, why would you want to do business with someone who over promised, under delivered and always arrived late?

If you’re like us here at Rock Solid Deliveries, you run a tight ship. You want to get things done, and you want to get them done efficiently and in the right way. You value your clients and your team, you set high standards for your work and you expect to achieve them. You take responsibility for everything – well, almost everything. Shipping and delivery? You don’t have time for that.

You can trust that we here at Rock Solid Deliveries do none of those things and you only have to look at our Trustpilot page to get an idea of that.

Want to find out more on us as a company? Visit our about us page now.