According to 98% of shoppers, shipping impacts your brand and customer loyalty. Whether that impact is positive or negative is up to your delivery experience. To offer a positive customer experience, you need to combine your delivery strategy and shipping tools with your branding.
A Great Customer Delivery Service Starts With Branding
A company that attempts to deliver a great customer delivery service will miss the mark if its culture doesn’t focus on customer needs. If your company culture is integrated with the service aspect of your identity, your employees will make decisions that deliver on that promise.
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According to Denise Lee Yohn, a world-class brand builder, there are 9 types of company brands. Great customer delivery is aligned with service, value, and performance brands, but leaders should cultivate service first and foremost. Here are a few reasons why:
- The general work culture would focus on being humble, friendly, and predictable. Your customers like it when their deliveries are on time and likely dislike significant change.
- Leaders should commit to sticking with policies that help nurture the customer journey.
- Mentors can foster the importance of customer service to their mentees by pulling from the customer experience. For example, they can say that customers may miss birthdays, their medication, or other essential items. These factors disrupt a person's life.
- Leaders can create the best delivery service possible by promoting values like caring, transparency, and empathy. When your employees are focused on how they can help the customer, they’re less likely to cut corners or promote a hostile culture.
It’s challenging to build a culture-brand connection, but it’s more than worth it. With this connection, delivery staples, like integrated last-mile tracking systems, will mean more to your customers.
How to Create an Incredible Customer Delivery Service
Taking what you learned from the last section, you can start to elevate the customer delivery experience in a way that suits your market.
Use the following key elements to do just that.
1. Contactless Delivery
While contactless delivery used to be necessary, it’s in your best interest to keep this option around as it’s great for introverts. Contactless delivery is also considerate to busy professionals and those who aren’t comfortable with change. This positions your brand as empathetic.
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2. Automated Notifications
Automation saves time and money, making your customers’ lives more convenient. When your customers enable push notifications, they’ll know exactly when their package will arrive, making it easier for them to plan their day. This positions your brand as considerate.
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3. On-Time Delivery
Fast or same-day delivery is the norm in eCommerce, and customers expect their packages to be on their doorstep when you say it will. When you deliver packages on time, your customers are more likely to be loyal to your brand, products, and services. This positions your brand as honest.
4. eCommerce Technology
To create a great customer delivery service, your back end has to be strong. If all of your delivery technology and eCommerce sites are integrated, orders go out faster. When you’re low on products, your inventory software will order more. This positions your brand as reliable.
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5. Free Delivery
Customers are willing to pay a premium for free delivery. They’re also willing to buy up to a free delivery option by purchasing more products. When your customers see a free delivery option in your store, they’ll feel heard. This positions your brand as caring and customer-focused. Additionally, understanding how leading delivery companies to work for in the UK manage their logistics can further enhance your ability to provide a superior delivery experience.
6. Pre-Planned Routes
Manual route planning isn’t ideal once your business scales as it slows down the delivery process. However, a route optimisation tool can automatically calculate routes and change these routes to account for road closures. This positions your brand as predictable.
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7. Undamaged Goods
No one wants to order a product and wait a few days, only to find it’s damaged upon arrival. Although the blame may rest with your delivery courier, you need to make sure your employees are well-trained, so you can deliver all your goods intact. This positions your brand as careful.
8. Handwritten Notes
Automation is essential, but it can remove the human touch from your business. Instead of automating your “thank you” notes, add a little personalisation to your emails. Your customers will appreciate that you took the time to show thanks. This positions your brand as personable.
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