Make Reliable Holiday Delivery Your Differentiator
While no longer the appointment television that it once was, the Rankin/Bass version of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many. The first 20 seconds of that program paint a dire picture for Christmas with newspaper headlines reading, “Cold Wave in 12th Day,” “We’re Frozen,” “Ice Peril Warning,” “Tough Going! Sanitation Army Digging Us Out,” and “Foul Weather May Postpone Christmas.” Thankfully, Rudolph saved the day, or eve as it were, and Christmas was not cancelled. When it comes to the holidays, PeriShip is here to be your personal Rudolph.
Even without predictions of cataclysmic weather conditions, the holidays are notoriously nerve-racking when it comes to shipping last-minute gifts. Add to that the variable of presents being perishable, and the anxiety is enough to make Frosty the Snowman swelter—especially when your business is at stake. No one wants to open wilted flowers; spoiled fruit, meat, or seafood; crumbled cookies; or defrosted frozen goods. That that seems just as bad, if not worse, than not receiving a present at all.
Whether you need to ship turkeys for Thanksgiving, fruit cakes for Christmas, challah bread for Hanukkah, or have any other holiday shipping needs, PeriShip provides value-added parcel delivery services. If you’re a small business prepping for your first holiday rush, or a seasoned pro open to friendly advice, here are a few best practices and tips to help ensure your customers don’t end up thinking of you as the Grinch.
Invest in Quality Shipping Materials
Regardless of the item, ensuring its integrity is paramount. You want your product to come out of the box exactly as you packaged it. Always use new materials, and make sure you do everything possible to safeguard your orders. Many factors can make the preservation of cold items complicated. Do everything possible at the outset to limit issues that simple planning can mitigate.
Secure Your Supply Chain—Before and After
Regardless of whether your product is personalized, sourced from the ocean, takes week or months to create, or is something that you carefully handcraft, make sure you have the capability to meet potential demand. After completing the sale, you need to know once you turn your product over to someone else to be delivered that they are going to have the same standards as you do. A botched delivery, even if it isn’t your fault, can mean the difference between a repeat customer and the last time a customer attempts to do business with you. Remember, the quality of your product doesn’t matter if the customer never receives it.
Have a Last-Mile Partner That Delivers
The parcel delivery provider you rely upon to make the holidays merry and bright needs to be more than a simple delivery service. You need a partner that has invested in a transportation management system that, far from being a last-mile service, is an extra-mile service capable of monitoring the progress of your deliveries. Choose a partner that can advise you of trends, manage complications as they arise, appropriately intervene, and resolve unforeseen issues in a way that helps create a positive customer experience.
Delivery logistics management is at the heart of PeriShip’s ability to help businesses of all sorts put their products in the hands of customers. Connect with us today so that we can learn about the shipping challenges you are facing, work with you to identify your needs, and create customized solutions that will help you achieve your goals. Every intended delivery you prep is a potential memory for someone else. Make sure it’s the lasting impression you want.
The last mile isn’t the only mile that matters. Every mile matters. Going the extra mile matters, and that means doing everything we can related to the delivery of your product to keep you on your customers’ “nice list.” For PeriShip, that includes ingraining ourselves as a part of your team, exceeding expectations, and reliving a major stress factor from your holiday plate.