It’s easy with GetSwift’s delivery logistics software.
In the last mile of delivery, customer experience is fundamental to your business. And that’s not just lip service or a pitch from your marketing team. A good customer experience keeps your customers informed and updated so they can plan their day, encourages them to buy again, and gives your business essential data to grow.
Although customer experience means something a bit different in every industry, there are some easy steps business in almost all industries can take. These five steps are all simple to implement with the right delivery logistics software, and here they are:
1. Create SMS Alerts
One text message can change your customer’s day. All it takes is a friendly SMS telling them when the delivery is expected to arrive and a customer can make plans, save time, and know exactly when they need to either leave their laptop to head downstairs (or across town).
You can also easily customize the text of these SMS messages to add a little bit of your brand’s magic, stay consistent with your brand’s voice, and even delight your customers by choosing the name of the sender that pops up on their screen. You can also enable automatic replies so that, if a customer texts back, that message is immediately emailed to your team to address, and the customer receives a phone number and email address to contact if they still need help.
These alerts are easy to set up, and once you have, you may find that the 5-star reviews will start coming in—in the form of both online reviews and direct feedback (more on that later).
2. Provide Real-Time Tracking & Live ETAs
According to an analysis we did of GetSwift’s clients, when a company gives customers live tracking, customer retention increased by 31 percent and order size jumped by 12 percent. If you spend some time reading online reviews on Google, Yelp, Weedmaps, you’ll also quickly see how much customers love having live tracking.
The live tracking map is rich with information. You can include your logo, the driver’s name, and the ETA around the map, along with a way customers can contact the driver with just one click.
3. Set Up Your Customer Booking Form
You might deliver for the same, regular customers each week and you just need a simple way for them to book new delivery requests with your business. With a white-labeled customer booking form, those customers can book with you in seconds, rather than have to spend time emailing, calling or texting your staff.
With just a few clicks in your GetSwift dashboard, you can easily create a booking form for each of your customers and invite them to set up an account. Once they do, they can use the same booking form—white-labeled with your logo—over and over again to book new jobs, which will instantly show up in your GetSwift map to dispatch and manage.
4. Add Proof of Delivery
Proof of Delivery may or may not be necessary for your business, but it’s easy to add to your optimized delivery journey, and even customize it so that a driver can add any notes and take photos. While the customer may not receive an immediate benefit when they give a handler their signature, any notes and photos will help down the line if your customer service or sales team needs to address a problem. So it’s a step worth considering, and, of course, setting it up is simple.
5. The Last Step: Get Customer Feedback
With delivery management, great customer experience doesn’t mean being perfect. Mistakes will happen—sometimes due to circumstances beyond your control like traffic and weather. However, great customer service experience does mean turning a negative into a positive.
After a customer receives their delivery—whether that’s flowers, cannabis, or pizza—they should automatically be sent another SMSlinking to a customer feedback form (you can easily set this up). That way, your team immediately knows if something went wrong or they’re less than happy, and you have options to contact the customer to apologize and try to make it right. Trying to fix a problem immediately shows that you care, and means you have the option to address their concerns before they post a negative comment online, which will hurt your business even more.
Customer feedback also turns into customer data, which you can use to improve your operation to provide even better customer experience as you grow.
In closing, keep in mind that not every business is going to deploy all five of these steps. You may choose to not send a live tracking link or use proof of delivery. In the end, you’ll choose what’s to optimize delivery for your business. But whether you implement one of these steps or all five, you’ll be on a path to providing a much more delightful experience for customers, and a more useful experience for your business.
Are you looking to get started with delivery logistics software? We’re here to help. Get in touch.
