How to Attract New Customers and Boost Your Courier Business’ Efficiency

Running a courier business? Follow these tips to attract new customers and boost the efficiency of your niche business.

How to Attract New Customers to Boost Your Courier Business

Every professional, successful and established owner of a courier business knows and understands the importance of always striving to improve, both in terms of their business model and their customer service and overall satisfaction levels.

Continue reading to learn how to attract new customers and increase the overall efficiency of your courier business.

 

Target Niche Companies

 

Identifying, determining and defining a niche sector that is less than saturated by other competing courier services will help you grow your customer base as well as ensuring you stand out from the crowd. 

Especially pertinent for smaller courier businesses, instead of fighting competitors you can concentrate on a smaller market base and strive to become the leading supplier of delivery services. Better to be a big fish in a small pond than to not have a pond to swim in at all!

Targeting niche companies will also reduce your marketing costs, as specializing in a smaller area means you can represent your company and the products you provide and not waste valuable time and money on more general, non-specific advertising. 

 

Use a Regular Courier Job Provider

 

Instead of scratching around to find individual courier jobs, it is strongly advisable to save your business time and money by sourcing truck loads from a reputable, established and experienced provider such as Shiply, which can ensure you receive regular work in as larger a quantity as your business can handle. 

The additional revenue earned by taking on more courier jobs will obviously increase your cash flow and will subsequently mean you will be in a position to afford more drivers and more vehicles, growing and expanding your business as you go. 

One of the most essential and highly beneficial services provided to the trucking industry are trucking load boards. Constantly updated and incredibly convenient, trucking load boards are the best way to grow your business. 

 

Pay Attention to Your Recruitment Process

 

As tempting as it is to hire people who you know, especially when your trucking business is in the fledgling stages or you suddenly find yourself with an overload of work, it is not always the best course of action for the long term. Hiring your loved ones may seem logical, especially when it is a son or daughter as the sentiment of ‘keeping it in the family’ will be ringing in your ears. However, it is more than likely that their interests and passions do not lie within the trucking world. 

Instead, the best course of action is to advertise on local social media groups, on your local radio station and even in your local newspaper. Ensure your advertisement is as specific as possible, as needlessly interviewing prospective drivers who do not possess the appropriate prerequisites is an unnecessary waste of you and your company’s time and money. Additionally, be cautious when presented with a prospective candidate who seems to be overqualified and ask for proof of all relevant licenses and legal documents. 

 

Fuel Usage

 

Quite obviously, one of the major and unavoidable outlays when running a trucking business is the cost of fuel, especially when expanding your fleet of trucks. 

Remember that truck drivers in different states are taxed on their fuel at different rates and this must be a serious consideration when looking to expand your company, especially when looking at crossing state lines. There are various fuel suppliers that offer a type of bulk-buy discount system and it would be exceedingly pertinent to research such companies in your local area. Maximizing the savings you can get for your company on fuel and other outlays related to the proper maintenance and general running of your vehicles will free some of your cash flow, which you can redirect to your expansion efforts. 

It is absolutely vital to remember that, as is standard across the trucking industry, that clients are not expected to pay their courier bills for at least two months after the job has been successfully completed.

 

Sourcing New Trucks

 

As your client base begins to grow, there will inevitably be a need sooner or later to expand your fleet accordingly. 

Reliability is of the utmost priority when sourcing a new truck, but this by no means limits you to brand new vehicles and, in fact, used commercial trucks can be more than appropriate and suitable for your purposes. If you are fairly confident in the success of your expansion plans, it may be worth contacting dealers and discussing discounts and deals they can offer you should you purchase more than one truck. 

Once you have purchased your truck and ensured you have completed all the required legal documents and insurance policies, it is strongly advisable to source a reliable and experienced mechanic who specializes in the exact make and model of the trucks you use.

 

Establish Your Brand Identity

 

A powerful and effective brand identity provides a plethora of benefits to your business, not least in the increased impact of general awareness of the existence of company to new, potential customers. 

In these modern times, the easiest and most cost-effective way to establish and cement your brand identity in the mind of your customers is to utilize all of your social media platforms to their maximum potential. Social media marketing is not only important, but in the modern business climate it’s more accurately necessary if you want to expand and grow your business regardless of the industry. 

As the owner of a trucking company, you can appeal directly to local people who live near to your truck depot by creating Facebook groups specific to your local area. Ensure your content remains consistent across the different platforms and post as regularly as you can always making sure you are saying something new, or at least in a different way. Ensure your company logo and name are clearly displayed across your online content. 

With these tips under your belt, you’re all set to attract new customers and boost your business’ efficiency, which will increase your profits.