Did you know that 79% of businesses with efficient supply chains achieve revenue greater than their industry average? Delivery management is crucial in this process and is the final step in the chain. But how can you ensure its efficiency?

Luckily, we can help. Read on as we discuss 6 ways to improve your delivery management process.

1. Organize Order Priority

It is not always possible to send out all of your orders at once. This makes having a system for prioritizing orders imperative. When in place, you can check what orders can be put aside for a later date.

You can organize and prioritize in several ways. Most businesses choose to do this based on date or location. Having solid parameters allows you to easily sort them and increase efficiency.

Once you have a priority order list, make sure it is a fluid document. As new orders come in they can be added according to your chosen method.

2. Make Commitments and Stick To Them

Knowing where and how an item will be delivered is just as important to your customers as the speed of delivery. When you lack transparency or communication, it can damage your reputation.

Sticking to your delivery promises comes down to two things. The first is having a reliable courier service that understands the importance of timely deliveries. If you can add time windows to your schedule, they can deliver in these set slots.

The second is to provide communication with the customers. You can do this with the right delivery management software. It will increase accuracy and precision while keeping customers informed through SMS or email.

3. Put Plans in Place

If you don’t have a plan in place for processing orders before delivery, it will have a knock-on effect. How you produce and process your orders needs to be as exact as the delivery timeline. Create a plan that is used for all of your team to follow.

When you know your plans, it becomes easier for others to follow them. If you have your own fleet of delivery drivers, make sure they are aware of their place in the process as well.

The method you choose should go hand in hand with the correct planning of your warehouse. If you don’t know where every product is, then it will slow down the picking and packing process.

4. Double Check Details

Nothing is more detrimental to order accuracy than incorrect details. A misplaced address or an incorrect telephone number can cause a lot of problems, particularly if you are in a large delivery chain. In many cases, these errors are down to the customer who can leave incorrect details or not enough.

There are several ways to address this issue. Start by overhauling your online submissions. It may simply be a case of asking people to double-check their address once it is input, or you can use an online tool to verify their location.

When dealing with new customers, you may be able to call them to confirm an address. At the very least, make sure they have to confirm details at your online checkout stage.

With the right technology to assist, consider automatically generating your shipping labels. Doing this manually can mean a lot of time and effort on the part of your workers. It may also result in errors and missed details that would not occur with automatic generation.

5. Use Technology

Technology can be a great help, allowing you to improve order processing and clarity. Where you can, try to automate as many processes as possible to facilitate transparency and eliminate human error.

Begin by creating a database of customer details. Notes about the order can be attached to this such as where the order is in the delivery process. This will allow you to track orders and see if they are out for delivery, packed or sent to the courier.

Doing so can also help reduce paperwork. Delivery documents can mean a lot of wasted time, resources, and space. Email, SMS, and messaging are better ways to communicate that are much quicker and more efficient.

6. Review and Update

Sometimes making these changes will work and at other times it won’t. A periodic review will let you see how you can improve, letting you tweak your service.

Changes to routes, driver schedules, and processes should all be noted. Monitor them to see how they work and what success they are having. You can then make informed decisions on if you should keep them or adjust them.

As well as monitoring changes, ask for feedback from your team. They are on the frontline, seeing how everything from picking to delivery works firsthand.

Ask your drivers and team to be honest and tell what holds them back. What are the things that currently work well? Finally, see if there are any items or information that would make their job easier to do.

Finally, don’t forget to ask the customers. They may be able to advise you on what worked and what didn’t from a consumer perspective. By implementing these changes you are being proactive about the customer service you provide.

Finding a Delivery Management Company

Once you have optimized your internal delivery management systems, you need third parties you can trust. Make sure they understand your needs and volume of orders. With robust systems and a trustworthy partner, you will have customers returning time after time.

Your first stop should be GO₂ Delivery. With more than 20 years of experience, we can provide same-day courier services in the Virginia area. Click here to contact us about your delivery needs.