Many Boston area small businesses are truly one or two person operations. This means there’s a limited number of people doing everything, from concept design, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, customer service, sales and more. Now throw shipping in the mix – one more complicated task that somebody has to do.
Shipping is Critical to Customer Satisfaction
Whether or not it’s fair, your customers will judge you by the way their order arrives. As we all know, sometimes the delivery process isn’t too gentle. That’s why it’s important to use robust new shipping boxes as well as the best packaging materials for your products. Don’t use Amazon as your example – if a customer gets an Amazon package with damaged items, Amazon just replaces it. Your small business can’t afford to do that.
Because shipping is so critical to the reputation of your business, you need someone who can focus their time, energy and attention on doing the job right. At this point, you have three options. You can do the shipping yourself, adding one more task to your already full plate. You can hire someone to do the shipping in house – which means now you have to cover payroll and all of the associated expenses that come with having an employee. Or you can go to your local packing and shipping store and pay for only the services that you need.
Many small companies partner with shipping services to keep their quality high, preserve the customer experience, and keep costs low. When talking with your local packing and shipping company, you’ll want to know on average the number of packages you’ll be shipping on a weekly basis as well as other details. Then you can set up a working relationship that makes things easy for everyone.
As your business grows, working with a packing and shipping company may no longer be the most cost-effective solution. But through the earlier stages of development, it’s a smart strategy that gets the job done.