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Learning About Domestic And International Shipping

Hello, my name is Joannie. I am here to talk to you all about shipping small and large packages. I want to talk about all of the different packing materials and shipping options you can use for your packages. I will split my information between domestic and international shipping options. I also will talk about preparing a wide array of items for shipping to prevent damage during transport. Please feel free to use the information on my site to ship your items with care. I appreciate your visit and hope you will return to visit my website again soon. Thanks.

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Learning About Domestic And International Shipping

4 Ways To Grow Your Courier Business And Increase Its Revenue

by Grace Rhodes

Owning your own courier business, like Morningside Courier Systems, can be profitable, but the industry is competitive. The competition in the industry sometimes makes growing a package delivery business challenging, but it's not impossible to do. If you run a courier service, here are four ways you can grow your business and increase its revenue.

Offer Expedited Delivery

One of the main reasons customers use courier services is to have packages delivered quickly. Most of your customers will likely be happy with your service's standard delivery times, as long as they're faster than other shipping options. Some of your customers, however, may want even faster delivery times -- and they may be willing to pay for it. Offering an expedited delivery option not only lets you attract customers who need packages delivered as quickly as possible, but it also lets you charge more for the faster delivery.

Depending on what your standard delivery option is, you may want to offer an expedited delivery option that guarantees a package's delivery within a few hours, or you may want to offer an immediate delivery option that includes going to the customer's location, getting the package and taking it to its destination as soon as a customer calls. Both of these options can interrupt your workflow, but it will be worth dealing with the inconvenience if customers are paying more.

Provide After-Hours Services

While most deliveries are made during normal business hours, some companies need packages delivered in the evening, early morning or over the weekend. Providing after-hours services will let you expand your customer base to include companies that need items delivered at odd times, and you can likely add a surcharge to these customers' orders because they're having packages delivered at odd times.

Work on a Retainer

Retainers aren't common among couriers. Many other professionals, however, work on retainers, and there's no reason why couriers can't.

A retainer, as Investopedia explains, is a fee that's typically paid upfront by an individual to a professional to secure the professional's services in the event that they're needed. By paying a retainer, customers can make sure that you're available when they need a package delivered.

Customers that only have you occasionally deliver a package won't want to sign a retainer agreement, but customers that are regularly asking you to deliver packages might be interested in such an agreement. Singing a retainer agreement would give them the peace of mind that you won't take on work from other customers that would prevent you from delivering their packages, and it'd provide you with stable, reliable income because the fee's paid upfront. Because the customer is contracting with you, they may choose to send even more packages through you than they already are.

When working on a retainer, you'll probably want to charge an hourly rate rather than a per-delivery rate. After all, the customer is paying for you to be available to deliver their packages. In other words, they're making an advance payment to keep your time open, so you should charge by the number of hours you give them.The national average hourly rate is $36 per hour. Rates in your area may vary slightly, but you should keep your retainer fee somewhere near this hourly rate.

Give Customers Insurance Options

Letting customers purchase insurance when sending extremely valuable items via your service is an easy way to make a little extra money. You shouldn't have a hard time convincing customers sending expensive items to purchase insurance for them, as it's an easy way to protect the items they're selling. While you won't be able to pocket the full price of the insurance they purchase, because some of the money will go to the insurance company, you will get a little bit from each policy you sell.

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