Your suppliers delivery service.

Today i wanted to talk about a very important part of your suppliers business, the delivery service they offer.

This may sound a little broad but let me explain, the last two weeks in my merchant we have had four different relief drivers (I'm sure you understand the terminology but just in case, they are drivers who are hired to cover when our normal driver is off) and without sounding rude three of these drivers couldn't find there arse with both hands and one was up to standard.

This post is not really about relief drivers but the regular delivery drivers your merchant has employed, this may seem in words a small and obsolete subject but just for a second think about it.....

Have you ever had a driver with a bad attitude?

Have you ever had a driver who wouldn't help you handball a couple of heavy items?

Have you had a driver who is incompetent on the crane and makes you wince when he has a pack of blocks swinging 12ft in the air next to your newly built section?

Have you had a driver that has the urgency of a sloth on cannabis?

I've worked with quite a few drivers over the years, maybe close to 100 taking in agency drivers that come and go and i can only think of four who were the "perfect" driver, these guys were fast, reliable, helpful, knew the customers well and one of the most important aspects they carried around with them a positive can-do attitude, if i needed any one of these drivers to stay late or come in early I would barely need to even ask.

My point with this post refers back to "know your merchant" your merchant is only as strong as there weakest link, whats the point of a fantastic driver if the sales staff are incompetent? whats the point of the worlds greatest salesman if the yard staff can't pick your order right? what's the point of having all the right ingredients for a fantastic merchant if the company itself is putting a noose round there neck which restricts pricing or is asking them to reduce stock?

So if we get back on track with the drivers, it's very easy to spot a good driver, it's how they carry themselves when they turn up for a delivery, it's how they handle the crane, it's what there attitude is when something is wrong with the delivery, I talk about know your merchant but the driver is a huge piece of the customer service you require, so next time you get a delivery what type of driver is going to turn up to your site?

Also if you haven't checked it out already please visit the TCPG page, I may have gone on a bit about these guys in the past but I can't stress how important it is to just take a look if your going to be starting a job.

The Consumer Protection Guarantee