It’s no secret that commercial food distributors play a critical role in customer satisfaction, as they ensure you have enough ingredients to use in your restaurant. In a way, your delivery drivers are food distributors who need to be equally efficient, or you risk losing your customers.
With that said, hiring, training, and paying qualified delivery drivers for your business can heavily impact your overheads. To save time and money, you may want to hire a third-party courier. But that poses another problem: how do you know your courier company of choice is the right option for your needs? What factors should you consider when hiring a courier service? This article will review the types of questions you should ask before you select a delivery courier.
10 Key Factors to Consider When Hiring a Food Delivery Courier
Remember that your courier, even if they’re a third party, represents you and your business. You’ll want to work with a company that meets your needs and does right by your customers.
1. Does the Courier Guarantee On-Time Delivery?
One of the most important factors to consider is speed. Perishable goods don’t keep well under high or low temperatures, as they can wilt, tear, or spoil rather quickly. No one wants to eat soggy noodles or a cold hamburger, so you have to find a courier that offers on-time delivery.
For example, Dropoff courier is one of the industries leading same-day delivery services. They take a “no excuses” approach, meaning they’re accountable for all pickups and deliveries. You should only work with companies like Dropoff that measure their timeliness down to the minute.
2. Are They Properly Certified or Licensed?
A great restaurant courier will require employees to have a Food Handlers Certificate or an OSHA Safety Certificate. These prove that employees understand food contamination, foodborne illnesses, allergy management, personal hygiene, and food safety regulations.
With the right financial certification, business owners are more likely to take better care of their finances, which can offer peace of mind if the company is new. Although a financial certification isn’t required to run a courier company, a business license is, so check for one before hiring.
3. Do They Have a Lot of Positive Reviews?
Every courier company will say they’re the best in the city, but you can’t take a company at its word. It’s safer to look up online reviews on Google My Business and Glassdoor. Google reviews are harder to fake, and Glassdoor gives employees an anonymous platform to leave comments.
While reading reviews, take note of common customer complaints. If they’re having issues with damaged or rotten goods, be cautious. With that said, it’s normal for companies to have some negative reviews. But if they have more positive comments, they’re probably a great courier.
4. How Much Experience Do They Have?
Experience isn’t everything, but it’s essential. An experienced company is more likely to staff high-performing workers and superior customer service agents. Couriers with more experience tend to have an efficient system in place, as they’ve already experimented with their processes.
Whether you’re a restaurateur or a supplier, you can’t afford to deliver your goods late. An experienced courier will know how to store perishables correctly and have enough temperature regulated trucks to make prompt deliveries, regardless of their current location or destination.
5. Are Their Delivery Drivers Experienced?
While experienced couriers should hire experienced drivers, that isn’t always the case. Some companies may cut corners and/or fail to train their staff properly, leading to shipment mishaps. You should always ask if their delivery drivers are experienced, but don’t make it obvious.
For example, instead of asking how many years their employees have worked in the industry, ask how many deliveries they’ve performed. After all, it’s possible for a courier driver to have many more years of experience in the industry but perform fewer deliveries than a junior driver.
6. Which Service Areas Do They Cover?
Any company that handles food should make it their top priority to reduce food waste, but that can’t be done without the right courier. Some services only send shipments to nearby locations. This is fine if you’re delivering foodstuffs locally but disastrous if you’re shipping across states.
It’s important that your courier can send your food where it needs to go, so they have to be present in your needed service areas. If they don’t, shop around for another company. Don’t settle for a company that can’t deliver to some of your customers, or you’ll lose their support.
7. Is Their Customer Service Up to Standard?
Your customers want to speak to kind, empathetic, and knowledgeable customer service staff when they have a problem. Before you choose a courier, call their customer service, pose as a customer, and ask questions to see how they treat potential customers and cold leads.
While on the phone, consider if they were eager to answer your questions. Were they getting impatient, sighing a lot, or short with you? As a side note, time how long it takes to speak to a real human being (important for emergencies) and if they offer 24/7 live customer service.
8. Do They Have Tracking and Customer Portals?
According to Dispatch Track, 90% of consumers want to track their delivery orders. If you want to cater to your customers and reduce the risk of losing them to another food delivery service, you absolutely need a customer portal that offers 100% transparency on all your deliveries.
Order transparency gives business owners a bird’s eye view of their shipments, which is vital for customer service staff. If a customer calls in trying to locate their delivery, they can use the tracking number to offer updates. You’ll also be notified if a shipment gets lost or stolen.
9. What Was Your First Impression of Them?
When speaking to the courier, note how you feel about them. It’s easy to dismiss a company that acts outwardly unprofessional and disrespectful, but it’s much harder to zone in on certain behaviors. Tone of voice, body language, and vagueness can reveal more than what’s said.
For example, an inspection sticker can show they regularly keep up with cleanliness, but if there’s debris around the warehouse, they probably only clean up for the health inspector. You should always trust your gut in these situations. Otherwise, you may hire a shady company.
10. Did Your Trial Food Shipment Yield Results?
A courier can have a high shipping success rate, but that won’t mean they can ship your specific items to your specifications. If possible, ship a trial shipment of your typical food products and check if they offer the kind of service they promised. Call customer service during this trial.
Now that you’re a customer, you’ll have a tracking number. Ask customer service if they can locate your shipment and if they can deliver an estimated time of arrival (ETA). When they deliver the shipment, check the truck for cleanliness, temperature, and available storage.
In Conclusion
Hiring your own delivery drivers can be a pain if you’re unfamiliar with supply chain operations, so consider working with a third-party service instead. But before you do, make sure you ask the courier company questions that help you make the best decision, like the ones in this article.
