Many business owners focus on increasing sales, which is their top priority for faster growth. However, poor dispatch and delivery planning often stall growth.
Planning is the foundation of your business. Missed delivery service deadlines, inefficient routes, and, worst of all, high delivery costs add up.
So what should you do? You must meet specific deadlines to grow your business faster before funding dries up. So, time is of the essence.
What if you could fix this with technology?
Let’s explore how better dispatch and delivery planning can accelerate your business’s growth, profitability, and success.
What Is The Dispatch and Delivery Process?
The dispatch and delivery planning process involves everything from managing and delivering the goods to the services to customers.
It all starts when the orders come in and runs until the very last proof of delivery (POD) is sent, confirming a successful delivery to the customer.
The main aim here is speed, accuracy, and efficiency. However, this should not be done while increasing costs; it should be kept to a minimum.
What Is Dispatch Planning?
There are four different stages for dispatch planning.
- Step one: You receive orders.
- Step two: You start with route planning
- Step three: You assign orders to drivers on duty.
- Step four: You monitor the last-mile delivery service in real time.
When you receive your orders online or any other way, you need to start immediately by making sure they’re accurate. Before processing them, ensure you have the proper address and check the contact information.
Now, you can start planning the route. You want the most efficient route. If you try to plan it manually, trust me, you will use extra fuel and time. Route optimization software does this for you by considering the weather conditions, traffic patterns, truck or vehicle , and even the driver’s skill.
The software will automatically assign the stops for that day to the right driver, choosing the most efficient route based on the driver’s location, workload, and other factors.
Next is the last process of real-time monitoring of successful delivery operations. GPS tracking software helps monitor drivers individually or as a group. Dispatchers can adjust routes in real-time and handle delays more effectively.
What Is The Delivery Planning Process?
There are four processes involved in delivery planning.
- Step one: You need to prepare the orders for the delivery operations.
- Step two: You need to load the vehicles.
- Step three: You need to optimize the routes.
- Step four: You need to communicate with customers.
First, the items need to be gathered, checked, and packed. This is part of the process’s accuracy. You don’t want to ruin customer satisfaction with something that could have been avoided.
Proper packaging prevents damage to the item and ensures smooth delivery operations.
Next, the vehicles have to be loaded with the orders. The software has been designed to help packers load the vans in the correct order for easy access when they arrive at the delivery address.
If you have fragile items, they must be packed in a certain way to avoid damage during transportation.
Now, you need to activate your route optimization software. This will help you choose the most efficient route. Make sure your drivers stick to the planned routes while following traffic rules. It will help reduce fuel, traffic fines, and delivery delays.
Lastly, you need to check on customer satisfaction. An ETA (estimated arrival time) should be sent out early in the morning. Live tracking software can automate notifications to customers when entering a certain radius of the delivery address.
Upon arrival at customers, the driver uses POD to capture a photo and signature of successful delivery operations.
Why Is Your E-Commerce Business Not Growing?
Customers expect faster and more reliable deliveries these days.
Online shoppers using same-day delivery have increased by 50% over the past few years. A staggering 88% of consumers today are willing to pay for same-day delivery.
That’s all because they expect faster and more reliable deliveries.
Manual dispatching is not going to get you there. If you are still working out schedules for the next day’s deliveries late at night, you must step away from this old way of operating. There will be unpredictable routes and miscommunication that only lead to delays.
To help your business grow, you don’t need to sell more items; it’s about scaling your operations and making sure they run smoothly.
You might also be overspending on fuel and labor costs. Inefficient deliveries, missed deliveries, and late deliveries can cost you dearly. Not only customers, but also result in extra expenses.
If your delivery addresses are inaccurate, your driver will spend more time on the road trying to find the customer. Without live tracking software, customers will not know the ETA and might not be home.
Overworked drivers can lead to loads of inefficient deliveries. It can also negatively impact customer satisfaction and lead to some never returning.
Solution: Smarter Dispatch and Delivery Planning
The key is automation. With the right dispatch and delivery planning software, you’ll see that you don’t need more drivers to handle all the workload for the day. It’s simply a matter of using what you have more efficiently.
How can you automate the process? With the following software.
- Optimized routes.
- Real-time tracking.
- Proof of delivery.
- Dispatch and delivery planning.
Companies that adopt dispatch and delivery planning software have seen a tangible improvement.
WATCH: Madam Seafood Improves Service With Right Software
How To Choose The Right Dispatch and Delivery Software
Understand Your Business Needs
What are your biggest challenges? Is it delayed deliveries, bad customers satisfaction due to a missed delivery, or high fuel costs?
You need to identify the main problem and know what your solution should be.
Look for Essential Features
You want to make sure the software you choose has these essential features that will grow with your business.
- Route optimization.
- Automated dispatching.
- Real-time tracking.
- Performance analytics.
- Proof of delivery.
Consider User-Friendly Software
Read up on case studies to see what others are saying about the software. It should be super easy for drivers to use; otherwise, they will continue to use their solutions, which will cause no growth for your business.
Ensure the software provides a mobile app for the drivers who are always on the go and need instant communication with managers and customers.
Training and support must also be provided in the beginning phase when implementing the new software requires assistance.
Check Customer Support and Reliability
Make sure the software provides 24/7 customer support. The system must be reliable, and upgrades should be guaranteed.
You can always try out a trial period before committing to a long, lengthy contract.
WATCH: Optimized Routes and Live Tracking Save Dispatch Time
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
